Unless you’ve been living ala Fallout and have just exited your vault, you must have heard about Dragon’s Dogma 2. It’s been a little over a decade since the first iteration of the game was released but, admittedly, it’s only been on my radar since the hype started building for Capcom’s second go around with this IP.

I gave the Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen ago and, while I only sunk in a few hours before DD2 was released, I was immediately hooked and pre-ordered the game on the Playstation 5 where — according to the system — I am currently sitting at 11 hours as of writing this article.

All I can say at this point is that it’s the game that I needed. Let me explain.

No Hand-Holding Here. Enjoy at Your Own Pace.

If you’ve been keeping track of this game, you’ve probably heard this statement. There is no hand-holding in Dragon’s Dogma; meaning you’re free to venture out into the world and take your time (except for a few timed quests).

I loved this.

As someone who’s constantly under the pressure of deadlines and having to produce content for the channel to meet embargo schedules, the leisurely pace at which you could take the game appealed to me. Sure, you can power through the main quests if you wanted to but the ability to take your time through progression to learn the vocations and go through every corner of the map was an amazing feeling.

Of course, this means that you could miss out on a few important quests and items but — at least in my game — none of them seem to be game-breaking or make my character feel gimped.

Easily Switch Vocations (Classes)

There are a total of 10 Vocations (classes) in Dragon’s Dogma 2. You start with the core vocations (Fighter, Thief, Archer, and Mage) and, as you play through the game, unlock the Advanced or Hybrid vocations along the way.

Can you miss the unlocks? I have a feeling you can but there’s no shortage of guides on YouTube to make sure you don’t miss out on any. I haven’t been actively seeking out the advanced vocations myself but have 7 out of the 10 and I believe I’m still in the early game.

The great thing about DD2 is that they’ve made it extremely easy to switch vocations if you want to. You just have to go to an NPC, ask them to switch, and that’s pretty much it. If you don’t like how the Fighter plays, try the archer. Don’t like the Archer, how about the Mage? Don’t like the Mage… You get the picture.

You can even change the vocation of your Main Pawn as well.

This encourages experimentation with your character, Main Pawn, and the other two pawns that you can have in your party so you can take on the world as you see fit.

The Controversy

Again, if you’ve been keeping track of all the news about this game, then you would know that the reviews on Steam at launch were mostly negative. This was due to the tons of microtransactions that Capcom made available to change how your Character or Main Character looks and get in-game items to help you out on your journey. There are a ton.

The biggest one I didn’t like was that you couldn’t start a fresh game.

You see you only get one save file in DD2 and the game autosaves. No reloading if you messed up, or at least, you’d have to backtrack a whole lot if you don’t save at an Inn regularly. But, initially, there was no way to restart a whole new game if you wanted to.

Capcom listened to the feedback of the people and released a patch a couple of days ago to address the situation. You can now start a New Game if you really want to.

Sure, there are still a ton of microtransactions but none of them really feel necessary to advance you through the plot. You can purchase them in game by just playing and getting Rift Crystals when your Pawn gets used by other players or finding them out in the world. Capcom has even increased the stocks of a couple of items in the inventory of the in-game vendors so you don’t need to use actual money to change your appearance and the other helpful items as well.

It’s Definitely Not for Everyone

This is the game I needed at this point in my gaming life. I needed a game with enough action — and there’s plenty of action to be had — but at a pace where I could put it down, get actual work done, explore a cave while on a break, and experience the world with no deadlines. It really does feel like a therapeutic experience for me this entire Holy Week.

I am still in what’s considered the Early Game of Dragon’s Dogma 2 and that’s okay. No pressure to get to certain levels because my friends have been grinding it out on Helldivers 2 and, honestly, I think I’m getting my money’s worth.

If you want the feeling of instant progression, this might not be for you. Rise of the Ronin came out at the same time and I’m also hearing a lot of good things about that game but I’ll be enjoying my time as the Arisen for now, getting on the backs of Gryphons and hopefully not plummeting to my doom.