Plenty of big, AAA releases have problems at launch. Overwatch 2, Payday 3, and Redfall all launched to criticism from both reviewers and fans. It’s far rarer to see a AAA game’s community genuinely divided over whether or not a game is fantastic and groundbreaking, or an utter disaster at launch. But weirdly, that’s what’s happening with Dragon’s Dogma 2.
At the forefront of the “this is terrible” argument are criticisms of the game’s performance, which seems to be pretty awful across PC and consoles. Alongside that are complaints about the game’s 21 separate microtransactions, almost all of which are specifically designed to ease Dragon’s Dogma 2’s built-in player antagonism. Lots of players are furious about their inclusion, even moreso because Capcom seems to have sprung them on players day one.
But it’s not just microtransactions and performance that have upset the community. Also at the top of the complaint list for Dragon’s Dogma 2 is its exploration. While the world is enormous and full of secrets, players complain that it’s largely populated by the same enemies, over and over, appearing at high densities every time they try to run from place to place. Sure, the first time you fight a bunch of packs of wolves in a row it’s novel, but once you’ve gone from Vermund to Harve Village a few times, it gets quite repetitive.
The limitations on fast travel — you need a specific item to do it, and they’re on the rare-ish side, or available via microtransaction — don’t help either. Some towns let you reach them via oxcart ride, but every ride has a chance of being interrupted by enemy attacks that can destroy the cart entirely and force you to walk anyway.
There’s more. Players are rolling their eyes at the game’s story and writing, arguing that dialogue and plot are shallow, short, and repetitive. Others feel the game didn’t evolve enough past its predecessor, while some people are mad about combat and class balance or reduced quality of life features compared to the first game. Oh, and then there’s the Dragonsplague, which many bemoaned due to lack of information about how it worked and fears it could softlock their games.
This sounds like a pretty hefty laundry list of issues, and the Metacritic userscore and Steam user reviews are reflecting that frustration — they’re both mixed at the time this piece was published despite relatively high critical scores. And yet, numerous players are also coming to the game’s defense, acknowledging that while it has some issues (it’s hard to argue the performance is good, for instance), many of the other complaints are related to a fundamental misunderstanding of what Dragon’s Dogma is.
For instance, plenty of players are arguing the microtransactions don’t actually matter. They’re not really advertised in-game, they’re similar to microtransactions available in the first game, and their effects can be acquired via in-game items without spending real-world money at all. Plus, players argue, the friction players experience without buying anything is part of the charm of Dragon’s Dogma in the first place.
In fact, a lot of the proponents of Dragon’s Dogma 2’s supposed sins are emphasizing that the charm of the original, and thus its sequel, is that it’s inherently player antagonistic and kind of goofy. Exploration and travel, for instance, are supposed to be a pain in the butt. Ferrystones and a port crystal make it a lot more manageable, but without them, the wild is supposed to be dangerous. Players are meant to get lost, get into fights, and wander around aimlessly, not speed back and forth from town to town and beeline their way through the story. The fighting, the struggles, the slow pace of travel were all present in Dragon’s Dogma 1, and while it’s fine not to like them, many longtime fans are arguing it’s part of the charm of the series.
Some people are pointing out that a lot of the criticisms of Dragon’s Dogma 2 are actually based on misinformation. For instance, Dragonsplague can’t softlock your game, you can get all the items available from microtransactions through regular gameplay, and there are plenty of different ways to fast travel if you look for them. Others are coming to bat for Dragon’s Dogma 2’s story — not that it’s good, but that the journey and the world are the point, not the plot. Meanwhile, others are having way too much fun performing ridiculous stunts on huge enemies or making memes out of silly Pawn dialogue to get involved in the debate at all.
It also seems like players might be slowly coming around on the game. As one Reddit user pointed out, Dragon’s Dogma 2 launched to mostly negative reviews in the first few days. But now, it’s up to Mixed — a sign more people are playing and reviewing it positively.
Looking ahead, it seems likely that some concerns, especially related to quality of life issues and performance, will get fixed in an upcoming patch. Capcom also seems to be thinking of potential DLC for the game, which may end up soothing those upset about its story, especially given the popularity of the first game’s Dark Arisen expansion. But in the meantime, it looks like Dragon’s Dogma 2 is, well, about as divisive as its predecessor, which prompted very similar complaints from both critics and players but developed a cult following anyway. Maybe we’ll all be unanimously raving about Dragon’s Dogma 2 by the time Dragon’s Dogma 3 is announced.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.