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Dragon's Dogma

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Loving the exploration. The motivation for it is to find out what weird creature is next going to appear. It can be immensely intense and rewarding. As your pawns fight people they learn how best to kill stuff. My dude has already adpated his tactics to be more in line with his opponents, letting me drop Harpies before rushing in and hitting them.

It is exciting stuff to walk into a new area and then wondering what boss creature is going to try and fuck you up.

Aw man..... This sounds awesome!!! I am going to Best Buy today to get something practical... damn it.

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Oh sweet lord, after the weekend I just had I figured I would take it easy. Ended up playing Dragon's Dogma until 2 in the morning. It took me 4 hours to finish one quest last night. It involved travelling up into the mountains, past hordes of goblins, a few Cyclopses, a weird arachnid behemoth (that I just ran from), some Saurian creatures and a full on Dragon. The fort itself involved climbing all over the place trying to raise the portcullis while avoiding two turrets and some wandering beasts.

After killing two more Cyclopses the army I was helping charged in and we fought our way to the top of the fort's central tower to fight another Cyclops and defeat a goblin chieftain. The two Pawns I had hired had done the quest before so they knew where to go and what to kill, an interesting twist that there were multiple ways into the tower and if I had rolled as a much shorter character it looks like I could have snuck in.

Anyways this game keeps revealing new depths, it is fantastic.

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Oh man. I've barely started this game and already a dilemma.

I kind of want to go wizard, because of the wizarding and all that, but I don't want to miss out on climbing on top of massive dudes and stabbing them. I did this in the prelude and it was extremely enjoyable. Also, I'm assuming magic user = very easy to die?

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You should be fine, every class can climb all over monsters it is just that as the Mage you really shouldn't as you are meant to be at the back. There is a hybrid class that is part warrior part healer (Mystic Knight?) that can cast a few spells and then lay down hurt. The magic users do go down quickly but if you are a damage type sorceror then just run with a mage as back up and two beefy dudes up front that pull aggro (there is Battle cry that the warrior can do and Shield Bash that the Fighter can do which will attract attention away from you). Sit down and chat to your pawn when you get to the capital and make sure that they know exactly what you want them to do (draw aggro, focus on the ranged and magic users, heal you etc).

Their AI gets better the more they fight with you and other pawns. Another thing I would recommend is initially hiring (and paying for) pawns that are in the late teens early twenties, a lot of the Pawns that will come with you that early in the game might be free but will be completely rubbish. Another thing to look out for is that a lot of vocations (classes) will reach their cap by early twenties (at which point the game encourages you to change) so a lot of times you will find that there are some characters in their late twenties that are actually worse because they are still learning the new vocation they switched to.

Also, if you find you dislike the vocation you have picked it costs nothing to switch back to your previous vocation.The hybrid vocations are really fascinating I have turned into a Magic Archer and she basically has these crazy lockon abilities that allow her to whittle at health bars from miles away and it means that my bruisers roll over the remainders. That is until you meet one of the crazy roaming monsters.

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Cheers for the advice! I've been slowly moving into the game (work has been tough). I must say it's a lot of fun so far, looking forward to really loosing the reins a little.

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Not sure that you can see these as you might have to be friends with me on facebook, but I have been taking pictures of the game through the share feature. I think I got some pretty good ones:

Let me know if they are visible and if they aren't, and you are interested I will transfer them over to another site at some point this week.

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Those images are accessible for me; very nice! I enjoy the shots with your lantern as the sole source of of illumination. Night-time being something more than just a minor aesthetic change was something that caught my interest in seeing a preview of this game. Has that borne out in the finished product?

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I think this is a game I'm comfortable not playing, though I really like the idea of it.

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Awh, that is too bad.

The game starts off tough but the learning curve is steady. The game takes a lull about 3/4 of the way through where the missions don't really deviate from the usual 'Go to from point A to B to kill X of Y'. The challenge is where it is fun and the constant threat of meaningful encounters is great. For example taking on a bunch of harpies and just as you are trouncing them a Griffin flies down and starts duking it out with you.

At around the 3/4 mark though I actually started to feel really sorry for the big creatures, a Chimera - once so threatening - can be taken down in about 30 seconds. Fortunately the 'ending' is strong with some bigger and newer challenges throwing themselves up against you and a couple of interesting narrative ideas. The New Game plus actually plays as an extension of the story with the world changing and the creatures you encountering returning to the same challenge that experience when you first start.

