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Dragon's Dogma Review Thread [Update: Embargo Dropped]

I'll read the reviews after i play and finish the game.What i've watched,read and played so far are more than enough to tell me i'll surely enjoy this.
Can't wait to get this (probably end of May-beginning of June :/)

Japanese game panned for clunky controls? Surely GAF will take that to mean deep combat system, steep learning curve, and a required high skill level to play.
Can you give us some past examples of this?
 
Oh, reviews are going up for this already? I guess I should get mine up. *laughs*

Dragon's Dogma is a really, really cool game with one huge flaw—the Pawn system is garbage. Japan's love for gaming gimmicks stunts what could have otherwise been a totally awesome game. Seriously, the Pawn system... UGH. It's insulting how insulting it is.

Would you say it's necessary to play with pawns?

I don't intend to, as I've always thought the idea stupid.
 
I was originally going to buy this day 1...but I think I am gonna wait a bit on it. The game sounds like something I will want to wait and see what neogaf thinks about the game as a whole. I still haven't even beaten Dark Souls yet and my backlog is way too huge anyways.
 
Right about what I expected.

Still looking forward to this game a crazy amount. I loved the demo to pieces, and it's not even that great a demo given the total lack of content in it.
 
Play said:
Combat itself - the main draw of the game - is seriously all over the place. Clunky is the main word that springs to mind, with a lack of easily defined targeting holding back most character types and a general sense you don't have the control you require to take on opponents in the tactical manner Dragon's Dogma expects of you. In theory it should be wonderful and strategic, seeing each character type work to their strengths. In practice it will boil down to headless chickens running and flailing, getting KO'd and necessitating being revived by a player character too scared of going anywhere near that Cyclops that can kill them in one hit. It isn't exactly exciting.
Judging by what I've played of the demo, this is exactly what the combat felt like.

I'm willing to give this game another chance, and hope the combat actually finds solid ground early on.
 
I might be in the minority, but I like not having targeting.

i'm part of this minority too! it's the same with monster hunter. i've seen so many people complaining about missing lock-on feature... *smh* no thanks, i like it the way it is!
 
I don't hate lock on, but I just don't see how it will work with DD with weakness system on giant monsters, then you have strider and ranger using the RE4 aiming system, and so on.

The only negative I find without lock on is you have to turn a lot to face the enemy with fighter if you want to move away from them, holding the shield could work but it stops your stamina from regening, other than that I don't have a single problem with it, it's just the matter of moving the stick to the direction of the enemy and block/attack/do whatever you want, like most third person games.
 
I can't believe someone can fault the controls or combat. Till this day, I still haven't played an action-rpg with decent combat or non-rigid controls. I mean not only is the combat excellent when compared to the genre as a whole, but I think it even rivals some straight-up action games!

I surely can't be the only one who believes this, right?
 
I've tried the demo and I'm not surprised by most of these reviews for the "AAA highest budget ever at Capcom".

Now I'd like to understand why we didn't get an online coop Monster Hunter HD instead.
 
I lol'ed at complaining about clunky combat and then recommending Skyrim.

Shidoshi, can we expect Dragon's Dogma talk in the next WAHP?

I really hope the game does well so we can get a sequel that doesn't have all these technical issues. Also, Co-op/multiplayer would be so sweet.
 
Judging by what I've played of the demo, this is exactly what the combat felt like.

I'm willing to give this game another chance, and hope the combat actually finds solid ground early on.

It might be a matter of class selection. I vastly preferred being able to switch between melee and bow in the second part of the demo.
 
I was originally going to buy this day 1...but I think I am gonna wait a bit on it. The game sounds like something I will want to wait and see what neogaf thinks about the game as a whole. I still haven't even beaten Dark Souls yet and my backlog is way too huge anyways.

Not sure that's a great idea, seems like people here like to shit on games 3 months after release. Back in November everyone was all over skyrim, this thread would lead you to believe it was one of the worst games ever built.
 
Not sure that's a great idea, seems like people here like to shit on games 3 months after release. Back in November everyone was all over skyrim, this thread would lead you to believe it was one of the worst games ever built.

Yeah. It's better to find a reviewer you agree with more often than not and stick with them as your guide. I'm sure you can find a reviewer out there that where you look at his/her review history and go "I agree for the most part". That's your guy/girl to rely on.

I use Vic from Reviews on the Run. Been my go to guy for years now. I almost always agree with his take on games. Except I think his pick for game of the year was overshadowed by his love of comics and Batman. I saw that coming a mile away, though. So I took that with a grain of salt.
 
i'm part of this minority too! it's the same with monster hunter. i've seen so many people complaining about missing lock-on feature... *smh* no thanks, i like it the way it is!
Targeting and lock-on aren't' necessarily a feature that is or isn't there. Lots of 3D action games without a lock-on button still provide some guidance in "soft-targeting" enemies. I don't believe MH does it at all, can't remember if the DD demo had it or not (didn't have issues lining up attack like Monster Hunter though).
I think they should have included lock-on as an optional feature,just like it is in the Souls games.
I agree, in battles where you are required to swing a weapon in a direction other than the enemies direct center (very often in DD and MH) lock on would work against your goal a lot of the time, I get that. Shame it isn't an option though if only for smaller enemies (who often lack the need to target enemy parts); for them the lack of lock-on can be annoying as it becomes harder to line up attacks without actually serving the purpose of making the combat more interesting. Its clear games like MH, and I suspect DD, are not about the small fodder though.

