Dragon's Dogma

 Xbox 360
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 324 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 244 out of 324
  2. Mixed: 42 out of 324
  3. Negative: 38 out of 324
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  1. frostquake
    May 23, 2012
    6
    This is a great looking game with one huge glaring flaw, your AI team-mates! If only Dragon Age could have looked this good!
    Everything about this game is your typical quest, so I won't bore you with what works, and will only highlight what will make your crack your teeth and pull out your hair, your AI team-mates!
    The AI team-mates are absolutely horrible. 1. They run ahead yelling for    This is a great looking game with one huge glaring flaw, your AI team-mates! If only Dragon Age could have looked this good!
    Everything about this game is your typical quest, so I won't bore you with what works, and will only highlight what will make your crack your teeth and pull out your hair, your AI team-mates!
    The AI team-mates are absolutely horrible.
    1. They run ahead yelling for you to follow constantly! Capcom hid items all around a level, behind walls, down cliffs, so they knew people would take time looking for items, yet your AI team-mates just won't shut up, telling you to come this way. I would use the help button to bring them back only to have them come, turn around and run ahead, shouting.
    2. One area the AI team-mates instruct you to be quiet, all the while they are yelling "GOBLINS"
    3. They don't wait at all! They will rush ahead killing everything before you even get a chance to see the enemy, affecting how you level up.
    4. They will pick up items without telling you they got an item. The screen is so busy, good luck knowing what the AI picked up for you, without pausing the game.
    5. Collision detection is HORRIBLE! Your AI will run through you, themselves, boulders, and enemies. I stood in the middle of a Belly of a Boss, while it spun around trying to figure out where I was, and all I had to do was stand in the middle of the Boss and Hack and Slash till it fell!
    6. Sometimes when you do want to go exploring, your AI will jump around like a Mexican Hopping Beans. I walked down a cliff to look for treasure, and here came those irritating AI Pawns! Oh how I wanted them to just jump off the cliff and die!
    7. Did I mention your AI team-mates are HORRIBLE! If there was only someway to play through the game by yourself or a "STAY" command like there was in Dragon Age.

