Dragon's Dogma - Xbox 360

Capcom Delivers An Open World Worth Exploring

Jeff Cork — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Dragon’s Dogma is one of those rare “have your cake and eat it, too” games, where the inspired designers take elements from several different genres and mash them together. In this case, open-world RPGs and hack-and-slash action games are the source materials. It’s not perfect, but its arsenal of unusual party mechanics and combat flourishes make it worthy of any virtual sword-swinger’s time.

Dragon’s Dogma is strictly a single-player experience, though AI companions called pawns help sell the concept that your hero isn’t alone in the sprawling fantasy world of Gransys. You create your own pawn in the beginning of the game, selecting its gender, tweaking its appearance, and choosing its class. As you travel the world, your pawn soaks up and shares information about the environments, quests, and enemies it’s exposed to. In a battle against a cyclops, for instance, your companion might recommend stunning the creature with a blast of lightning. Walk near a beach, and your pawn may drop hints that valuable items may have washed ashore.

If you’re connected online, you can hire pawns that other players have created, and they’ll join your game with whatever knowledge, gear, and skills they’ve already acquired. It works the other way around, as well. When you visit an inn, you may get word that your pawn has returned back from adventuring in someone else’s game (even if they’ve been beside you the entire time. Suspend your disbelief.). Those adventures add to your pawn’s knowledge base, meaning that they can help you out in situations that are new to you. It’s quite clever, and I always got excited each time my pawn came back with valuable information – especially when those tips led to more loot.

Pawns may not be the greatest conversationalists – expect to hear plenty of repeated dialog – but they’re indispensable in battle. Dragon’s Dogma provides a rich and satisfying combat system, and the pawns hold their own against Gransys’ varied bestiary of classic mythological creatures. Some of the team members from the Devil May Cry series worked on this game, and that pedigree shines through the action-heavy encounters. Players have access to a wide array of combos, juggles, and other deadly tools. Your character’s actions are quick and responsive, and combat feels more like something that you’d experience in a full-fledged action game than the sluggish offerings that action RPGs typically provide. You can create a balanced party with tanks, healers, and damage dealers, but it’s not mandatory. I had the most fun when my magic archer teamed up with a pair of mages and a sorcerer. My heat-seeking arrows combined with their magic attacks to create a deadly spectacle.

One of my favorite parts of the game is how Capcom expertly layers skill progression, loot upgrades, and the pawns to sell the feeling that you’re a powerful force in a brutal world. I was pleased to see how regularly my skills progressed throughout my journey, and they went far beyond the simple “+2 damage” type improvements I’ve grown accustomed to. I felt pretty slick the first time I fired ricocheting magic bolts of energy into an unexplored tunnel and heard unseen monsters squeal in pain. A few hours later, I was able to shoot three of those same blasts simultaneously. Character respecs are easy, which came in handy when I jealously watched a melee-based pawn in action. A short while later, I was exploring the world as a newly minted warrior.

If you need a strong story to pull you along in your adventures, you may be disappointed with Dragon’s Dogma. In the beginning of the game, your character meets a dragon and has his or her heart yanked out. From there, it’s up to you to find the dragon and slay it. That’s basically all there is, for better or worse. Personally, I’d rather make my own fun than sit through hours of cutscenes, so this spartan approach didn’t bother me. Quests provide a nice incentive to explore the world and give the experience some much-needed direction. Capcom delivers a solid balance between mundane collection quests and more ambitious tasks. In one early mission, I had to escort a rickety cart carrying a hydra’s head to a duke for a tribute. The bloody trophy was a magnet to the region’s goblins and harpies, and I was barely able to guide the cart through a winding canyon with just a sliver of health remaining.

I play a lot of action/RPGs, and I was continuously surprised at how Capcom managed to freshen up many of the stale aspects of the genre. Mages and sorcerers deal with elements we’ve all seen before, but not quite like this. Freakish spires of ice pummel unsuspecting foes, while lightning attacks are delivered not in mini lightning storms, but in crackling bolts that are wielded like whips.

Dragon’s Dogma is an unconventional game for Capcom, and action/RPGs in general. Combat feels like a necessary part of the game’s design, rather than something that was begrudgingly added to provide interaction between cutscenes. I left the game feeling that I made my mark on Gransys the way I chose to, instead of being escorted from plot point to plot point. When you’re talking about an open-world game, I can’t think of higher praise.

