Dragon's Dogma vs Skyrim

[hoofhearted4]

I downloaded the Dragon's Dogma demo, and so far I've gotten more fun out of it than the full version of Skyrim. :/ Go figure. I like that you can slide down steep slopes, and climb on rocks and things. It seems like that should be in any modern open world game. It's a long demo as well, I spent about 7 hours on it before finding [almost] everything in the starting village and hitting the demo level cap. I beat the full single-player of a few of my games in less time than that, lol.

 

So far I've been impressed. The graphics are great for a console game, so they're tolerable compared to my mid-range pc. (Finally, a PS3 game that uses some texture filtering.) It helps though that I have a 720p tv, so I don't have to upscale it. There are dynamic sun shafts, full dynamic shadows, and hair and cloth physics. The combat's solid. It hasn't reached a Demon's Souls-esque level of precision, but it's responsive enough that it doesn't feel cheap or hack'n'slashy, and the ability of players to climb on bosses is a nice way to balance the threat of facing them with melee. The pawns are surprisingly competent. They follow the player just about anywhere, even on the trickier ledges and rooftops, and their advice is actually useful most of the time. (example: they'll mull over quests and give you an idea about how to complete them, or they'll learn from the environment for later use)

 

Having played Monster Hunter, Shadow of the Colossus, and Two Worlds 2, I'd call Dragon's Dogma a mix of the good aspects of all three. Take SotC's bosses, Monster Hunter's climbing, combat, and resource gathering, and Two World 2's open world and crafting, and you'll have a pretty solid idea of how Dragon's Dogma plays. Then add the pawns, two of which are always temporary, one of which stays the full game as a companion, and they have AI that's actually good for once.

 

This might be the last game I buy for my PS3, considering that there may not be another good action/adventure rpg for the platform after this. That's mostly the genre I play.

 

then you start playing more. you realize the Pawns are extremely annoying. Yes im aware there are harpies ahead, ive been through this area 100 times. Yes thank you, i did i good job, i know. which brings me to my next point. you will travel the same route A LOT. which also brings me to a third point, you will walk A LOT. the fast travel system is pretty weak. i only got to level 36 (i think) before i got tired of the game and walking so god damn much. that is the biggest downfall of this game. Pawn chatter ill withstand. same areas ill withstand. but having to walk the giant map over and over killing the same enemies over and over. was just to much for me.

 

you will level up most of your abilities pretty fast as well. it gets pretty repetitive. so if you plan on sticking with the same class through the whole game, well dont. instead of using different classes through multiple play throughs, youll end up playing all the classes in one play through (albeit on NG+ and further possibly) just to cut the repetition.

 

lastly from what ive heard from a friend who did actually play up to like lvl 99 and through NG++ and from my own short experience with the game, it gets easier, not harder. except for like the main dragon boss or whatever who still remains hard, the rest of the game gets easier as you level and get better gear.

 

i still have the game, as its a very unique game, and even having not gotten very far, i would buy DD2 if it came out next month. ill probabaly go back to it eventually, though its not high on my list of my 20 some ought games i gotta eventually get to lol.

Edited October 2, 2012 by hoofhearted4

[Rennn]

I think it's a fundamental difference in the games we prefer, because I don't mind walking a long distance in games. Looking at past examples, one reason why you like Demon's Souls more than Dark Souls is because Dark Souls has a lot more walking and backtracking. That point seems to come up quite a bit, and maybe it's because I wandered Oblivion's eerily similar terrain for hundreds of hours when I was first getting into gaming, but walking makes games feel more continuous to me and adds to my personal experiences with them.

 

But yeah, a common theme in the reviews seems to be that the game starts at its hardest and gets progressively easier. I guess it'll remain to be seen whether that makes me lose interest, but it looks like a fairly common occurance in Capcom action/adventure games. *I'm looking at you, Monster Hunter*

Edited October 2, 2012 by Rennn

[hoofhearted4]

I think it's a fundamental difference in the games we prefer, because I don't mind walking a long distance in games. Looking at past examples, one reason why you like Demon's Souls more than Dark Souls is because Dark Souls has a lot more walking and backtracking. That point seems to come up quite a bit, and maybe it's because I wandered Oblivion's eerily similar terrain for hundreds of hours when I was first getting into gaming, but walking makes games feel more continuous to me and adds to my personal experiences with them.

