And what of gameplay? From a company as legendary as Capcom for their action games, there comes an expectation. Itsuno reassured me that the action and RPG side are both evenly shared, so that fans of either genre can enjoy themselves, either questing around the open world, or hacking and slashing their way through a swathe of monsters. And there are plenty of those.
Out in the open country there were several goblins, who are bigger, badder and scarier than usual. Especially since they have use of a horn that summons all of their reinforcements. There was also a golem to contend with, and even with three Pawns, one of which was a high level, it was an epic battle with the previously quiet soundtrack swelling to reflect the situation. As the sun started to set, battle became even harder. Once night time has set in it becomes an entirely different story, and Itsuno had to equip a lantern in order to see around him. When it gets dark the only way you can see is if you have a legitimate form of lighting such as a lantern, which lights a small area around the Arisen, or some form of magic. This isn’t one of those games that you can keep playing through the game’s artificial days and nights, taking on an enemy in the dark is far, far harder and it is just a smarter idea to retire to an inn for the night.
Story wise, Dragon’s Dogma is mostly based around the quests, getting you invested in the open world before revealing any sweeping story line. Its likely that it will take a good chunk of gameplay before a glimpse of a main storyline, so if you are the sort of person who loves them some good story telling, you may need to show patience for the beginning part of the game.
The main draw of the game for me personally is the amount of freedom you have in battle. “The game lets you do exactly what you want to do – if you want to climb on a cyclops and stab him you can, if you want to shoot him from far away you can also do that. There are so many different ways you can approach battles,” explained Itsuno.
Dragon’s Dogma is definitely a game to look out for, for action fans, RPG fans, or just gaming fans in general. Combining a social network that is also a singleplayer experience, is something that’s bound to bring Dragon’s Dogma to another level, along with the gameplay that combined the winning formula of so many others – Devil May Cry and Shadow of the Colossus to name a few.
For more info on Dragon’s Dogma as it is released, including the release of the Demo, keep tuned to Capsule Computers.
Dragon’s Dogma is being released on May 22, 2012 in the US on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.