Beasts Attacked With Axes In New Dragon's Dogma Screens

Andrew Reiner — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:29:00 GMT

Dragon's Dogma's May 22 release date is just around the corner. Game Informer associate editor Jeff Cork spent the majority of last week playing the game for review (scheduled to hit in the June issue). While I can't reveal his thoughts on the game at this point, I can say that he didn't move from his seat for alarming stretches of time. If you watched our Guinness World Record documentary, you know that Jeff is known for his ability to sit in one place. Take that for what it is: Dragon's Dogma kept Jeff Cork plastered in his seat.

If you want to take a tour of Jeff Cork's adventures, Capcom has released a batch of new screenshots of the game. You can also watch 15 minutes of the game in action.

Quick 15: Dragon’s Dogma

Ben Reeves — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Core team member from the Devil May Cry series have been working on Capcom’s open-world RPG for some time now, but how close will this Japanese team get to emulating Kingdoms of Amalur’s – or even Skyrim’s – success? We take a peek at the game’s first 15 minutes.

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New Dragon's Dogma Video & Screens

Matthew Kato — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:33:00 GMT

The bugs in Skyrim may have rendered some of those dragons laughable, but the beasts in Dragon's Dogma look like serious business.

Check out the game's latest trailer in advance of its May 22nd release on Xbox 360 and PS3. It's particularly cool to note that the trailer showcases the game's clinging mechanic, where you can get up close and attach yourself to a dragon before it seamlessly takes flight (sounds like a bad idea!).

For more on the game (be sure to take a look at the new screens in the gallery below), check out this story trailer.

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Dragon's Dogma Now Coming This May

Jeff Cork — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:28:00 GMT

Dragon's Dogma was originally slated for a March release, but it's slid back into the end of May. Capcom has released a new trailer for the game as a consolation prize of sorts, which shows off plenty of action and a little bit about the game's heart-stealing dragon.

Dragon's Dogma is Capcom's stab at the open-world RPG, and is being developed by members of the core team behind the Devil May Cry series. Dragon's Dogma hits North America on May 22, 2012 and across Europe on May 25, 2012

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For more on Dragon's Dogma, check out our latest preview.

Pawns And People-Making

Tim Turi — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 04:35:00 GMT

Dragon’s Dogma is Capcom’s effort to deliver an action-packed fantasy adventure with RPG elements. The game is quite unlike anything I’ve seen the publisher put out, and a recent TGS 2011 presentation answered a few questions I didn’t know I had. The demo explained more about the pawn system, transportation, and character customization.

The demo started with the developers creating a new character. Crafting a character is a deep process, with more options and adjustment sliders than you’ll ever need to get the slope of your forehead just right. The Capcom developers created a very becoming young lady, going out of their way to increase her bust size. Capcom is confident that players will be able to sink hours into creating characters if they wish.

Your main hero isn’t the only denizen of Dragon’s Dogma that you can create. Pawns, AI partners which accompany you through your quest, can be created and shared with friends. Pawns created by you and your friends will not only populate the game world, but can be recruited by visiting a Rift Stone. This glowing stone will teleport you to a new area, but Capcom isn’t ready to talk about the specifics of the mysterious location yet.

Having allies will come in handy if the mountainside battle I saw was any indication. The demonstrator traveled to the snowy pass by using a Ferrystone, which is a stone that teleports the player in a flash of light when through into the air. White-capped peaks collide with a row of huge Evergreen as a castle looms in the background. The scene reminded me of Isengard from The Lord of the Rings. The crew immediately encounters a huge armored cyclops. The beast’s helmet protects its vulnerable eye, so new non-ocular focused tactics are necessary. The player character, a sorcerer, casts an ice spell which shoots huge tendrils of ice from the ground into the monster. After throwing down a few fire spells, the cyclops is knocked down. The sorcerer’s loyal warrior companions leap on the fallen beast and begin attacking. It becomes clear that this foe can take a beating when it shakes off its attackers an stands again. Changing tactics, the sorcerer moves to a new position, putting the cyclops between her and the steep cliff. A perfectly-timed ice blast knocks the towering creature off the mountain, along with the poor pawn clinging to its helmet. I guess that pawn was interested in taking a shortcut to the cyclops’ loot.

This hands-off demo gave me a good sense of how some important facets of Dragon’s Dogma play out, but it did very little to get me pumped for the day. Everything I’ve seen up until now has gotten me very excited, and I’ve been one of the game’s biggest champions in the Game Informer office. While the pawn system is interesting, I’m looking forward to seeing more about the game’s quests, world, and progression.

