The Dragon’s Dogma 2 Fiasco Shows Anything Remotely Microtransactions Is PTSD

Over the years, video games have evolved in ways we never even thought were possible back then. We started with pixelated graphics, blurry environments, and clunky controls because that was the best the hardware of those times could do. Now, games look more photorealistic and feel authentic than anything else. However, they also evolved in some pretty problematic ways, the most vile being the microtransactions.

In the past, when I purchased a game at full price, at least I could rest assured that it was the complete package with everything included. Plus, there were many secret unlockables you could get that made it more rewarding.

Today, forget about free unlockables, you don’t even get the necessary features for free. Microtransactions have warped our perceptions so much that even great games like Dragon’s Dogma 2 suffer when see anything even remotely like them.

What Is The Dragon’s Dogma 2 Fiasco?

I’m pretty sure you’ve heard plenty about it already as it’s practically the talk of the town these days, but Dragon’s Dogma 2 is currently surrounded by a very strong controversy. First, let’s discuss the nature of this problem a little. What went wrong? Well, it all started when Dragon’s Dogma 2 listed a lot of purchasable items on its store page shortly after release, and everyone raged hard at this.

Dragons Dogma 2 is a disaster
byu/Devdut12 inIndianGaming

Dragon’s Dogma 2 was one of the most anticipated releases of this year. A sequel to Capcom’s most underrated action RPG at release that later garnered a cult following, Dragon’s Dogma 2 became real after a ton of demand. As such, all eyes were on it. Oh, and it’s not even close to a bad game, it’s a brilliant adventure through and through, and the glowing reviews reflect that. However, the release presented another story.

Shortly after it became available, Dragon’s Dogma 2 was flooded with bad user reviews and a ton of complaints. Why’s that? There were two reasons, with one much more hated than the other. The mild one was the game’s poor performance. It runs close to 30 fps only on consoles and suffers a low frame rate even on high-end PCs.

But the more extreme reason was that Dragon’s Dogma 2 supposedly added microtransactions on release, incurring the wrath of everyone who laid eyes on them.

It Was Just Capcom’s Usual One-Time Packs, Not Even Microtransactions

Because of these issues, Dragon’s Dogma 2 was released to a “mostly negative” reception on Steam, with a lot of people expressing their hatred and the demand for a refund, calling out Capcom for adding Microtransactions in a single-player game. It’s such a shame honestly, because Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a genuinely superb game victim of a bad image.

https://www.reddit.com/r/DragonsDogma/comments/1bkoybh/brutal_start_on_steam/

But do you know an interesting little fact? These purchases are not even microtransactions. It’s all just a very big misunderstanding. People familiar with Capcom’s games will know that it always adds these little, one-time packs in its games that serve as a sort of head start for your journey. These are all items you can get otherwise as well by playing the game.

Go ahead and look at the Devil May Cry series, particularly 4 and 5. These games came with similar purchases, that included extra red orbs, proud souls, and blue orbs which are like upgrades in these games. You can either purchase these optional packs to start your adventure with more resources at your disposal, or you can just normally acquire them during your sessions.

While Capcom’s strategy of adding purchases in single-player games is a whole other debate, the fact remains they are not microtransactions, nor are they any “pay-to-win” strategy you can keep spending for. They are one-time purchases and essentially serve as mini, optional DLCs.

Dragon's Dogma 2 doesn't actually have microtransactions its just buying items from the deluxe edition and they're permanent(and avoidable). This has existed with a lot of other Capcom games, the review-bombing is ridiculous. As far as optimization, they're already fixing that.

— Tapyokaa💜 (@tapyokaa) March 22, 2024

The Hate For Microtransactions Is Blinding And All-Encompassing 

Although it was all majorly a misunderstanding, there’s a pretty important lesson to be learned here. All this rage and frustration shows just how much people are fed up with microtransactions these days. And honestly, I don’t even blame them, because I too am a stark microtransactions hater. When I saw these purchases listed in the store, for a moment I was disappointed as well.

My point makes even more sense if you factor in that Capcom has been doing it for a long time now. Devil May Cry 4 came out in 2008. It never became this much of an issue before. That’s because the current oversaturation of live services, battle passes, and every predatory tactic on the planet has just forced our hand at this point to hate any sort of purchases.

Microtransaction Drama – CAPCOM have been doing this for years and yet NOW everyone gets butthurt?
byu/iBear92 inDragonsDogma

The worst part is, there’s no end to these in sight, at least not so far. In fact, the focus on microtransactions and live services is still growing. Take a look at WB and it’s blatantly hideous step to go live-service, I fear for Hogwarts Legacy 2. That’s another example of everything becoming a victim of this greedy strategy.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a highly creative and enjoyable game with genuinely interesting world traversal and a ton of uncertainty in your journey. The paid fast travel is just a one-time purchase and can be acquired normally as well. But microtransactions have become so much of a PTSD these days that any purchase is enough to give rage-inducing trauma.

Microtransactions Have Ruined Even Single-Player Gaming

In the end, it’s all the fault of microtransactions and their predatory nature killing the joy of even the single-player games. Live services are just an infestation of microtransactions and “easy money,” but at least single-player games were free of this mess. Unfortunately, recently this cancer has seeped into this sanctuary as well.

Remember when single player games had “cheat codes” instead of micro transactions? Good times
byu/TheKingIsBackYo ingaming

Look at Ubisoft and the ridiculous microtransactions in Assassin’s Creed games. As if the RPG-fication of the series wasn’t bad enough. WB’s turning even established single-players into live service.

It’s so irritating that even non-micro purchases seem predatory cash grabs, like what happened with Dragon’s Dogma 2. Are there no games free of this mess? The way it’s going, I don’t think there will soon. I just hope this hideous trend dies out, at least in single-player games where it makes absolutely no sense.