0 comments

Dragon’s Dogma 2 has incredible combat and an exciting world to explore | Hands-on preview

by Chris White on March 5, 2024

Dragon’s Dogma 2 promises plenty of quests from a variety of different NPCs going about their daily lives, and deep customisation for both you and your primary Pawn, as well as myriad of other features and mechanics. While all of the reveals so far sound interesting, if it isn’t exciting to play then everything else doesn’t really matter. I recently went to London to play three hours of Capcom’s upcoming sequel to the highly successful action-RPG from 2012, and after plenty of surprising encounters with the monsters of two of its impressive worlds, I was left amazed by its ambitious and compelling combat.

My time with Dragon’s Dogma 2 consisted of exploring two separate locations, Battahl and Vermund. I didn’t do any quests or follow any particular path. Instead, I was allowed to roam free and simply exist in these worlds, fight whatever stood in my way and do whatever I wanted. Battahl was filled with canyons and caves, reminiscent of the American West if it was filled with rock golems, griffins, and goblins. For this area, I experimented with the Archer vocation, and while not my favourite of the two, it forces you to play at range and make use of the different types of arrows.

I battled a bunch of goblins within the first five minutes or so, and it took a bit of time to get used to it, but once I knew what the mechanics for the Archer were, and how best to make use of the vocation, I saw great potential in its ranged attacks. You can switch between three types of arrows, and two of which involved fire and ice. By holding in the right shoulder button, it improves both the damage it’ll do, as well as utilising that arrow’s specific skill. The fire arrow can be guided like the homing Batarangs in the Arkham games, while you can fire multiple ice arrows at once. These are all great in the wide open space of the canyons, but it’s the ricochet arrows that are the most impressive.

I used them in one of the enclosed spaces, and they can do tons of damage as they bounce off every surface and continue to hurt any enemies within the vicinity. I was constantly impressed with the fluidity of combat, switching between the different arrow types and keeping at range while most of my pawns got up close and personal. There’s another skill the Archer has which became vital, and that’s the ability to heal my party by firing an arrow that restores health but also revives fallen pawns. While you can switch between each type of arrow, you’re also free to use quick fire on them for a consistent stream of attack from afar.

Playing as the Archer was still amazing, but it was the Mystic Spearhand where it really clicked for me. There seemed to be more options for attack with a spear, and I was able to get in close and unleash a barrage of attacks and skills with it that were not only impactful but glorious to watch them all unfold. It has light and strong attacks, but the special abilities make it so much better. You can teleport to an enemy from distance; create a shield around yourself; raise a bunch of enemies into the air and temporarily freeze them in stasis; and trigger an animation where you finish off an enemy in style.

There’s more to master with the Mystic Spearhand, but the results feel more rewarding and satisfying. With this vocation I got to explore the lush forests and open air of Vermund, which felt vastly different from Battahl. I fought hairy ogres, wolves, harpies, and a huge wyvern that I was far too underpowered to fight. What made Dragon’s Dogma 2 so much fun to play was not only experimenting with each of the vocation’s moveset but the random encounters and ways the action unfolds between you and the variety of enemies, whether they’re small goblins are massive griffins.

Two particular moments stand out from my preview, and even if I’d not seen anything else, they’d have been enough to convince me Dragon’s Dogma 2 will be well worth playing upon release. The first took place in Battahl after I made my way out of one of the caves and laid eyes on a rock golem. It may not have been the smartest idea to fire a plethora of ice arrows at it (specifically because it seemed immune to magical arrows), but I wanted to test myself against some of the game’s bigger and tougher monsters. While my party and I engaged in combat, I wasn’t prepared for what happened next.

As screeches filled the air, I looked up to discover a huge griffin was about to attack, landing in the battlefield and began to fight with the golem. The moment reminded me of those times in Monster Hunter where anything can happen, and those random monster battles felt like watching Godzilla beat the crap out of other Kaiju. The griffin started to fight both the golem and my pawns, while I tried my best to support from a distance. It felt epic in every sense, and trying to heal my pawns while providing a source of damage tested me to the limits.

The other moment that stands out happened in Vermund, and was perhaps my favourite of the two. As I stood on top of a cliff face and looked down, I could see an ogre wandering around below. After weighing up my changes, I decided to run down the cliff and jump on top of the ogre, stabbing it repeatedly with my spear. After a few seconds of riding the beast, it threw me off into the brine (a dangerous red mist that lives in the water) and I began to get consumed by it, however, the stupid creature followed me into the water and we both got consumed by the ravenous river.

There were plenty of other times in the preview where I was left in awe, and it was only three hours. Battling a flock of harpies upon a fjord; seeing the ricochet arrows rip apart a gang of raiders in a cave; fighting a huge wyvern while clinging on for dear life; and taking in the beautiful scenery of both Vermund and Battahl were all highlights. Dragon’s Dogma 2 is going to be special, and I only got to see a small fraction of the finished game. With multiple vocations still to see and more of the fantastical world to explore, along with plenty of quests and random areas and secrets to discover, I can’t wait to play more.