So I got drunk and pre-ordered the remastered Dragon Dogma on GMG with a 23% coupon (23 USD). While I'm not really a massive aRPG fan I did enjoy the hell out of Dark Souls and places like /v/ were hyping the crap out of it. Did I screw up? I haven't really found an aRPG with as satisfying combat as DS (I'm a claymore kiddy), I found the combat in the Witcher 3 particularly horrible.
Also yes I know pre-order culture and all that but I thought the entry price was pretty decent. Hopefully it isn't a typical Japanese PC release but it seems to be 1080p 60fps at least.
Dragon's Dogma is heavier than 'Souls is in combat feel (you can't just roll all over the place, and the weapons feel weighty), but has some crazy moves like launching allies into the air with greatswords so it's not exactly on the realistic side of the spectrum.
It opens up like it's going to be a linear experience (and I don't know why they did this), but once you hit the main city about an hour or so in it opens right up and offers you a variety of jobs and main quests to take out at your leisure, or you can just go exploring.
The game is a bit janky and unpolished, but it tries to do a lot of ambitious things and usually hits the mark. The magic system in particular is of note, being one of the only games where mages feel like actual powerful wielders of the elements that can decimate a battlefield instead of machineguns that piddle out generic firebolt spells.
If the port ends up being good and you like slower paced aRPGs, I don't see any problem with it.
Welp. Think I'm sold.
I like Dragon's Dogma, but I gotta caution you guys about a few things. I'll try not to spoil plot stuff and keep it to mechanics. First of all is the class system; there are nine classes that essentially boil down to basic melee/ranged/magic, advanced melee/ranged/magic, and melee/ranged / melee/magic / ranged/magic (of these classes I prefer advanced ranged, melee/range, and magic/range). The thing is, each class increases your stats differently per level-up, so you really have to plan ahead for how your want your Arisen to be built. If you want to be mostly melee for example, expect to be sticking to Warrior and Fighter until about level 100, past which stat gains are low. (Also on that note, I believe Mystic Knight has the most balanced stat gains IIRC.) Considering each class has unique augments that are character and not class based, this means that you can either try to max each class early for all the augments (like ones that greatly increase magic defense or climbing speed or lowers prices in shop or make you far more deadly if you're running solo), or go for stats and just stick with whatever class ups the stats you want until level 100.
Additionally, levels are persistent through playthroughs, and if you want to do the Dark Arisen content, you'll need to be about level 90 or so before you attempt it, which can take 3 or 4 playthroughs. This is kind of a good thing, as if you finish the game at level 50, you'll start the next run at level 50 and can just breeze through the early quests, but if you decide you don't like your build you have to erase your save file and start all over - and you only get one save file. (Actually considering it'll be on PC I'm sure there will be a tool that will just let you modify your stats eventually, but disregarding that.)
As far as audio goes, prepare for this spam: WOLVES HUNT IN PACKS ARISEN AUGHT WOLVES HUNT IN PACKS ARISEN THEIR KIND HATE ICE AND FIRE BOTH AUGHT ALL ROADS LEAD TO GRAN SOREN WOLVES HUNT IN PACKS ARISEN. Your pawns are annoying, to put it lightly. You may just want to listen to your iPod or something instead of the game.
If graphics matter to you, then I'd say wait a month or two for the inevitable HQ texture mods. This is an old game and it looks it, although maybe (I doubt it) Capcom updated it for the PC release.
If you like a lot of different towns to explore, this game only has two. The starting town Cassardis and the main city, Gran Soren. There's a few other locations that have a few NPCs in them, but if you want a straight up city to explore, this game is a bit lacking. The world map is a bit sparse overall in my opinion.
Finally, this is a little bit of a plot thing, but there is a very poorly done romance system in the game. At one point the game will choose an NPC to be your true love, and if you haven't done a series of sidequests that eventually leads to you getting a ring (and then you give that ring to your favorite NPC, and no, it can't be the pawn you create near the beginning of the game) it will choose whoever you have talked to the most. That will likely be either the innkeeper in Gran Soren (since he allows you to learn new skills and class change) or the blacksmith in Gran Soren. So, just warning you about that ahead of time. Oh, and like character levels, the romance level is persistent across runs. I think you can lower people's affection for you by killing them or beating the tar out of them, though.
That's all the downsides I can think of at the moment. Now, the positives. The combat is very fun no matter what class you're running, and they all have their own gimmicks so none of them (except I guess Strider and Ranger, since the only difference there is bow size) feel too similar. Fighter is sword and shield and the defense class, Warrior is the two-handed attack class, Mages have buffs, debuffs, basic attack magic, and healing, Sorcerers are pure attack magic, Striders and Rangers can snipe from afar. Mystic Knights fight with maces and tower shields, and can buff their weapons and cast a few unique spells (there's one that creates an orb that you attack to shoot magic bullets at enemies, it's pretty cool). Magic Archers fire short-range homing arrows of pure magic and can fire elemental arrows with various effects. Assassins are the least 'interesting' of the three combo classes as they are just Fighter+bow-shield but are still fun to play as they have some VERY damaging attacks. Also Ranger is absolutely the most OP class in the game if you have guts, since they have a spread-shot ability that fires nine (I think, might be more) arrows. At point-blank range, this basically means 9x damage each shot. You can wreck pretty much any enemy in seconds.
The plot is interesting enough by the end of the game to warrant another run, and there are four endings (although only one of them lets you continue on to New Game+; IIRC the other 3 count as game overs). The only real hiccup in the story is the poorly done romance system, as mentioned before; if you're not aware of it, you can end up with a situation near the end that's supposed to be dramatic and instead have the reaction of 'I don't actually give a damn about this character'. To be honest though, it's a Capcom action game. You don't play these for plot, you play them for the gameplay, and that is Dragon's Dogma's greatest strength I think.
Finally, if you're like me and you love character creation and customization... DD has got you covered. 12 voices per gender (mostly pitch-shifted variations, but still), a myriad of hair/eye/skin colors, various tattoos and scars, the ability to edit your height and weight (which does have an in-game effect; bigger, heavier characters can carry more, are harder to knock down, move slower, etc.), about 60 or so different hair styles... and that's just creating your character. Once you're out in the world there are quite a few pieces of gear to find and upgrade until you get a style of armor and clothing that you like. And if you decide you don't like the way your character looks, there's a late-game shop that lets you buy the ability to edit your appearance. And not only do you get to make your character, you get to make your main pawn, which you can put online for other people to use. (My main pawn is basically my pack-horse for upgrade materials and such.
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Yeah, I'd recommend it for thirty bucks.
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