Not Just A Pawn

Jeff Cork — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 18:35:00 GMT

When Capcom revealed Dragon’s Dogma at its Captivate event in April, the game’s development team teased about how the game would have an online component, but that it wasn’t a traditional approach. Today at Gamescom, they elaborated on what exactly they meant. And you know what? They were absolutely right.

To refresh your memory, Dragon’s Dogma is Capcom’s attempt at creating an action-based, open-world RPG. In the game, the player character is accompanied by three other AI-controlled allies, known as pawns. They work with the player, calling out strategies, providing buffs and heals, and generally offering invaluable assistance on the battlefield.

As it turns out, those pawns aren’t as simple as they may have seemed. According to the game’s lore, pawns never age or die. That’s a convenient way to explain how they can be revived after a battle, but it also ties in nicely to the game’s online functionality.

At the beginning of the game, players are assigned a pawn who will accompany the player for the duration of the game. That character, like the main character, can be customized in both the way he or she looks to what kind of role they will take in fights. A magic user might want to team up with a fighter, for instance, since casting spells takes time and leaves the caster vulnerable. The other two pawns can be recruited from a place called the Rift.

Players enter the Rift, which looks like a foggy, black expanse of nothingness. Pawns mill around, looking to be recruited. Players bring them back to the physical plane, where they fight alongside each other. Here’s the interesting bit: Players can send their companion pawn into the Rift, where players online can recruit them. Those pawns you see in the Rift? They actually belong to other people. As your pawn goes through adventures, they retain currency and experiences. When you synch your pawn back into your game, those memories can help you.

For example, your pawn may join a player during a boss battle that you haven’t yet encountered. When she rejoins you and you eventually find the same creature, she’ll offer you tips on how to defeat it. Likewise, she might point you toward points of interest that she saw on her own that you might not otherwise discover.

Capcom says that the game was designed to be a single-player adventure, first and foremost. That clearly didn’t prevent the developers from experimenting with online support. If it manages to deliver what they outlined in today’s presentation, I can’t wait to send my pawn into the Rift. I kind of like the idea that my pawn could be having amazing adventures while I’m sleeping. The fact that I’d benefit from them is even better.

Capcom Shows Off A Glimpse Of The Golem

Jeff Cork — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:42:00 GMT

Dragon's Dogma has been pulling its enemy roster from classic mythology, featuring enemies such as chimeras, hydras, and griffins. That trend is continuing, with the reveal of the game's golem creature.

As you can see in the gallery below, the towering enemy looks to be a formidable opponent. If his stature isn't imposing enough, there's the fact that Capcom says he is equipped with a "GIANT LASER BEAM" (their emphasis).

Look for the game on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012. Also, check out our E3 preview to get a sense of what Dragon's Dogma is all about.

We Take On The Chimera

Jeff Cork — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 23:03:00 GMT

Capcom's Dragon's Dogma is an open-world, action-based RPG—a pretty big departure for the company. Earlier, I had a chance to take on a griffin in a mid-boss sized encounter. Today on the floor at E3, I checked out a level that ended with a different mythological beast. And even though this level was the game's prologue, the battle was no less intense.

The beginning stretch of the demo got me reacquainted to the basics, such as equipping and lighting a torch to illuminate a path through a dark series of caverns. The bodies of soldiers littered the ground, and my companion warned me of the dangers ahead. Like me, he was a melee-based fighter, and we both tore through the first few waves of goblins without much trouble. A bit further down the path, I encountered a stone that summoned some more AI companions (or "pawns" in the game's lingo) to accompany us on our journey.

Their timing couldn't have been any better.

Shortly after joining us, the archer and mage proved their worth against a flock of harpies. Hovering overhead, they were tough for my fighter to attack. The archer did a good job of knocking them down, and once the mage imbued my sword with fire, I hacked and burned them with ease. The d-pad was a handy way to issue orders such as "help" and "attack," but the pawns did a decent job of holding their own in the field. Occasionally, one would grab and hold an enemy, allowing a partner to go in for a quick kill. The slow motion effect was interesting, but it also grabbed the camera's focus. I lost track of the action several times, and resorted to mashing on light attack to at least provide some defense while I whirled the camera back to a better position. Maybe I need to get used to it, maybe it's something that's still being tuned, or maybe it's a genuine cause for concern. Who knows.

After slaughtering the harpies, we finally came face to face with the prologue's main baddie: a chimera. If you're a little rusty on your mythology, the chimera is a beast with the head of a lion, a goat's head in the middle of its spine, and a serpent for a tail. It's a weird-looking mishmash of parts, but its definitely dangerous.

