Dragon’s Dogma 2’s Microtransactions Are The Least Of Its Problems

Talk about an aspirational love letter to the fans of the franchise with a rather bitter touch of disappointment. Dragon’s Dogma 2, the much-awaited goliath JRPG by Capcom, finally made landfall last month after years of riveting anticipation, but turns out, it’s not quite the game fans dreamt of.

Getting off to a rocky start in the eyes of PC players, it seems there’s a lot more to Dragon’s Dogma 2’s pitfalls than the initially questioned dump of microtransactions. More so, some of the issues present in the RPG run deeper than expected, and having gone through them now, I can’t help but drown in the feeling that Dragon’s Dogma 2 is not the game I envisioned years ago.

Capcom Lost Its Way With This Clearly Rushed Storyline

So, bear with me a little here. What in the sweet Arisen was that story that Capcom thought was a good idea for Dragon’s Dogma 2 to have?

Forget about the slow and dull pacing and the underutilization of some of the game’s most prominent characters, I’m still in disbelief that the credits started to roll right after fending off Grigori when one obviously expected a lot more.

That’s so obviously what happened I’m surprised more people aren’t talking about it. An unfinished game releasing right at the end of the 1st annual quarter? I bet Capcom were in the red and to save themselves from investors wrath they banked on day 1 purchases of a game that could’ve done with another year in development at least,” says u/Garfield120. 

I’m aware that the true ending of the title grants you more content to enjoy, but that still doesn’t make up for the mess that the whole plot is, or at least the gist of it. That’s why these days, the running joke in the Dragon’s Dogma community is centered somewhere around Capcom launching this title to meet their quarterly goals. 

Not cool, Capcom. Not cool.

Many story interactions, and NPC dialogues after specifically hyping something or someone in specific lead to nothing, making one wonder whether the devs forgot the follow-up part or something of the sort.

Just beat the story.
byu/Vladsamir inDragonsDogma

I’m the type of player who mostly gets into RPGs for the story portrayal, but I really didn’t get what my heart was yearning for here, minus the great combat of Dragons Dogma 2 — credit where it’s due.

Dismal Performance Across Different Platforms Points To A Rushed Release

In 2024, where — considering how far the tech has come — 60 FPS should be the norm for at least newly coming out games, that’s the first thing you can stop expecting from Dragon’s Dogma 2 on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.

30 fps on PS5 feels horrible
byu/Perri0010 inDragonsDogma

So that must mean things are nice and tight on the PC gaming end, right? Right?

Now we all know how that has turned out over the course of the game’s release, taking things to the point where players had to commit mass genocide of NPCs in order to make the RPG run smoother. Absolutely wild.

The game’s been struggling on PC since day one, although with Capcom acknowledging the matter and promising to roll out frame rate fixes in the near future. Until then, you will need a tip-top gaming PC to play Dragon’s Dogma in all its glory, but tell you what, even then stable 60 FPS is not guaranteed.

So, here’s the kicker: Dragon’s Dogma 2 lacks optimization and contains telltale signs all over of a game that was rushed to release. Oh, and here’s not to forget about the enemy variety spread across the in-game world. This point in particular has been picked up by the community to a fair extent and is something I resonate with personally as well. 

But it’s not just that Dragon’s Dogma 2 could’ve used more diversity in enemy design; a pain point is how enemy groups are scattered here and there every 10 feet from the Arisen, so it’s natural for one to get tired of fighting the same group of enemies over and over again.

That, coupled with the fact that the first Dragon’s Dogma has more content in this regard as compared to the sequel, not to mention how Dragon’s Dogma 2 recycles a vast portion of its predecessor in its favor as well. 

Can we all agree the game is lacking enemy variety?
byu/IcePopsicleDragon inDragonsDogma

And Yes, The Microtransactions

I won’t jump on the bandwagon and just straight-up call out Capcom for not being transparent about the MTX in Dragon’s Dogma 2. Yes, I realize it’s a bad look when the game releases and you see a list of little add-ons attached to it that demand you to stretch your wallet a little.

Yes, I know miscommunication runs rampant and causes fire to erupt in the community, with many gaming publications not taking a second longer to dig deep before making headlines like, “Dragon’s Dogma 2 Has Paid Fast Travel” but here’s the deal:

Many failed to take a moment and observe that this isn’t the first time Capcom has unloaded microtransactions onto a game right alongside its launch. You’ve got the Resident Evil 4 remake, Devil May Cry 5, and even Monster Hunter Rise exhibiting the same pattern as Dragon’s Dogma 2, but those didn’t get lambasted as badly as the Japanese developer’s latest release. 

I think the performance pissed people off so they also found every other thing to get mad about before posting their complaints,” comments one u/ArooMeister69.

A Note For The Future

With the dust now settling, fans are hopeful that Capcom earns redemption for the game’s various pitfalls in the form of DLC for the Dragon’s Dogma sequel, particularly because the title lacks versatility in end-game content as well.

Until then, I will say and stand my ground in it that Dragon’s Dogma 2 has its moments where it shines quite bright, and at the end of the day, remains a highly enjoyable RPG, should you opt to ignore its frame rate issues.