Now Playing - Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen Part 2
With various expansions and post-game content available in Dark Arisen, I am no where near from completing the game. If I were to estimate, I would probably guess I am somewhere between in the halfway mark judging from my character's level compared to the level cap. Thus far, progress through the game has been smooth and steady with my main character and pawn gaining consistent levels throughout. It certainly helps that I did take some time to research the mechanics of the game (something I was actually reluctant to do initially) and kept my character out of harm's way by only taking on favorable battles.
Within the opening hours, if I had not already known, it would have been hard for me to guess that Dragon's Dogma was a Japanese game. Save for the hallmark graphical presentation of the MT Framework engine and several other artistic choices, there was little to discern it from a Western-produced role-playing game. In fact, there were many a times that I got a real Lord of the Rings vibe when playing the game especially when raiding forts and fighting goblins.
Goblins, the first common enemy you will face in Dragon's Dogma and they become increasingly stronger as the game progresses. Other beasts of the wilds such as lizard man (Saurian), Direwolfs and giant spiders are also par the course. While they may pose a challenge initially, learning their tactics and developing a strategy to manage them in combat quickly helps make quick work out of even the toughest foe. The only real challenge comes in the form of mobs (regardless of the type of enemy) who quickly start to whittle down your entire party with sheer numbers alone. Those encounters require another different approach which is a wonderful way for the game to encourage its players to continuously learn.
Things start to get really interesting (and exciting), when you start meeting the mythical beasts of Dragon's Dogma. The very first you encounter maybe the Cyclops outside your local encampment which serves to give you a taste of the monstrosities to come. And the further along you progress, the more deadly these mythical beasts are.
Your run of the mill giants such as cyclops, golems and ogres may certainly pose a threat on their own. Until Dragon's Dogma really takes things up a notch by introducing the bread and butter mythical beast of Western folklore such as Griffins, Manticores and Chimeras!
Without a doubt, fighting these formidable beasts have served as the highlight of my game thus far. More so since my main character plays the role of the offensive tank which sees her front and center of it all. Each beast has its own unique set of moves and factors which make them lethal but, none have yet to best the might of my knight's sword and board.
In true Japanese game fashion, many of these beasts are damage sponges with lethal strikes. What this translates to is a general approach of dealing repetitive strikes to eventually whittle their numerous life bars down all while avoiding taking too much damage. Admittedly, some do become rather repetitive later on such as the aforementioned cyclops. In which case, the game spices things up by just adding more of them. Simple solution, no?
With a party of up to four team members, it is up to you how you would like to structure your party members. As any seasoned RPG veteran would tell you, balance is the key here. There is certainly more flexibility and wriggle room in the early stages of the game to experiment with different classes within the party. Another aspect of the learning process of Dragon's Dogma. I think you are starting to notice a pattern here?
By the time you reach a dozen hours into the game, you should have a pretty good idea on how to formulate your party with your main character and pawn being the two control factors which then decide how the rest of your party is built. Since I play the role of the offensive tank with my main pawn as an offensive spell-caster, I left my two remaining party members as a ranged rogue and supporting healer. The end result? Devastating area of effect spells with a central tank who never dies.
This sweet balance of roles within my party then brings me onto my next point in my game experience thus far, progress. Throughout my first Dragon's Dogma play-through my progress can only be described as one thing, incredibly smooth. All throughout, I have yet to run into any hiccups or challenges which may otherwise hold me back from proceeding. Every enemy skillfully slain and any mystery carefully resolved.
But it is this very progress which also forms one of my main gripes about the game and that is, its story. Without spoiling too much or over complicating things, the story in Dragon's Dogma is incredibly intertwined. So much so that even the smallest side quest can end up affecting entire main story lines and worst even locking up entire areas of the map! Both of which occurred to me during my current play-through and is mindbogglingly frustrating. In fact, I only came to know about the quests I had missed from going through the wiki for the game.
Quests that are missed at the very start of the game end up causing ripples all throughout the game with most of them having irreversible consequences. If you had missed the side quest and progressed with the main quest, that entire branch of story then becomes essentially void. To make matters worst, many of these side quests are not even obvious and most of them require you go out of your way to find them.
Upon doing further research, I do understand that this was an intentional system by the game producers as multiple play-throughs have always been a major point of Dragon's Dogma. Playing the game through New Game+ while learning striving to correct the mistakes you made the first time around. It is meant to add longevity to the game and infinite replayability. On one hand, I do understand why they would make such a decision and it is a very commonly seen implementation in Japanese games.
But in my opinion, it is also a decision that stifles the game massively. For players such as myself who really only have the time to invest in a single play-through and have limited number of hours on our hands, Dragon's Dogma starts to become a very unpleasant proposition halfway through. When I first started playing, I wanted to have an organic of an experience as possible without having to rely on any game guides of wiki(s). But as I have found out, not relying on them turns out to be an even bigger deterrent to my experience. Though when I do use it, then I completely lose all the surprise and find myself spending much too much time artificially planning the progress of my character. All things I had not intended for when I first picked up the title.
At this point, I am pretty much at a cross-roads. Do I double down on research and try to get the best possible experience out of a single play-through. Or do I accept things as they are and continue to strive for an organic experience. I am still very much leaning towards the latter but, who knows? One thing is for sure, I will still continue my road down Dragon's Dogma and I can only hope that what lies for me at the end is a memory that I can hold dear. Until then, that has been all for this chapter of Now Playing. Thank you so much for reading and do have yourself a wonderful day ahead!
Comments
Post a Comment