The Japanese gaming industry is always in constant movement and there are so many titles currently in development for the next few years. Among them there are several releases that I am awaiting with extreme impatience, but for some of them unfortunately it is not yet known how long we will have to wait given that possible launch windows have not yet been announced. This is the case of DRAGON’S DOGMA II which, despite the mystery linked to its release date, managed to create a crazy hype in me that increases with every trailer released by the software house.
This is why as soon as the invitation arrived CAPCOM to be able to preview it I didn’t have to think twice before accepting. Yesterday I flew to Milan and I had the opportunity to work on the build of DRAGON’S DOGMA II shown during the Tokyo Game Show 2023. In this article you will find my first impressions of the gamekeeping in mind that this is a build under development and not the finished product.
Get ready, because we’re off to a new adventure!
For this first test with DRAGON’S DOGMA II the company has prepared three different rescues, in order to allow me not only to experiment with three of the Vocations present in the game but also to see it in three different phases for understand a little about the evolution of the combat system and enemies that we will encounter on our journey. There was no tutorial, the company in fact preferred it create a build where the player could freely experiment not only with battles but also with exploration. From what I could see we are faced with an extremely vast world that will give us the opportunity to deviate from the main story path to visit alternative routes in which we will be able to recover precious objects, but also be attacked by very dangerous adversaries.
If at first I found myself faced with goblins And harpiesgoing forward I also crossed paths with majestic ones cyclops, minotaurs and even with a gigantic one griffin which gave me a lot of trouble. One of the aspects that I appreciated most during my test is the great sense of freedom that permeates the gameeven during clashes we will be free to approach the enemy in different ways for example exploiting the environment around us to our advantage. The game world will in fact be full of elements that we can use, such as explosive barrels or boulders capable of creating real landslides that will hit the opponents. Speaking with the development team it was revealed to me that this freedom will be a key element of the titlewe can for example cut a rope bridge to easily eliminate the enemies above it, and then use the remaining ropes to climb up and still reach the intended path.
But let’s talk a little about the three Vocations that I had the opportunity to try, that is Archer, Fighter And thief. The first is perfect for those who prefer a ranged approach, not only will we be able to use normal attacks to automatically hit the enemy closest to us but it will be possible to aim freely and shoot arrows capable of inflicting greater damage exploiting opponents’ weaknesses. One of the greatest advantages of the Fighter it is instead the possibility of use the shield to defend yourself from enemy attacks, but we will have to pay close attention to the consumption of Stamina. The thief I personally found it very fun, thanks to its double blades and the ability to quickly dodge opponents it will allow us to quickly eliminate even the toughest of enemies. Unfortunately I could not experience any magical vocationgenerally my favorites, but the software house has implemented some features that will allow us to take advantage of their abilities even when we use a more physical Vocation.
The Pawns equipped with magical powers that are part of the group will in fact be able to infuse our weapons with a specific element, allowing us to significantly increase the damage dealt to the enemy. One of the most fun mechanics in combat is something we already got to see in the first chapter, that is the ability to climb on enemies to damage their weak points. We can therefore attack a cyclops straight in his eye, or a griffin on the wings so as to make him fall to the ground and stun him. Some opponents though they will be protected by armor and armor, which is why we will have to destroy them before we can effectively damage them. Furthermore, some enemies are more stubborn than others, it happened to me that many they threw me into the air with every climbing attempt damaging me seriously. Ultimately from what I have tried the combat system of DRAGON’S DOGMA II It seems like a worthy evolution of its predecessorand I’m really curious to discover all the possibilities we will have at our disposal in the full game.
Since this is a test build, it is a little difficult to talk about the technical sector, given that the software house has not yet had the opportunity to clean up certain small bugs present in the game. Graphically though I really appreciated the software house’s choicesthe fantasy atmosphere we will immerse ourselves in is truly incredible and, judging from what I saw, it promises to be a truly immense adventure. The English dubbing is very enjoyable of the game, as well as the facial animations of the characters. Although in this build the texts were only in English, the company’s staff reassured us that the complete game will be localized in Italian. Another element that intrigues me is the management of the Pawnsthe team has in fact revealed to us that if someone uses one of the Pawns created by us thanks to the online features of the game, this will be able to indicate points of interest discovered by us previously such as treasures or materials. By exploring, we will also be able to help other players from all over the world.
I must admit that after this test and after the brief exchange with the members of the software house my hype for DRAGON’S DOGMA II has increased dramatically. Expectations seem to have been more than exceeded even though what I tried was a test build. The sense of exploration and freedom present in the game is truly phenomenal, and this will give players the opportunity to have a truly unique experience during their adventure. Unfortunately at the moment we still don’t know when the title will be published, given that CAPCOM has not yet revealed its release date. I’m hoping the company makes an announcement about it during The Game Awards of December, because after trying it I’m really curious to discover all the secrets hidden in DRAGON’S DOGMA II.
Are you also intrigued by this second chapter? Let us know in the comments! We thank CAPCOM and PLAION again for their invitation to preview DRAGON’S DOGMA II.
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