Night does have an impact, visibility is extremely poor and getting stuck in certain areas without the right equipment will get you into a lot of trouble. Fortunately there is quick save available to keep you trucking along.

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I love games that actually try to make visibility a thing that you have to deal with, but it always seems like a risky thing for developers to do, because so many players react angrily to having their vision restricted. (Or people fiddle with gamma settings to outright cheat it.)

Anyways, i finally got myself a copy of this.

I'm really into it, thus far.

Had a laugh at the j-rock main theme.

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So the towns are huge and populous and obviously a lot of work went into them, but they are also, as a matter of aesthetics, boring and bland and lifeless feeling. The lighting is so uniform, and feature just such cruddy, indistinct architecture; the cities are ugly and uninteresting to look at, it's really bothering me. It's not just the brown medieval town thing, it's like it lacks an identity.

The huge areas around the towns are quite amazing though, been getting a bit of an SOTC vibe wandering those landscapes. (If SOTC had bandits and goblins aggroing on you every ten feet.)

There's a weird two-slot save scheme that doesn't doesn't quite give you any insight or control for how it works. That's kind of fucked up.

I think I've seen that "BUY OUR DLC" tutorial message pop up on my screen every hour or so.

Trading any significant number of items between party members probably takes more time than it should. (Also, and this maybe isn't a realistic expectation, but being able to define weapon/armor sets would have been just super. It's that you're constantly swapping out gear when changing vocations, you end up having a lot of pieces to track.) On the other hand, that shop crafting can "see" my Inn storage is very appreciated.

I love the combat in this game, that is the reason to play this, it's really superbly well executed stuff. (Really needs item hot keys though.)

The pawn trading thing is very interesting, seeing pawns of other players just wandering around roads and towns waiting to be recruited, all that stuff. (The people of this world don't seem particularly bothered by all of these immortal, interdimensional, vagabond homonculi roaming their streets.) I don't get all the social stuff Capcom has tied into the Pawn trading though. I don't think that needs to be there, that's probably a little misguided for the kind of game this is.

Anyways, Pawns are awesome. After my disappointing experience with the demo, i am surprised, they're actually really very smart. Admittedly, i'm not more than ten hours into the game, but i have yet to see the AI stumble.

I've read some things about the AI in the game, but i can't really speak to what the nuts and bolts of it actually are. I can only say that i have seen my main pawn, whose class has not been changed, adapt radically different tactics as i played around with different vocations.

I mean, and the way the pawns act with initiative, setting up scenarios for you that play to your strengths.

It's super fucking cool. It's super fucking cool because it works.

The second i feel like it isn't working, i'm going to be back to bitching about how little control this game allows me to have over their actions.

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Just want to chime in with some love for this. I played a heap of it last week during some down time and just got totally sucked in. Sno, you pretty much nailed most of my thoughts there to be honest. I think the aesthetics are in a strange place. At times it gives you inspiring sights over the landscape and I think the day night lighting is really nicely done. Some mornings are subdued cloudy affairs while others bring that feel of a beautiful summer day ahead. I agree there is a lack of grand architecture in the towns but I'm warming to it as a more subtle, realistic style.

It does work as a great contrast to this slightly mundane world that the beasts and combat are so epic. I have never experienced a more thrilling fight than when a huge griffin descended out of the previously serene and sunny skies. 20 minutes later, after grabbing a wing, clambering onto its back and being taken into the skies as I hacked at its neck, it burst into flames, barrel rolled towards the ground unconscious whereby I managed to jump off and roll away at the last minute before rejoining the group to give the finishing blow to its feathered face. Awesome.

A note on the vocations: I started to lose a bit enjoyment when I tried a couple of the hybrid ones so I've gone back to my pure fighter (who is fashioned on

!). I like the burst strike to charge in, the hindsight sweep to dodge an attack and counter and then whatever extra one I need for a certain area, the compass slash for groups for example. I also love being able to attack from behind my shield. I tried Mystic Knight because I was at the mercy of the Pawns to give me magic damage which is essential with certain enemies later on (that is the only area I feel my Pawns let me down. I had two mages, one of whom was only there to heal and provide buffs to our weapons and she failed) but I felt too clumsy with that class. I was no longer able to attack from a block with my shield which really messed my play style up. Instead it kept on activating the magic defence skills of that class which lock you into a preparation animation for a while which isn't ideal when surrounded and after more than a few hours I still couldn't adapt. I also tried Assassin but it too didn't feel as much fun as my fighter did. I may go back to that one though as it could be a case of building up the right skills again there and I can still use most of my fighter skills as Assassin.