    Sadly the AI Pawns, ie..Team Mates, take a gorgeous fun to play game, and turn it into back seat drivers constantly saying "Are we there yet..Are we there yet..Are we there yet..Are we there yet??"    … Expand
  2. gemini0577
    Jun 2, 2012
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. While the game looks awesome and the replay value is actually pretty high, it has a few glaring issues that cannot be overlooked. The biggest issue is the massive plot-holes in the romantic themes. The romance, while not a desired aspect of the game experience, is jagged and illogical and it is very much forced into the plot. Spoilers follow so stop reading if you don't want to know; however, these spoilers are not in regard to how the game ends. The primary romance that is just wrong, and since I only made it that far as a male character, presumably it only happens if you are male, is when you fall in love with the duchess. It is such an unexpected development and once pursued it is either accomplished or failed. The problem is that what happens after the "affair" makes no sense at all and indicates a flaw in the storytelling. You get busted by the Duke and imprisoned and tortured but when you break out of jail you resume your quests for the duke as if nothing happened. It is so bizarre and really makes the love angle irrelevant and forced. Add to that two other characters that complicate the romance department and an unexpected heavy-handed climax, it is easy to see how the story itself is rather convoluted and messy. The silly romance angle aside, the game is pretty spectacular. The combat is pretty cool and the "share" system with the pawns, as well as the customization of your primary pawn, is pretty cool. Also the game play after the final act and credits is very much affected by the outcome of the final act which is pretty awesome. I made a choice and I get to play through the consequences of that choice and all I have to say to that is WOW. It really does seem to become a whole new game experience after the credits role. So, silly love stories aside, it's pretty solid. I know a 7 may be kind of low for a game that is otherwise pretty awesome but the flaws leave a pretty sour taste behind and chances are others feel the same way. I won't spoil it... you'd have to play all the way to the credits to understand what I mean.… Expand
  3. sias
    Jun 28, 2012
    7
    An intriguing addition to the Action RPG genre that's wonderfully innovative in some areas but very weak in others. GOOD: Fantastic combat system that's genuinely very exciting with a wonderful sense of physicality reminiscent of Dark Souls; The Pawn System for sharing and hiring party members is a genuinely exciting new method to play games of this genre and has a surprising amount ofAn intriguing addition to the Action RPG genre that's wonderfully innovative in some areas but very weak in others. GOOD: Fantastic combat system that's genuinely very exciting with a wonderful sense of physicality reminiscent of Dark Souls; The Pawn System for sharing and hiring party members is a genuinely exciting new method to play games of this genre and has a surprising amount of depth to it; Great amount of freedom where you can pretty much grab onto anything in the game world, whether that be a rock face, a towering cyclops or a poor unfortunate rabbit that you decided to throw off a cliff; Character and monster animations are superb and some of the best seen in this genre; Each class in the vocation system feels genuinely unique and the the class you choose massively effects the way you handle each battle; Some of the bigger enemies you battle are simply awesome, requiring various techniques to take them down; The use of lighting in the game is superb and adds an element of suspense to night time battles; Post-game asynchronous co-op is a really interesting new way to play games of this genre. BAD: Terrible story told through tedious nonsensical cutscenes involving ludicrous characters; Romance system is lazily implemented and just doesn't make any sense; Game world is actually very small and lacks variety; Graphics on most NPCs are horrible; Screen tear and FPS drops can sometimes distract from the beauty and excitement of battles; With no difficulty settings or an increase in difficulty with each subsequent NG+, the game becomes quite unchallenging after around level 40 which completely undermines the excitement of felling larger foes; Hired pawns have a tendency of repeating the exact same piece of dialogue constantly and especially during battle where they will happily tell you hundreds of times that everything is weak to fire; There is actually very little enemy variety when travelling in the wilderness and random battle events do not happen frequent enough; Item combining and weapon smithing is a bit weak and unexciting; Main quest line is extremely short and the way that non-noticeboard side-quests appear is odd and lacks consistency. OVERALL: I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Dragon's Dogma. The battle system is genuinely very exciting and the Pawn System is a great new way to shake up the stale party mechanics of other RPGs. However, there's no denying that Dragon's Dogma has some way to go before it can fully live up to its potential. Dragon's Dogma 2 has already been announced which is great news, as now the foundations of the combat and pawn system have been laid down, Capcom can focus on making everything else shine just as much.… Expand
  4. dmjcn
    May 23, 2012
    5
    Its really quite good in the end, but there is no real excuse for not having a PC edition. I simply cant play games that require quick thinking or aiming on a controller; that is what a mouse is for.
  5. DarkDjango
    Jun 8, 2012
    6
    If Skyrim and Dark Souls had a bratty child it would be Dragon's Dogma and just like that child sometimes it's fun to play with but ultimately it could benefit from some better parenting. This game has many promising elements, none of which are implemented well. The combat is fun and the various classes each have many unique unlockable moves encouraging experimentation. Outside of thisIf Skyrim and Dark Souls had a bratty child it would be Dragon's Dogma and just like that child sometimes it's fun to play with but ultimately it could benefit from some better parenting. This game has many promising elements, none of which are implemented well. The combat is fun and the various classes each have many unique unlockable moves encouraging experimentation. Outside of this though the game falls flat in every area. I have honestly spent half of my time playing running from one end of the map to the other as the game has no real fast travel system (outside of special single use items that only connect to one location.) This is just one of the cheap shortcuts the developers used to artificially inflate this flat game. Check your bargain bin for this mildly interesting RPG but save your big bucks for better games.… Expand
  6. Chuck_Woolery
    Nov 2, 2012
    7
    Great concepts, fun combat, but feels limited and unfinished. Seems like so much work was put into character/pawn system, and the dynamic combat and creature models, that the story was left unfinished and partially done. Still played through it. Crafting systems is cumbersome and limited, ends up being annoying. I found it difficult to do anything with pawn skills and magic selectionsGreat concepts, fun combat, but feels limited and unfinished. Seems like so much work was put into character/pawn system, and the dynamic combat and creature models, that the story was left unfinished and partially done. Still played through it. Crafting systems is cumbersome and limited, ends up being annoying. I found it difficult to do anything with pawn skills and magic selections beyond finding a good combo to "set and forget".

    If there is a successor, I'm sure Capcom will build on the concepts attempted here with good success, but this feels like Beta for such an effort.

    There were some truly Epic moments, I must say, however.

    The graphics are also beautiful. I had some fantastic moments out in the wild, and the screencap/sharing system is cool as well.