I ran in close, and climbed up the creatures front ruff. From there, I hacked at the tail, which was the most immediate threat. It struck out at my party, inflicting status ailments on anyone who was unfortunate enough to get in range. The mage went from providing support to going into full-on nuke mode. That proved to be the best strategy, and after a few minutes of darting in, climbing up, and slashing away, it fell down for the last time.

The demo was relatively brief, but it was definitely exciting. I'm curious to see how the other classes play, particularly the mage. If it's anything as flexible and deadly as my pawn companion, I'm in for a treat.

Capcom Tackles Open-World RPGs With Dragon's Dogma

Jeff Cork — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:42:01 GMT

Capcom is known for being a risk-taker among Japanese publishers, but the newly announced Dragon’s Dogma is pushing the company out of its comfort zone even further. The RPG blends party management and action with an ambitiously large open-world setting and impressive boss encounters. I was able to play through one such encounter, against a griffin.

There wasn’t much context to the demo, aside from knowing that players start the game off after having their heart stolen by a dragon. The dragon then instructs players to follow a series of quests. That’s all I knew as my party of four descended a hill toward a cluster of goblins. They’ve either killed a large animal or stumbled upon its corpse, and they’re celebrating the occasion with dancing and hooting. Unfortunately, the festivities are about to come to a brutal end.

My AI companions (or pawns, as Capcom calls them) begin the attack, with melee fighters closing in and bashing the goblins with swords. Meanwhile, the mage holds back, taking on a supporting role. As a strider, my character is equipped with a bow and daggers. I fire off a few arrows before moving in for a more personal attack. My character is equipped with a few specialized dagger skills, such as one that propels me closer to a targeted enemy and another than lets me unleash a volley of quick slashes. The goblins are weak, and they fall quickly. A few times, my teammates manage to grab an enemy from behind, temporarily incapacitating it. They signal for me to finish them off, which I do with a slow-motion flourish.

Even though I’m playing the game by myself, the constant chatter and feedback from my companions makes it feel as though I’m accompanied by a competent party. “They’ll learn things during the fight; they may figure out its weak point before you or figure out what types of weapons work better against it,” says Hiroyuki Kobayashi, the game’s producer. “They’ll pass that information to you.”

I get a better sense of that when we’re attacked by a massive griffin. It circles above, and one of the pawns tells me to look overhead. Pressing the circle button on the PS3 controller focuses the camera in on such points of interest. The creature swoops down, knocking a few of the pawns over in its wake. It circles back and then hovers. Realizing a potential vulnerability, the mage buffs my weapons with a fire enhancement, which makes my arrows particularly effective against its feathery head. A few arrows later, and the griffin skids to the ground, writhing in pain.

As I rush in and slash at its feathery crest with my blade, its snowy white crest becomes increasingly disheveled and bloody. Eventually it rises up, stomping at nearby attackers with its fearsome claws and snapping with its beak. We pull back, and the mage begins a round of healing spells. While I can use the d-pad to issue general commands such as “help” “attack” or “come here,” the pawns seem to be doing a great job by themselves. When one gets knocked down, it calls for help and a nearby ally stops what he was doing and revives his fallen partner.

The griffin begins its hovering cycle again, but this time a pawn positions herself beneath the monster. Braving the gusts generated by the flapping wings, she calls to me and says I should use her to jump onto the beast. I follow her advice, and I’m soon scrambling up its leg, onto its back, and then finally near its neck. From there, I pound on the gryphon with my daggers. Capcom says that these climbing elements are going to be a large part of the game’s action.

“There’s no set point where you can grab and climb up onto these big bosses,” says Kobayashi. “You can grab them anywhere they have an appendage thrown out. A lot of action games where they do big boss fights, a lot of times they’ll only let you attack the shins or the ankles of the boss. They don’t really give you the feel of the size of that creature. So we’ve made it so you can climb up anywhere and attack any part of their body.”

After getting in a few more stabs, I drop down and pull out my bow. Once again, I’m given a fire buff and I use a specialized bow attack, which creates a raining fusillade of arrows. That’s enough to knock the griffin down for the last time. With only a sliver of health remaining, I rush in and finish it off with a few flourishing blows.

I played the demo a few more times after that, and it was surprising to see how much variety the battle offered. I tried things like using goblin corpses to lure the beast to certain areas, and even took a support role myself as the pawns took over. Parts of the game are a little rough still—some of the audio clips are repeated a bit too frequently, for instance—but it’s definitely an ambitious project that shows some very real potential.

Look for the game in early 2012 on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

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