Anyway, great game. Having a bit of a break from it as I really did lose myself to it for a while but I can see myself dipping in and out of it for a long while.

Also, I laughed at the J-rock theme! It seemed so out of place at first but it stuck in my head so much I enjoyed hearing it just to rest my brain from humming it over and over. Thankfully my brain seems to be over that one now.

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That J-rock theme has been stuck in my head just constantly over the last few days, it's kind of great.

I've been playing around with the mage vocation and have been having a lot of fun with that. (It seems like the AI tries to avoid redundancy? I had another mage in my party, and if i started doing buffs and healing, they started doing offensive magic. If i started doing offensive magic, they switched back to doing buffs and healing.)

Man, and once you have more advanced spells as a mage and can charge them up multiple levels, and while holding onto the charged spell, you can paint multiple targets and just carpet bomb a whole group of enemies or then click the right stick in to focus your shots back in on one enemy. (You can even paint multiple limbs on the epic enemies.)

Mages are fun.

Archers are the bane of your existence.

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I started playing last week too and was really surprised by how good it is.

Compared to Skyrim, DD really nails the feel of adventuring. I always like when games don't have (easily accessible) fast travel, it creates a better sense of a world, rather than disjointed blips on a map. And the constant threat of nighttime is great too. When you're out trekking on a quest I find myself always glancing up at the sky, trying to gauge roughly how much time I have left to try get back before the world gets overrun with terrors.

One thing which is starting to get less cool as I play is the actual encounters themselves. The first time you trek to some place it's usually frantic and amazing. Woah! A cyclops popped out of nowhere and then I had this rad Griffin spawn and it was crazy. Yet then the procedural cracks start to show on the second time you pass through -- a griffin always spawns after that cyclops. That camp of bandits is always there. There is X chance you will have to rescue someone at this point.

So I guess it's actually a much more linear game than it originally presents itself. Still crazy stories to be had from it, it's just that you start to get the feeling that everyone has these same stories.

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I was talking to a buddy about an encounter i had when the sun set after exploring for while, just found myself set upon by like a dozen lizard monsters and a chimera in pitch black in the middle of a forest. I thought it was an incredible battle, and the whole encounter felt really unexpected and organic, but my buddy was "I know exactly where you are" and started talking to me about the quests and locations in that area.

With the highly restricted fast-travel mechanics in the game and the extremely quick respawn timers on enemies, i can see how the world of Dragon's Dogma being a largely set-in-stone construct could become grating, but i'm not there yet.

Anyways, so it's not a super dynamic game, but then it's like Dark Souls; what changes is you and how you approach the tasks you face. Dragon's Dogma gives you a pretty big toolbox to play with. I don't think that people will necessarily all have the same stories out of this game.

I also feel like the Elder Scrolls comparisons are a huge disservice to the game, because outside of the world being very big, they have literally almost nothing in common.

Also, have you guys found the forger in Gran Soren?

You can make forgeries of quest items that you want to keep, giving the fake to the quest giver so you can resolve the quest, but the results will vary. Quests might immediately fail, follow up quests might change dramatically, or you might get away scot-free with an awesome item.

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You can make forgeries of quest items that you want to keep, giving the fake to the quest giver so you can resolve the quest, but the results will vary. Quests might immediately fail, follow up quests might change dramatically, or you might get away scot-free with an awesome item.

I have no interest in this game, but wanted to go on record saying that this is a fucking AWESOME idea. I hope it starts coming to other games soon.

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I almost did that with one magic item but was worried about the repercussions. The ending to this game is nuts by the way. It is the equivalent of a someone just taking an idle country drive then turning left off a cliff.

I really wished it had been hinted at a little more.

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So many people have been talking about how crazy the ending is that i ended up having it spoiled for me before starting. Playing through the game with the knowledge of what is coming, there are some small hints of it here and there, but it definitely doesn't really set it up in any overt way. It's kind of a shame that the game is content to be so utterly bland for the majority of its duration, and then swerve off a cliff only right at the end, even though that probably makes it a pretty great twist. (If you're not expecting a twist.)

