Dragon’s Dogma 2is a single-player game, andgoing off the review scores(and word of mouth from people whose opinions I trust), a pretty great one. It also, after the review embargo and shortly following the public launch,added a bunch of microtransactions to the game. This, many will tell you, is fine. Dragon’s Dogma 2 is fantastic, a major GOTY contender, the closest thingBaldur’s Gate 3has to a peer, and a must-play experience. Don’t let these microtransactions - that are completely optional - put you off. The game’s good, so why complain? But no matter the quality of the game, this is not a thing we should tolerate, much less justify, in our single-player games.
These features were included in the review guide, but not the actual game experience, which is obviously what reviewers focus on.
This sort of cashgrabbery doesn’t change in morality. It’s not bad when awful games do it but then kind of okay when good games do it because you don’t really need to bother with them. This sort of thing is the scourge of modern gaming, and this style of thinking makes so many games so much worse than they should be. Maybe Dragon’s Dogma 2 got out unscathed and it really is that good, with all the microtransactions entirely optional and having zero impact on your experience. But this method of game design is whySuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League(and a million others) end up contorted into shoddy hamster wheels powered by cash injections instead of something resembling an actual video game.
I firmly believe this is the core reasonsome feel alienated by games these days. Many games are no longer built with a player-first attitude in mind. It’s not about the coolest idea, or even what might be the most popular idea. It’s about which idea can be successfully milked for endless cash if we get people hooked, usually at the directive of executive suits.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 Is Worth It - Right?
When it comes to Dragon’s Dogma 2, that may be a little unfair. It’s a single-player experience being celebrated by critics who all played it without any of these options, and they didn’t find the game lacking. It can, and should, be experienced without spending a dime (outside of the $70 sticker price). It doesn’t appear then to have been designed from the ground up with the express purpose of being just fun enough to convince people to pay a little bit more to experience therealfun, but designed as a great game first and then had some optional extras slapped on to squeeze every last drop of profit. That’s a better attitude than many games have, but ultimately, it’s still not something we should embrace.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 is not just selling deluxe armour, or aesthetic upgrades. Nor is it selling fully fledged levels or map areas that would be worth paying extra to experience another chunk of the game. Primarily, it is selling the ability to customise your character and to fast travel. In other words, things every other game offers for free.
Defenders of the game, and by proxy, the practice, point to the intentional game design onCapcom’sbehalf. Fast travel requires spending in-game currency or items (earned, rather than bought), in an attempt to discourage players from leaping to the exact point they want to go to andinstead explore the world widely, wherenew discoveries lurk around every corner. This was the case in the first game too, so it is an established part of the game’s design. Though some quest-driven players may find it frustrating, it makes sense. The developers want you to roam around the world and encounter new things, so if you want to skip over that, you’ll need to either have the gold or the stones (both of which prove you’ve already been exploring) in order to do it.
Profits Before Artistic Vision
Capcom knows fast travel is more convenient, but rather than giving players what they want, they give them what they need - and the game is stronger for it. Only now, you can pay real money ($2.99) to skip steps required to enable it. It’s admitting that the artistic vision of the game is secondary to making a quick buck, and it makes you question the very intent. Sure, this was in the first game, but now they know they can sell a workaround, was the game design tweaked to encourage fast travel more often, thus pushing players into putting even more money into their $70 game?
Another deliberate choice by the developers wasthe restriction to a single character slot, a big break from RPG tradition - to make a new one, you’ll have to delete your original. you’re able to only customise this character in game with a Art of Metamorphosis tome, which cost 500 RC (a few hours of play a time) in game, or by forking over $1.99 to do it. Want a new Pawn inclination (a core part of Dragon’s Dogma’s quirky uniqueness being uncovering each Pawn’s personality?), just pay $1.99 to reroll yours.Need to escape from gaol? $0.99, please. Camp supplies too heavy for your character to carry? No problem, just $2.99 and the game will make them lighter for you.
These microtransactions are extremely micro. No $40 skins here. But that’s another issue with them. If Dragon’s Dogma 2 launched with a $40 skin, I probably wouldn’t care much because that’s an optional, aesthetic choice that requires more money than sense to even consider. But $1.99 to get a better Pawn? $2.99 when you really just can’t be bothered wandering and want to fast travel? $1.99 becausethat haircut or tattoo or scar doesn’t look as cool in the gameas it did in the character creator? A lot of people are going to pay that, even after paying $70 to play a single-player experience. The fact you can do it in game doesn’t matter when the choice is to take three hours earning that currency or five seconds spending it. AllOverwatchskins are free if you play the game enough.
This isn’t a free multiplayer title that needs to make money somehow, and the fact Capcom has done this before inResident EvilandDevil May Crymakes this worse, not better. Yes, Dragon’s Dogma 2 seems like it’s very good and yes, that means a lot of people should play it and not be put off by its Mostly Negative reviews complaining about MTX. But we should not tolerate $70 games nudging their prices up to $80 and $90 on the downlow by selling crucial features that the game deliberately restricts just because the $70 version is really, really, really good to begin with.
Dragon’s Dogma 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Dragon’s Dogma is the long-anticipated sequel to Capcom’s action RPG. Once again taking on the role of the Arisen, the game promises full customisation in how you create your character and play through your story.
