Capcom’s Dragon’s Dogma 2 has been 12 years in the making. The original Dragon’s Dogma was an underground hit, from the mind of Hideaki Itsuno the game was a nigh-bottomless well of gameplay and mechanics with several unique features that haven’t been tried before or since, as expected from a team of that calibur. Many Dragon’s Dogma faithful have been waiting 12 years for the sequel to this game, hoping in their hearts that the game could live up to the legacy set by its predecessor. And, from what everyone has said, by some miracle, it does exactly that: the game is fantastic and from a mechanical standpoint is a perfect extension of everything that came before it. There’s just one problem: corporate mandates.
As shown above, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is rife with several optional purchasable items in the Steam store as well as on all other storefronts. These purchases range from more fast travel options to actually being able to edit your character. On the surface, this seems inexcusable, and it would be provided these transactions were unobtainable in-game. But luckily for those sticking with Dragon’s Dogma 2, these options ARE all acquirable in-game, but for many new to the series several of the items for sale such as fast travel seem like a very petty way to nickel and dime the consumer to death on top of the already-too-much $70 price tag (the reality is that Dragon’s Dogma has always been a series with an intentionally unique and very limited take on fast travel and save data).
These early game microtransactions are a staple of Capcom games at this point: it happened with Devil May Cry 5 and it happened with Resident Evil 4: Remake, and it’s happening right now with Street Fighter 6. These purchases are not only easily acquirable by just playing that game, they don’t even help that much when you buy them. It’s a worthless item in the store, and one that can only be mandated by out-of-touch company heads that insist on some form of DLC with all their games.
But ever so slowly the goodwill towards Capcom runs out, among a bevy of poor decision-making with several of their games this one seems to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back in regards to the company’s image among the player base, and it’s one that might cost Dragon’s Dogma 2 its word-of-mouth reputation. Many new to the series or even Capcom as a whole are unaware of these practices, and view them as the predatory exploitation they are whereas the established player base is used to these items and actively ignore them.
At some point, those in charge of Capcom are going to need to acknowledge that these mandated items hurt them more than they could ever help, and with Dragon’s Dogma 2 currently sitting at a “Mixed” (formerly “Mostly Negative”) review score on Steam they need to do it fast; what should be their biggest release of 2024 is now probably going to be one of the biggest controversies the company will face this year. They’ve already seen the writing on the wall and have issued an official apology for the items, clarifying that they’re just expediting in-game options, but that’s probably not enough. For future releases, they’ll have to cut these minor items from the store entirely else they risk that game’s reputation.
And this is just the mere surface of the game’s problems from the official front: the poor performance issues in cities can be fixed eventually with patches but the continued use of Denuvo is likely going to become a Capcom standard, and one that shouldn’t be encouraged. It seems from all sides an otherwise great and ambitious game is being hounded by forces within Capcom which weigh it down and look to bomb its reputation before it can truly get its feet off the ground.
If you’re interested in purchasing Dragon’s Dogma 2 through the microtransaction controversy and the performance and Denuvo issues then it is available right now on PC via Steam, as well as PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Dragon’s Dogma 2 is legitimately a fantastic game, it’s just unfortunate that what should be a red carpet release is mired in a muck of Capcom’s own creation.