Anyways, i have things to say about this game! Figuring out how this game works has been really interesting, it's such an interesting game.

First off, Dogma has such a goddamned great combat system.

There's a lot of small things they get right, like combos. Stuff like being able to cut a light string short and cancel directly into other moves. (Heavy attacks or specials.)

I finally also realized that hitting jump while grappling to an enemy launches you straight up such that you can hit grab and lock back down at a higher point on the enemy. Also realized that certain special moves can be triggered while hanging onto larger enemies. (The scarlet kisses ability for daggers is one, activate it and then keep hammering that button for the ability's no-cost follow-up attacks and the whole colossus climb thing becomes a way more powerful tool.)

So i've just been rapidly scaling and crippling individual limbs on the giant enemies and it is incredible.

Observations about the AI:

I still think it's really pretty incredible, but it's hard not to notice the path-finding struggling to keep up with you as you run around exploring, though the game is very on top of teleporting them back to you if they fall behind.

Anyways, it does give you some forms of more nuanced control over your pawn, albeit in very roundabout ways.

The pawn inclinations are the basic tactics that your pawn prioritizes, with its top two gaining particular dominance. (When told to sit down at an Inn's knowledge chair, your pawn will occasionally ask whether to prioritize its secondary or tertiary inclination, though it's primary inclination will always remain as so.) You can also spend the game's rarer currency on potions to directly modify your pawn's inclinations, but it seems like those might be temporary? (I haven't messed around with those much because i've been happy with my pawn's priorities.) The pawn's inclinations are also supposed to naturally adjust in increments based on how you play and order them around. (Repeated use of the "help" command will apparently nudge them towards the guardian inclination, causing them to prioritize protecting the player.)

I mean... So my pawn is an acquisitor/medicant, so it obsessively item-hunts and prioritizes healing and buffs. Alleviates my ocd and makes for a good mage. (Some of the other inclinations will make them focus on ranged enemies, or prioritize protecting other pwans, etc.)

So you've matched up your pawn's personality to an appropriate vocation, but it's still struggling in a fight. What comes in there is the pawn's familiarity with a given type of enemy. The pawns always start out kind of dumb, making a lot of annoying mistakes, only gradually finding use of better tactics, and casting the right buffs, etc. (I suspect that the pawn's familiarity with immediate terrain also impact its ability to fight.)

I don't really like this part of the game, since it's artificially making the pawns dumber than they need to be. When you run into a new type of powerful enemy later in the game, you can really feel this in play, the pawns just suddenly start stumbling over themselves like idiots. It can be really frustrating when you sort out right away exactly what needs to be done, but your pawn seems to be like five steps behind you and is going to have to grind out that combat experience to catch on.

There are also some pretty legitimate problems with the AI. Mages and Sorcerers will almost always go for the maximum spell charge, which can be incredibly frustrating in a situation where a more quickly cast spell is what they need to be doing.

Generally though, it all works out exceedingly well and is often very impressive.

Unrelated to any of the above, i've also been hearing that the the NPC affinity system can pretty much break the game in certain circumstances, so be careful about wooing shop/service NPC's. (Simply as a result of playing normally, I have the vocation dude in Gran Soren blushing at me every time i talk to him, and he, specifically, is the one you absolutely don't want in that situation.)

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Man, this game. (Early-ish) spoilers ahead.

So I'm in the capital city having delivered the Hydra's head, having progressed not so far in the game at all. I spend more time than I should getting completely lost in the countryside trying to bring some random dude home before he heads off somewhere, but I've given up on that so now he's basically a free party member, for the time being at least. I end up talking to a pawn who encourages me to go down into this dungeon to investigate what's going on down there. I do so, and end up fighting tentacles that WILL. NOT. DIE.

At first this is frustrating. I do find an ante-chamber nearby with some okay loot, but I can't get into the other passageway near there because I flicked a switch a certain way. Trying to get back there and back down isn't working. In the end, I spring back up the spiral pathways, consuming stamina boosting items and screaming at my pawns to keep up. I don't care at this point, I've left them for dead. Also, the troll that I thought had run off to do something else earlier was still hanging around and lost his mind because my main companion is a woman. I ran and ran and ran.

