The first quarter of 2024 has left us with great candidates for the Game of the Year (or GOTY) award. Games like Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Helldivers 2, or Final Fantasy VII Rebirth currently have all the chances of winning said award. Well, almost all. Because less than two weeks ago, another huge contender was released: Dragon’s Dogma 2.
The talk of social media for various reasons (both good and… not so good), the sequel to Dragon’s Dogma has arrived with a bang. But what’s its secret? If you ask me, this humble writer who invested hundreds of hours in the first Dragon’s Dogma, the answer is clear: Capcom has taken the first part of the saga and improved it in every way.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 has managed to adapt a huge amount of gameplay features and mechanics from its first installment, adjusting them to a new world, a new environment, and a new story. In this way, those who already played Dragon’s Dogma back in the day will find a game that will feel familiar to them in many aspects. But what characteristics from the first Dragon’s Dogma are repeated in this sequel? These are the 4 most outstanding ones.
Pawn system
Dragon’s Dogma introduced us to the pawn system back in the day. At the beginning of the game, our Arisen (a human whose heart was stolen by the Dragon, making them immortal) meets/creates their pawn, a being similar to humans that will accompany us in all our adventures, leveling up and improving their skills just like the Arisen themselves.
The particularity of these beloved companions is that we can share them with other users (including our friends), accompanying them in their adventures as well. Although the online aspect of this system is at least limited, by sharing our pawns we can obtain rift crystals, a special currency in the game that we can use to buy unusual items. If you find yourself stuck with a boss, try summoning a pawn to help you in your battle.
Scaling enemies
Do you see that giant enemy? You can climb it. Yes, you heard right: you can climb an enemy as if it were a mountain in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. While it is a mechanic that we have already seen in games like the beloved Shadow of the Colossus, climbing enemies is possibly one of the hallmarks of the Dragon’s Dogma series, and one of the most beloved aspects by its fans.
Most enemies have weak points that you can attack to make battles easier. Cyclops, for example, are weak in their eye, while griffins will fall to the ground if you damage their wings (or set them on fire). Depending on your class, you can attack them from a distance with arrows or magic, but what can you do if you can’t? Climb their bodies and hit them hard with your weapon. Just be careful with your energy.
Transporter Crystals
In the first Dragon’s Dogma, the community was divided between those who loved its fast travel system and those who deeply hated it. Are you one of those who liked it? I hope so, because Dragon’s Dogma 2 brings it back. The fast travel system in the Dragon’s Dogma saga revolves around crystals and teleportation stones; to travel from one place to another in an instant, you will have to use teleportation stones, which you can find in dungeon chests and some stores, and with which you can travel to the crystals you have placed on the map.
Yes, placed. The peculiarity of this fast travel system is that you will have to place the fast travel points yourself, manually placing them wherever is most convenient for you. While we will collect quite a few transport stones on our adventure, finding the crystals will not be so easy, and we can only place a maximum of 10. Think carefully about where you want to put them, and remember that you can pick them up whenever you want and move them to any other location.
The Piélago
Do you remember those games where you die when you fall into the water (your character can’t swim, you know) or where a message pops up telling you that you can’t go any further? In the Dragon’s Dogma saga, there is a similar limitation: the dreaded Brine. The Brine is Dragon’s Dogma’s way of not letting you venture into certain areas by swimming, preventing you from going into deep waters under the threat of being swallowed by a mysterious… “something”.
This thing will swallow us if we swim where we shouldn’t, it will leave us on the shore and send our pawns back to the fault. The positive aspect of this is that it also affects enemies, so if you want to get rid of an enemy “easily”, grab it and throw it into the water (if it’s small) or lure it to take a deadly plunge (bye bye, griffins).
