How Dragon's Dogma 2 Missed the Mark Pt. 1
What could have made it Legendary
Capcom’s Dragon’s Dogma 2 prior to its release had been a long-awaited sequel that promised to expand upon the original’s unique blend of action RPG mechanics, engaging combat, and immersive open-world exploration.
While it delivers stunning visuals and very solid gameplay, it stumbles in its narrative and world-building, leaving players yearning for more depth and innovation. Here's a breakdown of where it faltered and how it could have reached its full potential.
The Story, A Shallow Journey
The narrative in DD 2 fails to capture the intrigue and emotional depth necessary to engage players fully. While the original’s plot centered around the Arisen's epic quest against a dragon and its philosophical undertones about free will, the sequel’s story feels disjointed and uninspired in comparison. The still characters lack development, and the stakes often feel very hollow, reducing potentially epic moments to forgettable set pieces at best.
Room for Improvement
The story could benefit from deeper character arcs, narrative rich quests, moral ambiguity, and choices that have far reaching lasting consequences. For instance, introducing multiple factions with conflicting ideologies could give players meaningful decisions to shape the world. Moreover, adding in darker themes, like betrayal and sacrifice, would add a much needed emotional weight, making the journey more personal to the players and in the end more compelling.
The Missed Opportunity for Stonepunk Aesthetics
DD2 builds upon the medieval high fantasy world of its predecessor, but it feels overly familiar and lacks the distinctiveness needed to stand out within an already oversaturated niche.The game could have embraced elements of "stonepunk," ( AKA Flintstone Punk ) a speculative aesthetic where people live / work alongside dinosaurs & at times other prehistoric beasts, where technology is inspired by ancient tools and natural materials, such as using stone, wood, and primitive mechanisms in creative ways.
Why Stonepunk?
Stonepunk aesthetics could have provided a fresher take on the fantasy genre. Imagine towns powered by giant stone gears, Brachiosaurus dinosaurs being used as primitive buses capable of transporting multiple people across the game world, hunting down cannibalistic feral tribes for bounties, or crafting advanced legendary weapons and armor sets from dinosaur bone, claws, leather, and teeth. These elements would've added a layer of visual and thematic intrigue, blending the fantastical with the primitive in a way that feels both one of a kind and immersive.
Expanding the World
Despite offering player's a sprawling open world to explore, it often feels empty. The few towns and cities that are available lack diversity, and the absence of distinct cultural identities makes them blend together and overtime leads to a sense of dullness, effectively killing off any zeal to go anywhere near them anymore than absolutely necessary. Additionally, enemy encounters grow repetitive over time, detracting from the excitement of exploration.
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