    Agree with the current rating overall (currently 7.7)... could have been so much better.    … Expand
  7. dincturk
    Jun 19, 2012
    7
    Seriously guys, graphics are so unbalanced. Our main characters clothes and hair are like created player in PES 2012, and grounds, walls, rocks are really so simple. Dragons and other creations are really well created, good graphics.
  8. Scourge626
    Jun 30, 2012
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Dragon's Dogma is a bold, new, and adventurous game that exceeds expectations but then dashes set expectations due to its many, many shortcomings and flaws. It's like a middle child that tries to get attention from its parents but succeeds in mostly ticking them off instead of being praised by them. From the rocking but rather unexpected J-Rock opening theme song to the most ridiculous ending that I have ever had the misfortune of experiencing in my life as a gamer, Dragon's Dogma is filled with surprises both good and bad. Unfortunately, this game is only for people who are willing to stick on their blinders and are willing to endure (as many people will say, but they really mean blatantly ignore every flaw as if they don't exist) the overflowing problems. The character creation is the most extensive selection I have seen that may rival such games as Skyrim. However, despite how extensive it was, I felt that they were pretty boring. That doesn't mean it… Expand
  9. Coletrain128
    Mar 26, 2013
    7
    With the lack of a strong story, no fast travel, and lack of direction still lies a fairly good RPG. The pawn system is great as it's always interesting to see what others have made and it just adds to the customisation options that is present. Dogma also has one of the best combat systems I've seen in an RPG. Fighting enemies doesn't feel floaty and the ability to scale dragons is also anWith the lack of a strong story, no fast travel, and lack of direction still lies a fairly good RPG. The pawn system is great as it's always interesting to see what others have made and it just adds to the customisation options that is present. Dogma also has one of the best combat systems I've seen in an RPG. Fighting enemies doesn't feel floaty and the ability to scale dragons is also an added touch. The content in Dogma rivals many other RPG's on the market but through the 80-90 hr experience is constant walking to locations and situations which involve dying and restarting from a checkpoint say an hour or so back. Even with it'd problems, I would still recommend it if you are even the slightest fan of action RPG's.… Expand
  10. CKRI
    Oct 16, 2012
    7
    Dragon's Dogma has many interesting elements within the Action RPG genre. A combat system that works very well overall thanks to the many tools that owns and pawns original system (management, recruitment, study, change) that gives a lot of depth which is the battle itself. Beyond this is the vast world created remarkable, full of missions, secrets and many, many enemies will kill us againDragon's Dogma has many interesting elements within the Action RPG genre. A combat system that works very well overall thanks to the many tools that owns and pawns original system (management, recruitment, study, change) that gives a lot of depth which is the battle itself. Beyond this is the vast world created remarkable, full of missions, secrets and many, many enemies will kill us again and again. But nevertheless fails to live up to other greats of the genre.… Expand
  11. BloodyRandy
    May 31, 2012
    10
    What makes a gamer mad is when a game this good gets hidden from them. I wasn't a fan of the free demo which felt like the graphics were worse than the final product. I then saw guys playing the game on twitch and was finally pushed over the edge to buy it even after being brainwashed by angry critic companies that didn't get their fees.

    It looks like Capcom didn't pay the commercial    What makes a gamer mad is when a game this good gets hidden from them. I wasn't a fan of the free demo which felt like the graphics were worse than the final product. I then saw guys playing the game on twitch and was finally pushed over the edge to buy it even after being brainwashed by angry critic companies that didn't get their fees.

    It looks like Capcom didn't pay the commercial bill to sites like Gamespot and IGN because the ratings this game is getting is a complete travesty. This and Diablo 3's critic reviews should be flipped. Even if you hate this game you would at least give it an 8. Don't know how Skyrim didn't get marked for bugs since it's bugs were 1000 times worse. The best part about Dragon's Dogma is that you play in a pack or you can play with a friend with your main guy. The attention to detail in this game is a nice addition. Menus are comfortable, ask you the right questions and theres just enough work required to equip, buy and sell without it becoming mindless like Diablo, or way too over the top like Eve. The combat is interesting and requires you to have some skill at mixing a team together that fights well. If you botched a team, then you can grab new teammates in a flash. The fact that it is possible to screw up is what many games don't seem to do anymore. This is a fantastic game that should be considered for RPG GOTY already and it's not even half over yet.    … Collapse

Awards & Rankings

89
#89 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2012
20
#20 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2012
38
#38 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 59 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 40 out of 59
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 59
  3. Negative: 1 out of 59
  1. Level7.nu
    Aug 3, 2012
    80
    A unique hybrid between japanese and western rpg's featuring extensive customisation options, fun fights and indirect but rewarding ways to help (and be helped by) other players.
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  2. Xbox World Australia
    Jul 17, 2012
    70
    Although I did know what kind of game Dragon's Dogma was when I picked it up, I was hoping that it would be different, have something I found compelling, something I could get addicted to and want to spend my time with. But for me, this kind of 'old school' gaming found in Dragon's Dogma is simply tedious and rarely enjoyable.
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  3. Hyper Magazine
    Jul 8, 2012
    80
    This is what Hercules must've felt like. [July 2012, p.58]
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