Dragon's Dogma 2: The Journey Not the Destination

"Over here, Arisen, follow me!" she exclaims.

I am Arisen, and she is one of the three companions, or Pawns as they are called in Dragon's Dogma 2, whose purpose is to serve and protect my aged but somewhat handsome protagonist, Gilgamesh.

She excitedly waves at me. I, and the other two Pawns follow her, no questions asked. She says she knows the location of a hidden treasure chest, and I believe her. Pawns are created and rented out by other players and they accumulate knowledge across other worlds and play sessions, which they then share with their Arisen. Very cool and genuinely useful. 

I watch as she sprints off and disappears over the edge of a cliff, tumbling to her death. Pawn no.2, an elven archer, dutifully takes a header from the exact same spot. Splat! And finally, my beloved Vivi, a mage Pawn made by mine own hands, takes the tumble. I gingerly approach the ledge to confirm that yes, all three of my loyal idiots are piled high at the bottom of the cliff, a tangled mess of limbs and weapons. I don't know whether I should laugh or cry.

I laugh. Then I slowly climb down to their location, just in time to revive them. And sure enough, just where they landed, a treasure chest. A couple hundred coins reward for their near-fatal, lemming-like behaviour.

We dust ourselves off and prepare to head back into the great unknown. Vivi says she can lead us to the next mission marker, and I trust her. And we're off once more for a spot of adventure in this huge and unforgiving world. 

I'm only ten hours into Dragon's Dogma 2, but I already have a handful of tales about our far-reaching and unpredictable adventures. From what I've already experienced, it's clear that the map is expansive, and with severely limited fast-travel options, you can't avoid becoming familiar with it.  Travelling on foot is very much encouraged here, and that brings emergent adventures. It may be time consuming, but this is at the core of the DD experience.

It is possible to speed up journeys. Most towns can be warped to, but you must reach that location first to unlock the Portcrystal and you'll also need a teleport stone, which are expensive and hard to come by. You  can also hitch a ride on an ox-cart, but they only follow prescribed routes between major settlements, and your journey, and nap, will be interrupted by monsters. I'm told that you can ride a griffin, but the last one I found massacred my party, so I reckon I'm several dozen hours away from being able to catch a lift with a bus-sized pigeon. 

Thus far, I've been getting my steps in, exploring freely and levelling up at a brisk pace. Forced to travel in real-time, I find myself exploring in ways that I otherwise might not. I stumble upon hidden locations, mysterious NPC, and bizarre creatures that I would otherwise miss. It feels like a real adventure, and not just a route from A to B, though I wonder if I'll still feel that way when I'm fifty hours in?

Setting out for a new quest marker requires careful planning. It's best to set out at dawn, as nightfall brings with it new challenges, and not just stronger foes. Night is pitch black, and if you're caught without a lantern and the oil to fuel it, you're screwed. You're also on the constant look out for campsites where you can replenish and reset your health, the maximum value of which is gradually chipped away the longer you are out in the field.

Forced-adventure aside, the main point of these long journeys is to allow the Pawns to shine. They spend much of their time nattering away, expressing their desire to serve, dispensing advice, evaluating the make-up of your current team, boasting of their exploits, recommending caution, and sometimes just talking shit. It's quite charming, especially given the antiquated way in which they speak. I had a smart-mouthed, cat-lad Thief whose company I particularly enjoyed, largely because of his comical accent. Pawns will high five you after a battle well-won, share experiences they've had with other Arisen in other game worlds, seek out useful items and even do basic crafting, should you ask them to. They'll even throw themselves off a cliff, if they feel it will be to your benefit.

This will all sound quite familiar to anyone who played the first Dragon's Dogma. For better or worse, the sequel does appear to be more of the same, but with the kind of gameplay and graphical improvements you'd expect from a 10-year layoff. It's prettier, the NPCs are a little smarter, and a huge amount of care has been taken with dialogue and voice acting. That being said, the story isn't up to much, and I'm already forgetting key plot points that were explained a few hours earlier and am consistently being surprised by characters who appear to be familiar with me, who I have have zero recollection of previously meeting. This could be the result of forgettable storylines or the unavoidable outcome of a game that doesn't always clearly signpost what you should be doing, and is comfortable allowing you to miss entire narrative strands.

All that being said, Dragon's Dogma 2 is charming my socks off. It a very polished throwback, and the Pawn system is more than up to the task of having a game built around it. It's already won me over with its single-minded approach to forced travel and player-generated adventure. And being able to share that adventure with entertaining and useful companions makes it all the better.

Towards the end of my session last night, I passed a location marked as "Timeworn Shaft". I was disappointed that none of my Pawns made a dick joke - "Arisen, this location sounds to mine ears like the cock of a well-sexed old codger" - but maybe they'll take the bait when we have a proper look tonight. Failing that, I'd wager at least one of them will take the plunge down said shaft, if there's any treasure to be had. 

I'm already looking forward to it.