Dragon’s Dogma 2’s Latest Class Is Giving Medieval Darth Maul

Dragon’s Dogma 2 launches on most platforms on March 22, and I checked it out at a preview occasion in New York Metropolis. In his 2023 hands-on preview of the high-fantasy RPG, Kotaku senior reporter Ethan Gach mentioned that it’s “shaping as much as have all of the instruments essential to turn into the broadly acclaimed hit it deserves to be”—and I completely agree! The factor that bought me on this was a brand new class that successfully turns your character right into a medieval Drive person. Transfer over, Darth Maul; there’s one other double-bladed saber participant on the town.

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A sequel to Capcom’s cult-fave 2012 action-adventure recreation, Dragon’s Dogma 2 picks up the place its predecessor left off. After getting your coronary heart damaged by a really imply dragon, you enterprise out to—as soon as once more—show that you simply’re deserving of affection by killing the beast. You’ll recruit NPC servants generally known as Pawns to journey with you, fend off all manners of vicious creatures (like goblins and golems), and full myriad essential and aspect quests as you uncover the whereabouts of the heart-breaking flying lizard. If this sounds quite a bit like the unique Dragon’s Dogma, nicely, it’s, however that’s not a nasty factor. In truth, because of a bigger open world and new gameplay mechanics—together with new abilities for the assorted courses or “vocations”—Dragon’s Dogma 2 actually builds upon what Capcom completed over a decade in the past. And the 2 new vocations, notably the twin-blade-wielding Mystic Spearhand, underscore that inventive evolution.

Lifting rocks, throwing schlock in DD2 with magic

The sequel’s Mystic Spearhand is much like the unique recreation’s Mystic Knight in that each vocations focus on magic- and melee-based fight. However that’s the place the similarities finish. The Mystic Spearhand is quicker than the Mystic Knight, in a position to shortly sprint across the battlefield because of its teleportation abilities. It’s additionally received a wider vary of spells at its disposal that permit you to buff your allies whereas dispensing large quantities of harm by yourself, letting the category fill within the roles of “attacker,” “assist,” and “tank” concurrently. Additional, the vocation can shoot out blade beams from its duospear and magic bolts from its fingertips, in addition to twirl its weapon in a sorta figure-8 movement to swiftly rack up the ache it offers. This class feels incredible, particularly once you’re zipping from enemy to enemy, utilizing your twin-bladed weapon as a blender and lobbing spells to regulate the sector.

However what actually bought me was the power to raise enemies and objects off the bottom utilizing magic. By holding down one of many shoulder buttons, you’ll be able to carry up a separate menu of abilities in the course of fight. One generates a teal-colored ball that suspends objects within the air. So, should you needed to toss that rock towards a chimera you’re combating, you are able to do that. Equally, should you simply killed a wolf and needed to make use of its physique as throwable fodder, you are able to do that, too.

I wasn’t in a position to check it on heavier foes, like cyclopes and ogres, and it undoubtedly doesn’t work on bigger enemies, akin to dragons and griffins. Nonetheless, the power to raise and throw nearly any small-to-medium-sized factor in your neighborhood opens up a litany of choices in the case of combos and harm dealing. Couple this with the Mystic Spearhand’s skills to paralyze goons, shoot magic from its palms, immediately teleport to the opposition, and swing its duospear in acrobatic trend, and I couldn’t assist however suppose I used to be the embodiment of some kinda historic Darth Maul or like an ancestor to the long-lasting Sith warrior. It guidelines. And now that Dragon’s Dogma 2 has blown up my fave vocation from the primary recreation, the Strider, I’m sure I’ve discovered the brand new class I’m going to essential when the sport drops.

Learn Extra: Dragon’s Dogma 2 Joins A Divisive Gaming Development

Whereas I’ll admit that my three-hour play session was plagued with some frame-rate points, notably when roaming the densely packed cities, Dragon’s Dogma 2 continues to be trying actual good. The environments are richly detailed, the characters are expertly written and voiced, the fight is satisfyingly crunchy, and the enemies are violently sensible. The whole lot that made the unique Dragon’s Dogma so good appears to be dialed as much as 11 right here, and I can’t wait to see how the story unfolds when Dragon’s Dogma 2 hits PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Sequence X/S on March 22.