Souls games feel very built around lock on though, most enemies engage you very directly in a one-on-one fashion (even if there are many enemies) not using lock-on puts you at a disadvantage, probably more so for single-handed weapons.
 
Crossing fingers concerning low FPS reports. Please no please no. That is the mind and brain killer for me. I can't handle sub 30 FPS. Please god lordy lord let them have fixed some of the bits from the demo!
 
Not sure that's a great idea, seems like people here like to shit on games 3 months after release. Back in November everyone was all over skyrim, this thread would lead you to believe it was one of the worst games ever built.

but still, 3 months later a game is half the price, so its kind of a win win
 
Sorry about that. Just too lazy to type the whole thing out.

Absolutely no problem. Just trying to track the conversation and make sure I am not missing any game news and such. This is probably my 1# most wanted game this year(after the ME3 fiasco) and I want as much news shoved into my eyeholes and earholes as possible:)
 
Absolutely no problem. Just trying to track the conversation and make sure I am not missing any game news and such. This is probably my 1# most wanted game this year(after the ME3 fiasco) and I want as much news shoved into my eyeholes and earholes as possible:)

Agreed on everything.

Also, I was gonna ask what WAHP meant, too. Looks like I don't have to now. =D
 
Damn. I wanted to get this game Day 1, but the high difficulty and the lack of quicktravel really turn me off.

Sounds too much like a game I will never finish.
 
Damn. I wanted to get this game Day 1, but the high difficulty and the lack of quicktravel really turn me off.

Sounds too much like a game I will never finish.

There's quick travel but it's limited since you need to buy items and set up a warp point as far as I know (someone correct me if I'm wrong), I don't know why Play took a jab at it with the skyrim remark.

I don't think the difficulty would be that high, it's like other RPGs where you could probably make it easier by leveling up a bit more through easy quests, at least that's what we've been told, and you have pawns to help.
 
Not sure that's a great idea, seems like people here like to shit on games 3 months after release. Back in November everyone was all over skyrim, this thread would lead you to believe it was one of the worst games ever built.

That mostly goes for games that were overhyped to start with, like GTA4...and Skyrim. The 'afer a couple of months' perspective is generally more realistic IMO.
 
There's quick travel but it's limited since you need to buy items and set up a warp point as far as I know (someone correct me if I'm wrong), I don't know why Play took a jab at it with the skyrim remark.

I don't think the difficulty would be that high, it's like other RPGs where you could probably make it easier by leveling up a bit more through easy quests, at least that's what we've been told, and you have pawns to help.

You use ferry stones, which are 20k each, to fast travel. If you haven't found any warp stones, then the ferry stones transport you to the main city.

And the difficulty is as hard and as easy as you make it. The difficulty is dependent on you and your pawns level vs. enemy level. I've seen footage of someone having a tough time with an enemy at level 20, they came back to that enemy at level 30 and completely destroyed it with ease.
 
Pretty sure I'm gonna be a guinea pig on this one. I liked the demo and the game's concepts too much to not just say damn the torpedoes.

Almost OT time, yo.
 
I have this preordered from Amazon... I think it's great that they released a demo for it, so no one has to worry about any buyer beware sort of thing.
 
FYI, from the Capcom on disc DLC thread, via Destructoid.

Dragon's Dogma is going to be perhaps the prime example of everything Capcom's done wrong with DLC. I can't say much until the review, but let's just say glorified pop-up ads for downloadable content were already in place when I tried a pre-release copy. If Capcom's not blowing smoke up our ass, a change in policy can only be a good thing, because I don't want to feel like the thing that costs $60 to play is little more than a thinly veiled delivery method for more purchases.
 
FYI, from the Capcom on disc DLC thread, via Destructoid.

Dragon's Dogma is going to be perhaps the prime example of everything Capcom's done wrong with DLC. I can't say much until the review, but let's just say glorified pop-up ads for downloadable content were already in place when I tried a pre-release copy. If Capcom's not blowing smoke up our ass, a change in policy can only be a good thing, because I don't want to feel like the thing that costs $60 to play is little more than a thinly veiled delivery method for more purchases.

The in game ads are indeed bad, but there is a hell of a lot more to this game than being a thinly veiled $60.00 DLC plug. A guy from Microsoft Xbox World was at 50 hours and barely even uncovered a sliver of the entire map. There is actually a content packed game here, too.
 
The in game ads are indeed bad, but there is a hell of a lot more to this game than being a thinly veiled $60.00 DLC plug. A guy from Microsoft Xbox World was at 50 hours and barely even uncovered a sliver of the entire map. There is actually a content packed game here, too.

Fair enough. I just wanted to provide the opportunity for everyone to make a well informed purchasing decision.
 
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