Dragon's Dogma 2

It may be early, and there may still be some huge releases to come in 2024, but Dragon's Dogma 2 is without doubt a contender for Game of the Year and has set a high bar for its competitors.

When all’s said and done, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is an outstanding refinement and expansion of every good thing the original — now an undisputed cult classic — brought us, and this sequel is more than welcome, especially since its formula still manages to stand alone when it comes to RPGs.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a kitchen sink sequel to the original sleeper hit from 2012, building on what worked about the first game to create an RPG experience that’s still unlike any other.

With great fights and an extremely refined pawn system, Dragon's Dogma is a great game, but it would be even better if it had a more varied world in terms of exploration and setting, less draggy progression and better-written plot and characters. The game maintains much of the basis of its predecessor and improves on it in almost every aspect, but it doesn't quite reach the level of the best action RPGs released over the last 10 years, such as Elden Ring, The Witcher 3, Bloodborne and Dragon Age Inquisition.

Overall, this game is very much like the first game. The main thing Dragon’s Dogma 2 has going for it are its visuals. It has slight improvements here and there and some additions, but overall, the gameplay is nearly exactly the same as the first game. This isn’t bad at all though, considering the first game was so good. If you like the first game, you’re going to love this game, but if you don’t care for the first game, this one will not change your mind. Capcom played it safe with this game, which is really fine with me – it’s better to not change what isn’t broken. I do have some of the same complaints with this game that I did with the first game, but they are overall still minor (see the minuses below). If Capcom would give this game a 60 fps option, that would please me the most.