Hot Games : Dragon’s Dogma

What is Dragon’s Dogma? DD1
Dragon’s Dogma is a free world RPG developed by Capcom. You play as the Arisen (just a title, not their name), a sort of chosen one, facing off against a dragonlord who has stolen your heart (literally). Not much has been revealed about the story but there seem to be some side plots involving an evil dragon worshipping cult, politics with the nobility of the world, and secrets hidden in ancient ruins.

When is Dragon’s Dogma coming out? DD2
May 22nd 2012 in the US; May 25th 2012 in Europe

What is the game about? DD3
When you start the game you get to create your main character from scratch. You also get to create your main pawn as well but more on that in the Pawns section. The character creation system seems to be one of the best to date. There are a variety of different features to alter beyond just gender and hairstyle. Height, weight, stance, muscular build, facial features, and voice are among the many customizable features. Height and weight affect gameplay elements such as reach and character mobility.
The combat is action based and in real time. You gain experience points from defeating enemies/doing quests and your character levels up after getting enough experience. Your level affects everything from strength to health (HP). You also have a stamina bar which depletes upon attacking or running. If you use all of your stamina you will have to rest for a short while leaving you vulnerable to enemy attack. A variety of quests can be taken on in the game and these will undoubtedly lead to rewards and experience as well.

The game uses a class/job system. There are nine different classes each with something unique to offer. While playing the game and defeating enemies you gain Discipline Points (DCP) which can be used to unlock more abilities for your current class. Discipline Points are also used to unlock more classes past the basic three you start with (more details in the Classes section).

The game is full of all sorts of enemies and monsters. Capcom has said there are 100 different enemies (more details in the Enemies section). Also there can be identical enemies of different levels. There does not seem to be any level scaling; meaning monsters in certain areas are at a set level and do not scale to your level.
The game has an open world for exploration. Capcom has said that it would take 2-3 real life hours to traverse the map from one end to the other. There are many areas of exploration including ancient ruins, haunted forests, swamps, and mountain side castles (more details in the Environment section).

What are Pawns? DD4
Pawns are your ever faithful companions. Pawns are sword to protect and due the bidding of the Arisen. They reside in a dimensional vortex known as the rift. In the game you can employ as many as three pawns at a time giving you a party of four. Two of these pawns are variable and one of them, your main pawn, will always stick with you. Near the beginning of the game you get to create your main pawn. You can customize your main pawn to the same extent you can your main character.

The other two pawns come from two sources. One of which is through other players via online. Dragon’s Dogma has an online community where players can upload copies of their main pawns into the rift. During the game you can enter the rift via a rift stone. Here you’ll be able to hire other players’ main pawns. Different pawns will be at different levels and hiring a pawn that is the same level as your main character will cost nothing. Hiring more experienced pawns however will cost Rift Crystals. Rift Crystals can be earned by hiring out you main pawn to other players. The number of Rift Crystals needed to hire higher leveled pawns increases dramatically with the level difference. Also remember, you’re hiring out a copy of your main pawn so they never actually leave your side.


Why hire out your main pawn at all you ask? Well, when they go on quests with other players they gain knowledge of those quests and of the enemies they faced. Your main pawn WILL NOT receive any experience points while questing with another player. Nor will pawns that you hire receive any experience points either. Because of this it will be necessary to update your hired pawns once in a while to keep a strong party. The knowledge that pawns gain while questing with other players will be invaluable. For instance one of your pawns might know an enemies weakspot because they’ve fought it before (even though you maybe have not). Or they might know how to open a certain door or how to proceed in a quest you are doing because they did it before. When you are hiring pawns in the rift you can rifle through their gained knowledge to get a peek at if they know some things you do not know. You can also look through their abilities and equipment of course too. You cannot alter hired pawns in any way. What you see is what you get.

When you rest at an inn your main pawn gets updated with all the information and knowledge its copy has gained while questing with other players. Once someone dismisses your pawn they have the option of sending them away with a gift so you might pick up a few free items as well. Players can also comment on pawns about what they liked and disliked.

Random in-game pawns also inhabit the world and you’ll come across them from time to time during your journey. You can pick them up on the spot if you wish. Also if you are connected to the internet pawns from the online community will show up in the world as well.