March 31st 2024.
The highly anticipated sequel to the action role-playing game, Dragon's Dogma, has finally arrived. As a long-time fan of the first game, I, like many others, had been eagerly awaiting a follow-up for over a decade. The lead-up to the release seemed promising, with positive previews and reviews. But once the game was out, all the excitement was quickly replaced with disappointment as players reported numerous performance issues, particularly on PC.
The graphics were not the only problem, as frequent crashes and frame rate drops made for a frustrating gaming experience. Some players even reported frame rates as low as 15-20, which is unacceptable for a AAA next-gen title. Another issue that added to the frustration was the outdated save system. Some fans argued that it was present in the first game, but that doesn't make it any less of a flaw. Similarly, the inclusion of microtransactions in a single-player game like Dragon's Dogma 2 was met with negative reactions from fans.
For me, the final straw was the inability to start a new game without resorting to a workaround. After rushing through the game with a generic character and skipping cutscenes and tutorials, I discovered that there was no option to start a new game. The only solution was to delete saves and disable cloud saves, which worked at first but then caused my progress to be lost when the old save was restored. This issue was also experienced by other players, resulting in the loss of hours of progress.
Despite playing past the two-hour mark, I was able to get a refund from Steam due to these issues and the intense frame rate drops I experienced. It's a shame that Dragon's Dogma 2, a highly anticipated game, was released in such a terrible state. The optimisation and performance issues are simply unacceptable. Meanwhile, its competitor, Rise Of The Rōnin, is being criticised for having "poor graphics" or "PS3 graphics," yet Dragon's Dogma 2's performance issues seem to be overlooked by critics.
The recent discussions about the rising cost of AAA game development make it even more unfair that Rise Of The Rōnin is being criticised for its graphics. Players have been vocal about the importance of gameplay and performance over graphics, and they are willing to forgo top-notch graphics if it means a more affordable game. Dragon's Dogma 2, on the other hand, is a prime example of the problems plaguing modern AAA gaming: a focus on graphics at the expense of performance, unnecessary microtransactions, and design decisions that do not respect the player.
That's why I am glad to see the numerous negative user reviews calling out these issues. No amount of arguments, deflections, or denials from some fans can justify the flaws in Dragon's Dogma 2, which even Capcom has acknowledged and promised to fix. Some may argue, "Well, I'm enjoying the game," and that's great for them. But for me and many others, Dragon's Dogma 2 is only worth buying when it's on sale in the bargain bin, months down the line, after it has been patched.
It's worth noting that the game's player numbers on Steam are currently over 200,000, but it's safe to say that number would have been much higher if not for all the issues. Capcom undoubtedly dropped the ball with this launch. As a fan of the first game, it's disappointing to see a highly anticipated sequel fall short due to performance issues and other flaws. But ultimately, it's up to the players to demand better from game developers and hold them accountable for their mistakes. Let's hope that future patches will bring Dragon's Dogma 2 up to the standard it deserves.
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