Summary
- Dragon's Dogma 2 offers a refreshing take on traditional RPGs with player-led exploration and challenging combat.
- The game integrates various mythologies into its world, providing a diverse range of enemies to encounter.
- The next God of War could benefit from borrowing Dragon's Dogma 2's approach to blending different mythologies, as it could lead to a unique setting and a lot of enemy variety.
After 12 long years, the Dragon's Dogma franchise is back, and for the most part, fans have gotten exactly what they asked for. Though it may stray a little too close to its 2012 predecessor at times, Dragon's Dogma 2 is a fantasy open-world RPG that puts a number of refreshing spins on the genre, from its player-led exploration, to its rewarding progression and class systems, to its challenging combat. There's a lot that Dragon's Dogma 2 is going to be remembered for, and there's a lot it can teach the rest of the video game industry.
While it may be one of the current leaders of the video game landscape, the God of War franchise shouldn't be averse to learning from its competition, especially when God of War 2018 clearly borrowed quite a bit from its contemporaries. And though God of War and Dragon's Dogma 2 are two very different video games, there's one big feature in the latter that God of War might want to take for its own.
The Next God of War Should Borrow Dragon's Dogma 2's Approach to Mythology
Dragon's Dogma 2 Isn't Afraid to Mix and Match Mythologies
The world of Dragon's Dogma 2 is an intriguing one. Set in the fantasy kingdoms of Vermund and Battahl, Dragon's Dogma 2 makes it abundantly clear that this world is not Earth, though much like many other fantasy RPGs like it, Dragon's Dogma 2 borrows heavily from human mythology, particularly when it comes to its enemy design. Throughout Dragon's Dogma 2, players will often run into a range of monsters, most of which come from Greek mythology. Cyclopes, Harpies, Chimeras, Minotaurs, and Griffins all appear consistently throughout Dragon's Dogma 2's open-world.
However, Dragon's Dogma 2's enemies aren't limited to just Greek mythology. As players continue to explore the vast kingdoms of Vermund and Battahl, they'll begin encountering more varied monsters, a handful of which come from mythologies other than Greek. The Sphinx is probably one of the most memorable examples of this, appearing at both the Mountain Shrine and the Frontier Shrine. Unlike Dragon's Dogma 2's other monsters, the Egyptian creature isn't hostile, instead choosing to ask the player a series of riddles as opposed to fighting them off the bat.
On top of the Sphinx, Dragon's Dogma 2 also borrows some monsters from Irish, Jewish, and Norse mythology. Some of these monsters include the Dullahan, the Golem, and the Wight, all of which put up quite a tough fight.
God of War Could Blend Its Mythologies Together
The God of War franchise has already dabbled in both Greek and Norse mythology in their own separate series, but perhaps it's time for God of War to take a page out of Dragon's Dogma 2's playbook and join its mythologies together. God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla actually got quite close to delivering on this concept, with Kratos having to face off against past foes like Cyclopes while also facing off against Norse-themed enemies. But the next God of War should fully embrace this premise, and bring together enemies from across multiple mythologies.
Along with offering an unparaleled level of enemy variety, this concept would also pave the way for some incredibly intriguing potential narratives. For instance, the next God of War could see gods from different pantheons joining forces to try and hunt Kratos down, or see Kratos hopping between various mythologies to try and restore some kind of peace and order.
Dragon's Dogma 2
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 87 /100 Critics Rec: 91%
WHERE TO PLAY
Set forth on your grand adventure, Arisen!
Dragon’s Dogma is a single player, narrative driven action-RPG series that challenges the players to choose their own experience – from the appearance of their Arisen, their vocation, their party, how to approach different situations and more. Now, in this long-awaited sequel, the deep, explorable fantasy world of Dragon’s Dogma 2 awaits.
On your journey, you’ll be joined by Pawns, mysterious otherworldly beings, in an adventure so unique you will feel as if accompanied by other players while on your own adventure.
All of these elements are elevated further through physics technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and the latest in graphics, to create a truly immersive fantasy world in Dragon’s Dogma 2.
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