 

But yeah, a common theme in the reviews seems to be that the game starts at its hardest and gets progressively easier. I guess it'll remain to be seen whether that makes me lose interest, but it looks like a fairly common occurance in Capcom action/adventure games. *I'm looking at you, Monster Hunter*

 

thats true, i think id hate even FO3 if there was no fast travel. same with any game really. GW2. one of the things that got me to buy it was the instant fast travel. take something like SWTOR, there was fast travel but you still had to go to the location to fast travel. (and when its F2P, if your playing free you get limited Fast Travel per day, which is why i wont be going back to it lol) and as you said, Demons Souls. i liked being able to hop level to level at will instead of having to go through other levels to get there a la Dark Souls. so ya. if you dont mind running the map then i guess that wont be as big a turn off to you as it was to me.

 

as i said, i did like the game. its a nice new IP in this world of the same old and etc. ill play again (someday lol) but im not exactly on the edge of my seat looking forward to going back to it lol.

[billyro]

Just checked back at this discussion and yes, I too have had quite enough of the constant travels. I've trekked to The Bluemoon Tower probably 30 times and it's just a chore now, compared to the exciting first 3 times. Exploring the whole world was very fun though, it was beautiful and interesting, unlike the roads that you travel so often. I'm at level 112 at the moment and I've been everywhere in the game and my most hated places are the Encampment -> Gran Soren path and the Gran Soren -> Bluemoon Tower path, but anywhere on the western side of the map is just awesome because I don't go there often.

 

Oh well, use ferry stones; they are life savers.

[Rennn]

So far it's going well, though I took a break in there for a few weeks. It is definitely getting easier though, I'm considering just bringing my main pawn along to keep the difficulty up.

[billyro]

Whoa, first time post here long time. I'm at level 127 at the moment, killed Ur-Dragon twice, beat whole game 6 times. Game = completely boring now. I'm reconsidering my initial scores to replayability in Dragon's Dogma, because Skyrim blows it out the window...

 

 

EDIT: Wow, after almost a year, I feel like this was brash of me. Dragon's Dogma is still very good, I just must have been angry at it for some reason that day. After all, if you've played a game for more than 100 hours, of course it has good replayability.

Edited December 3, 2013 by billyro

[hoofhearted4]

Whoa, first time post here long time. I'm at level 127 at the moment, killed Ur-Dragon twice, beat whole game 6 times. Game = completely boring now. I'm reconsidering my initial scores to replayability in Dragon's Dogma, because Skyrim blows it out the window...

i feel like playing through a game 6 times would be amazing re playability. there are very few games ive ever gone through 6 times, actually, off the top of my head, there is only one ive gone through 6 times, and that would be DAO. and even then ive only beaten it like 4 times with a bunch of partial play throughs, and thats with mods.

[palkia57]

I like the reviews that everyone has put up. Being someone who constantly writes reviews on NG* and other such websites, I think it would be right and just to throw my opinions upon these games in this topic.

 

 

 

 

 

Dragon's Dogma : I have just recently gotten this game and I'm really enjoying it. I do agree with most however that the "pawns" are quite talkative. This makes them aggravating and quite annoying. They our however very helpful, as said by other, and do their job pretty well. Luckily their speech rate can be changed at the stations known as "Knowledge Chairs" and other such things as how they speak when on the battlefield and how they react after a win. Sadly this cannot affect your support pawns (If you even have any.) and thus leaving you with a either really annoying or acceptable team. The story is quite straight forward, as posted by others, and feels more like I'm playing Monster Hunter, but in reviews I've read, this game is sort of meant to resemble a few games, such as:

• Dark Souls ( Sequel to Demon Souls) - A game published by from software and Namco Bandai Games. A very challenging game that I personally have beaten 4 times, but the data to my file became corrupt sadly.