It was fantastic. Not the most well written account there, but I'm trying to convey how I was experiencing the whole thing. Really, a lot of fun, and even more so because it challenged my ideas of how video games work (kill dude/xp/level up/keep going). I do like it when that basic progression model is challenged, but I'm hardwired to want to win in very simple and straightforward fashion, I guess. It's funny, I hadn't touched the game for a couple of weeks, and coming back to this I wondered if I would bother continuing, but that little snapshot of how this game works has got me back into the game in a big way.

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The escort quests can be a real pain, the ones you have access to early in the game will take you far off into areas you may not be equipped to deal with. (The destination will be clearly marked on your map when you have that escort quest set to active, they're usually far off in unexplored territory.)

I've heard it both said that NPC's have perma-death, or will respawn after a week's worth of game time. Either way, losing your escortee in a battle can deprive you of potentially important NPC's.

Generally, take every quest you come across, but hold off on notice board escort quests until you're ready to deal with them.

As for the other thing...

You are supposed to run away from the thing in the Everfall, yes. (If you return, it won't be there.)

Protip: That second set of gates that you had to open to get to the lowest level, if you closed it up again after going through and had used a fast-travel crystal to escape from the monster, you can return later to the Everfall and a new path would be open to you. Nothing terribly exciting, but there's some good loot opportunities in that dungeon, and it helps to not have the crazy death monster from the first visit chasing you.

Also, if you have a completist mindset, be careful about points of no return. There's only a few, and they're telegraphed pretty clearly.

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If (like me) you've been wanting to play this title, just hold off until April for an improved and extended full disc release

Following the announcement of Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen last year we are now pleased to confirm concrete details about this expansion to the world of Dragon’s Dogma. Scheduled for release on both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 from April 23 in North America and April 26 across Europe, Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen is the next exciting chapter in the Dragon’s Dogma franchise. Coming both on a physical disc and as a full game digital download, the title delivers a huge brand new area, missions, enemies and more, plus all of the content from the original game.

Just off the Gransys mainland is the cursed Bitterblack Isle and it is here that gamers will discover an underground realm, complete with new terrifying foes to face and incredible treasure to find as they embark on an all new quest. Owners of the original Dragon’s Dogma will be able to export their existing characters and all other saved data, to continue their journey as the Arisen and face this new threat that has emerged from the cavernous depths. Players will be able to take their characters to new heights, with brand new high-level skills and augments as well as all new weapons and armour sets. For those that missed Dragon’s Dogma the first time around, Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen provides the opportunity to start their journey from the very beginning before tackling the all new content.

Furthermore, owners of the original Dragon’s Dogma will receive the following for free on purchasing Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen: 100,000 Rift Crystals, unlimited Ferrystones and the Gransys Armour Pack consisting of six brand new costumes.

Based on player feedback, Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen will make the Dragon’s Dogma gameplay experience even more satisfying, with improvements such as easier travel and a more intuitive menu system. For those who already own Dragon’s Dogma and then purchase Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen, these improvements will be automatically retrofitted to their original game.

So, what does Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen deliver?

All of the content from the original Dragon’s Dogma plus…

A massive new underground realm to explore featuring over 25 terrifying new enemies

More skills/equipment/augments:

o Level 3 Skills

- DD:DA provides each character class with a new tier of skills, giving players new devastating abilities and skills to master

o Over 100 pieces of new equipment

- All new high level weapons and armor sets for players venturing into the underground caverns.

o 14 new character/Pawn augments

o New tiers of equipment enhancement

And there’s more:

o Increased character customisation options

o Item appraisal

o Option to select Japanese voice over

Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen will be available for purchase across Europe as follows:

April 26: PlayStation 3 both disc and digital versions, with the digital version priced at €29.99/£19.99

April 26: Xbox 360 disc based version (with a digital version to follow as a Games on Demand title in the Summer)

http://www.neogaf.co...ad.php?t=509576

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I think it is pretty bullshit that Dark Arisen is an entirely new version of the game.

Capcom is using the "we didn't plan ahead" excuse, "no DLC hooks" they say. (They keep fucking doing it though, the same story every time!) The extra absurdity in this is that Dragon's Dogma already had a ton of DLC, but it was all just unlocking stuff on the disc. Now they decide to do a genuine content add-on for the game, and it requires that i buy another disc.

God dammit, Capcom. Arrrgh.

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I am not as down on this. To be honest, at 20 quid I know a fair few people who bought Shivering Isles for that price and that was just the DLC.

I'll be more than happy to give my old copy to someone else and buy this, my save will be compatible and I get free stuffs.

Bring it on!

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