Dragon’s Dogma 2 has debuted with a massive 87 on MetaCritic, with multiple perfect review scores across the board. Reception to the game has been wildly positive all around, with folks calling it the best fantasy RPG of the year, and good enough to rival Elden Ring in scope, popularity, and enthusiasm.
So far, reviews have called it “captivating” in nature, bold in ambition, and glorious in action, with its pawn system, combat, exploration, and quests all achieving high praise. It’s said to be a worthy successor to the original and beloved Dragon’s Dogma, but brimming with strong ideas and modern conveniences that make it a fantastic sequel.
If you’re keen to chew through a massive new RPG, plowing through quests and defeating monsters with every swing of your sword, then Dragon’s Dogma 2 sounds like it’ll be right up your alley. Here’s what the critics are saying about the game.
Read: Dragon’s Dogma 2 preview – Consider this Arisen primed and ready
VGC – 5 Stars
In a five star review for VGC, critic Jordan Middler called Dragon’s Dogma 2 “a nightmare for completionists” for all the right reasons, in that the game is incredible moreish, and filled with so many intriguing story beats that demand a revisit in alternate playthroughs. Middler also particularly praised the game’s overall design, quests, scale, world-building, and combat.
“It’s a game that’s rich in possibility everywhere you turn,” Middler said. “The world is so dense that you can literally get to the end of the story, fulfil the majority of the main quest objectives, and then realise there’s a whole faction, town, or multi-part mission you’ve missed. Dragon’s Dogma 2 is begging you to explore.”
GameSpot – 9/10
On GameSpot, reviewer Richard Wakeling praised Dragon’s Dogma 2 for how it builds on the original game, while also innovating and growing its main mechanics to create a “thrilling open-world adventure.” Wakeling loved the game’s exploration system and world, its “exciting” combat, and the way its companion system enhances gameplay.
“As a sequel, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is an extension of everything the first game achieved 12 years ago,” Wakeling said. “It’s an enchanting open-world RPG with varied, exciting combat and a player-created companion system that’s still unlike anything else. It doesn’t do much beyond what the original did, but advancements in technology have enhanced its anomalous strengths, breathing new life into its massive open world and the ways in which you and everything around you can interact with it.”
IGN – 8/10
Jarrett Green of IGN likened Dragon’s Dogma 2 to Evil Dead 2, in that they’re both revisits with bigger budgets, bigger ambitions, and stronger visions than their predecessors. Like other reviewers, Green noted that Dragon’s Dogma 2 doesn’t innovate much from the original Dragon’s Dogma – but with clever tweaks and heartier features, it’s still a more enjoyable, and far more impressive adventure.
“It is a retelling and reimplementation of all of those wonderful ideas from the 2012 cult-classic, including an awesome dynamic world and some of the best combat in the genre that integrates a subtle but amazingly complex physics system,” Green said.
While he did note some technical issues, including finicky AI, poor frame rate, and odd camera movements, he still found plenty to love in the “richly rewarding” adventure.
PC Gamer – 89/100
Writing for PC Gamer, critic Fraser Brown shared a variety of emotions about Dragon’s Dogma 2, calling it “glorious, thrilling, accidentally hilarious, frustrating, maddening” all at once. While he loved his time with it, he also called it a “huge pain the arse” as well as being one of his favourite RPGs, because it got its grips into him, and inspired an all-nighter.
“Obviously Capcom hasn’t just made the same game again – the quests are more impactful (if wonky), the world is bigger, the combat is more elaborate, and there are some welcome quality of life features,” Brown said. “But really this is just more Dragon’s Dogma. More huge monsters to fight, more adventures with a wonderful cast of pawns, more creatures to pick up and throw at their pals. It is very good and I am very, very tired.”
Eurogamer – 5 Stars
Like Jordan Middler at VGC, Lewis Parker of Eurogamer gave Dragon’s Dogma 2 a full five stars. That largely came down to the game’s major improvements over its predecessor, and the captivating nature of its journey. Per Parker, this sequel is overly gripping. Like Brown, he also ended up pulling long hours into the night while playing the game, encouraged by its moreish exploration.
“As I finally managed to pull myself away from Dragon’s Dogma 2, I realised attempting to be unbiased may no longer be possible, because Dragon’s Dogma 2 isn’t bothered about appeasing those who had issues with the original game,” Parker wrote. “In fact, it’s trying to do the complete opposite – it’s doubled down on everything that fans of the original game loved in the hopes of catering to its target audience, which just so happens to be me.”
GamesHub is currently playing Dragon’s Dogma 2 for review, and we’ll have our thoughts published at a later time. For those keen to jump in, it’s set to launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on 22 March 2024.
|
|
|
|
$69.99
|
$69.99
|
GamesHub has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content. GamesHub may earn a small percentage of commission for products purchased via affiliate links.