 

• Monster Hunter - Another Capcom made game that had been for the PS2. As described in the name, the game is mostly about hunting monsters. I never played this game seeing as though I have stuck to Xbox and PC gaming, PC obviously coming out on top.

 

• Shadow of the Colossus - A game published by Sony Computer Entertainment. You mostly roam around an excessively large world as far as I've seen and this is why Dragon's Dogma is called alike to this game so much.

 

• Devil May Cry - Another Capcom created game. Now I know many are probably wondering "what does this have anything to do with Dragon's Dogma?". Well I'd like to point out that you may switch vocations in DD and this includes ranged and melee. Now most will likely think that I'm saying that they're alike just because of this. No. They are alike because in certain cases in DMC, you must rely on CQC to get through certain situations. But you are able to use guns as well,as I have seen recently in the 4th release of the DMC series. The same goes with DD. Some situations can only be solved with certain vocations.

 

Now, so I don't leave the known and somewhat beloved Skyrim out of this, let us talk about that. Skyrim. The 5th Elder Scrolls game and a good one I must say. Now take that in for a moment, the fact that I say good. That is all it is. No higher, no lower. It has a graphics that make me feel somewhat sick. That is on the xbox. On PC, they can be displayed however the player pleases. THrough the use of modifications. The game has a great system of battle but it seems to get a little bland and boring after a while. Its gameplay gets repetitive. Someone sends you off to do something just to comeback and say that you either succeeded or failed in your mission. Now as said before, If playing the PC version, this can all be altered. The game can have missions added to it, and even storylines, such as the storyline released on the Nexus, The Moonpath to Elswyer. This being the Khajit homelands, it turns out to be well designed and put together, with a fairly well storyline. The DLC to the game is nice and exspansive,and they actually have interesting storylines. Except for Hearthfire. Because it has no storyline. You are just able to build three houses in three different holds. Which was pretty fun but time consuming and really only able to be used in a fashionable manner if you had a friend over or if you were doing a type of Let's Play. Now it has its flaws (*Cough* Like Lydia...) but that doesn't change the fact that it is still an enjoyable TES game. It may have a very open ended conclusion though. Not going to spoil it for those who still haven't played it. Yet... And I Think that at least they tried to put up a good game rather than throw out something that sucked. Terribly.

 

That about wraps up my review. Above all, I think DD surpasses Skyrim FOR XBOX by a little bit. But nothing beat the PC version of a game. So, with that said, I give thanks to the creator of this post for posting such a nice, well put together review and hope that my review is equally as accepted as everyone else' opinions. Thank you and do have a great day

 

 

 

*For those of you wondering what NG is, which I think those who have common sense in flash games and videos would know, It means Newgrounds, a website for flash games and videos. But do be wary of you are on there. If you don't feel the urge to see and adultery and other such things, do not press anything with an A rating.

[Thor.]

1. Not on pc, looks okay but serious bugs everywhere, especially the 360 version

2. voice acting gets stale after awhile.

3. No mods

 

 

Other then that its a okay game. :smile:

Edited December 4, 2013 by Thor.

[Rennn]

1. Not non pc, looks okay but serious bugs everywhere, especially the 360 version

2. voice acting gets stale after awhile.

3. No mods

 

 

Other then that its a okay game. :smile:

 

1. I noticed the LOD is very... poppy. Sometimes there's a delay with visual dithering as it loads. Other than that, I haven't noticed bugs, and that's really just a performance issue on the consoles.

2. This is a common complaint about DD, and one that I've never shared... I've only beat the game once, but the only repetitive lines that annoyed me were the innkeepers.

3. I agree that this is a problem, but not a big one, imo. I don't use a lot of mods. My 2 most modded games are Skyrim and Dragon Age, and I have 20 Skyrim mods and 3 Dragon Age mods installed. I don't think there's anything wrong with a game being non-moddable, as long as it's big with a lot of options on launch (which, sadly, most games are not).

Edited December 4, 2013 by Rennn