You Really Must Play Dragon’s Dogma

Considering Matt Lees was one of the biggest evangelists for Dragon’s Dogma before its console release, it’s not at all surprising to see him singing the game’s praises on Vice’s pages now that the title has been released on PC in its enhanced and expanded edition, Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen. Lees isn’t blind to the game’s faults, but he does a great job explaining exactly what makes it so rewarding.

Here’s an excerpt:

There are tons of strange things to be said about this game, but to look at Dragon’s Dogma as a mere hip curio does it a huge disservice. It’s natural to punctuate conversations about the game with tales about how weird the bloody thing is, but Dragon’s Dogma would be throwaway guff if it didn’t have such a superb combat system.

Initially though, you really won’t see it. Mages splurt magic piss-peas out of the glowy end of their staff, ineffectively tapping foes like a chain of wet kisses. Fighters swing swords with an immediate sense of heft, but the lack of a lock-on feature feels terribly dated. The enemies are tough, you get royally roughed-up, and you start to wonder why people like me said that Dragon’s Dogma was fucking amazing back in 2012.

Two things change. You spend more time with your initial abilities, and start to discover that behind these seemingly simple systems hides deeply satisfying layers of subtlety. What initially seems sluggish becomes weighty, considered. You learn to start that swing at the exact right moment, and Capcom’s expertise in combat suddenly starts to shine.

You realise that the lack of a lock-on feature isn’t an oversight it’s an attribute that’s only available when using certain abilities, and even then doesn’t always behave in exactly the same way. Every technique and ability in the game behaves in a slightly unique way, and mastery comes about through learning, and practise. It’s important to point out that Dragon’s Dogma is often a deeply repetitive game but the process of mastering the skills that you’re given proves to be joyful enough in itself.

Once you’ve been given plenty of time to appreciate how smart the game’s combat is, the second dramatic change swings into play: suddenly, the powers you can wield are fucking crazy. Piddly piss-peas are a thing of the past you’re conjuring huge whirlwinds and dragging meteors from space. Swift-footed classes like the Assassin still offer players immediacy and speed, but there’s something genuinely special about how slow and sluggish it feels to cast spells.

There’s no click-your-fingers-for-lightning bullshit here, magic is wrenched into the world with care and concentration. Few games conjure up the same sense of power magic in Dragon’s Dogma is a visible force, a theme that provides the world with real awe, real gravity. Wet enemies are frozen solid with ice, while foes bombarded with ceaseless forms of fire eventually catch light, visibly smouldering, burning, charring. Burn you fucker. Burn.