Dragon's Dogma

Release Date: May 22, 2012 (North America)
Developers: Capcom
Publishers: Capcom
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3
Genre: Single Player RPG
Rating: M - Mature

Synopsis:(Wikipedia)
Dragon's Dogma (Japanese: Hepburn: Doragonzu Doguma?) is an action role-playing video game developed and published by Capcom for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game features an open world fantasy setting, in addition to hack and slash[5] and survival horror[6] gameplay elements, and was released in North America on May 22, 2012, in Japan and Australia on May 24, 2012[1] and in Europe on May 25, 2012.[3] The game was developed by staff members that worked on previous Capcom franchises such as Resident Evil, Devil May Cry,[7] and Breath of Fire[2]. Following the game's successful launch, Capcom is planning to develop a sequel.

Story:
The story residing in Dragons Dogma was fairly straight forward. The Dragon, so aptly named for being the final boss, descends from the sky and begins to attack the town in which you live. You have to set out on a quest to defeat him. Along the side you will accomplish various smaller tasks, from slaying creatures to collecting items from all around Gransys. The main story line is fairly simple. You accomplish small simple tasks that bring you closer to the end. While for some this may be entertaining enough to make up for a lack of actual story, I felt that it was not enough to cover up the stagnation of the story itself.. Capcom still did very well for their first shot at an RPG. I think that if they explore the RPG genre more in the future, they will be able to create longer and more elaborate stories to capture the heart of the gamer. Over all I give the story a 7.5/10

Game play: (DD is single player only)
I have to say that the game play in Dragons Dogma is fairly impressive. It follows the majority of RPGs nowadays in that it has a main quest line but also involves various side quests or missions. One thing I would say I liked is that you can interact with a lot of the environment. You can search logs for useful herbs or destroy barrels to find nuts inside. You can even break apart sections of broken boats that have been beached. I liked that freedom simply because it appealed to my natural destructive nature. Also I was able to find some fairly useful things such as combinable items and gold. I noticed that they had made it so that you could find useful plants almost anywhere in the world. This is good because combat is not always a walk in the park. I often found myself enacting a strategic withdrawal just to survive. However they also made it so that your enemies do not level up at all. This I found disappointing but I understand why they did it. Would you want to run into a goblin thats as strong as you are even though youve fought Cyclopes that were also as tuff? No, one because it would become annoying, and two it just wouldnt make sense. However, their almost constant introduction of new and challenging enemies makes up for them not leveling up. Ill also make note of when you are in combat, be sure to keep an eye on the stamina bar. It is your essential lifeline for combat (other than your health bar, obviously). It is what allows you to make any action in combat possible. Also, when creating your character be very careful about size and like attributes. These will determine how fast your character moves and attacks. As well, it affects how well your character can move across certain terrains, or move in certain conditions. It also affects how easily your character can be knocked down. In this game was the first time Id experienced determining factors in such a way. The final part of this section will be about the Pawn sharing system. If you have a friend who has played the game and has made it farther than you, you have the option of recruiting their pawn to help you in your travels. I, sadly, have yet to be able to use this feature, since I do not have internet aside from a phone. It seems that it would be really helpful for newer players though.

Controls:
The controls for Dragons Dogma are simple. Most actions will take only a single press of a button to be utilized. Movement is appropriate to how much pressure is on the joystick, effectively allowing you to walk or run. They even put in a sprint feature if you need to go just that much faster for a short while. Sometimes the sprinting function can be a little choosy but thats that only real issue with it. Otherwise, everything handles very well. You should find yourself comfortably handling most if not all situations or actions within the first hour and a half of play.

Graphics:
The graphics of Dragons Dogma really impressed me. They are very realistic ranging from characters faces and hair to the texture of a rock sticking out of the sand on a beach. Ive been playing the game for a few months now and have explored most areas on the map. I have yet to find any issues with map clipping or related issues. Two specific features that really impressed me were the motion of hair and capes, and the aspect of night time in game. First, motion of hair and capes. They did something that Ive really only experienced in games from Capcom. They gave hair (and in this case, capes) realistic and fluid motion. If you start to run, your hair and cape will move in accordance with your actions. However, when running, only your cape acts like it is affected by the wind. One issue I had with this is that when running (or sprinting) your hair and weapons unavoidably clip through the cape you are wearing. Your feet will also do this sometimes, given that you are wearing a body length cape. The other feature, night in-game, was impressive but also irritating. Once entering night, you might want to find a place to sleep unless you want to deal with the most irritatingly realistic night sequences Ive experienced in any game Ive played. This, as well as the lanterns lighting mechanics, make for a great experience when wandering around. The lantern provides enough light for you to see the immediate area surrounding its holder, allowing you to properly traverse any area while keeping enough out of your view for a nice little surprise. Though you will find it a pain if you dont keep a ready stock of oil to fuel the lanterns. Overall, I loved the graphics.

Rating: 8.5/10
While it is a really great game, It can become old fast once youve beaten the entire game at least once. That coupled with the few minor issues found in game do detract from the overall quality of the game. However, I do highly recommend getting it or the newly released version of Dragons Dogma: Dark Arisen.