What you need to know
- With the launch of Dragon's Dogma 2 on PC Thursday evening, a previously hidden set of microtransactions has become available for purchase.
- Things you can buy for the ARPG single player include fast travel points, Rift Crystals to hire pawns and purchase special items, consumables to change appearance and revive, a special camping kit that weighs less than regular ones, and a few other things.
- In response to microtransactions, Dragon's Dogma 2 has been reviewed, with the game currently sitting at “Mostly Negative” on Steam.
As I write this, Capcom's new ARPG Dragon's Dogma 2 is now officially playable on PC through Steam, and the game is scheduled to go live on Xbox and PlayStation consoles in a few hours. What was supposed to be an exciting and celebratory launch for a sequel that fans had been waiting for for over a decade, was marred by controversy.
Related: Must-read Dragon's Dogma 2 tips for beginners (avoid our mistakes)
When the game became available, a previously hidden set of microtransaction purchases also appeared. This includes everything from Rift Crystals used to recruit other players' pawns to Art of Metamorphosis tomes required to change your character's appearance, as well as Wakestone revival items, Portcrystal fast travel points, single-use keys for escaping prison dungeons, and incense to free a pawn's tilt (which, by the way, gets Your pawn is random), enchant monsters, and even special camping equipment that weighs less than regular equipment. They are all visible on Dragon's Dogma 2 DLC page.
The price of these microtransactions ranges from $1 to $5, and while some appear to be purchasable only in limited quantities, others appear to be purchasable indefinitely. And when you consider that Dragon's Dogma 2 is a $70 single-player RPG, it's no surprise that players…Not happyTo put it mildly. on steamit has already dropped to a “mostly negative” rating, with only 34% of positive reviews.
“Then, after pre-purchasing the Deluxe Edition, I went to install it today and saw an entire page dedicated to its microtransactions in the store,” books Superius player. “How do you have the audacity to make any kind of small transaction in a SINGLE PLAYER game that is already at full price. It is very strange to me.” Almighty Makes the same pointrather succinctly: “A great game that was shut down because of despicable microtransactions.”
actually. Most of the Windows Central team (including yours truly) have had early access to Dragon's Dogma 2 for some time, and we love its amazing combat systems and rich fantasy world (read our Dragon's Dogma 2 review to learn more about that; the team wasn't aware of microtransactions pre). But I'd be lying if I said these microtransactions haven't dampened some of our writers' enthusiasm for the game, especially since a handful of them are particularly terrible.
Out of the lot, the ones that personally frustrate me the most are the $2.99 Portcrystals and the $1.99 Contrasting Rift Incense. The former monetizes the ability to fast-travel wherever you want in the game world — Portcrystals are very rare to find in play — while the random nature of the latter essentially turns changing your pawn's propensity into a slot machine you can spend $2 to “return.” “Rolling.” “Oh, and I'm pretty bummed about the $2.99 Explorer's Camping Kit too, as it weighs less than the kits you'll find in the game and can be purchased infinitely from in-game vendors once unlocked.
While the vast majority of what you can buy Can They can be found in-game, are extremely difficult items to find, and cost a lot of Rift Crystals to purchase (and hey, there are microtransactions for Which, too) or available in limited quantities only. We were only able to find two volumes of Art of Metamorphosis for sale in one NPC shop despite finishing the game, for example, which suggests that there may be a limit to the number of times you can change your appearance unless you're willing to fork over some Cheddar.
And again: this is not a free live service experience or anything like that. that it Single player game priced at $70 all the way. It's unbelievable, which is why the shocking revelation of all these microtransactions is such a huge problem. Truly, this is one of the best open-world RPGs I've ever experienced – but now, it's overshadowed by greedy nickel-and-diming. And damn, that disgusting.
Editor's Note (Jez Corden): I just want to add here that Capcom didn't hide these microtransactions from us before I posted my review, they were detailed in the review guide via a link detailing the DLC, which I assumed was in reference to pre-order bonuses. Either way, when I usually review games, I avoid reading the review guide, because I want to start with a blank slate as if I were playing exactly as I did last year as someone who just bought the game for the first time. In the past I've received review guides with developer explanations in PR language that I felt might be designed to try to sway my opinion of a game. I feel like discovery is part of the gaming experience, so I usually avoid review guides. I didn't share the guide with my team either.
Either way, my point is that when you give interviews where you say that fast travel was intentionally restricted (as it was in the original) because travel on foot was designed to be fun, it kind of undermines your position when you start selling ports of fast points Travel as a microtransaction. These port crystals in particular are incredibly rare in the game. I only found a couple in my first game, and a third in my second.
Ironically, the game is better enjoyed without paying for microtransactions in my opinion, but it still leaves a bad aftertaste – especially when things like fast travel and character customization could so easily be included for free, in any other game. It's a slippery slope for former EA's John Riccitiello and his team “I Want to Sell Bullets in Battlefield” is a riff on the infamous microtransactions of yesteryear.
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