Dragon's Dogma 2 understands that fantasy's at its best when it knows how to revel in the mundane

GamesRPGDragon’s Dogma 2Dragon’s Dogma 2 understands that fantasy’s at its best when it knows how to revel in the mundaneWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Capcom)

An Arisen climbs an ogre in Dragon�s Dogma 2, preparing to strike it in the head with a duospear.

Personal Pick(Image credit: Future)In addition to our mainGame of the Year Awards 2024, each member of the PC Gamer team is shining a spotlight on a game they loved this year. We’ll post new personal picks, alongside our main awards, throughout the rest of the month.

Personal Pick

(Image credit: Future)In addition to our mainGame of the Year Awards 2024, each member of the PC Gamer team is shining a spotlight on a game they loved this year. We’ll post new personal picks, alongside our main awards, throughout the rest of the month.

(Image credit: Future)

Game of the Year

In addition to our mainGame of the Year Awards 2024, each member of the PC Gamer team is shining a spotlight on a game they loved this year. We’ll post new personal picks, alongside our main awards, throughout the rest of the month.

As the protagonist of Dragon’s Dogma 2, I’m equal parts mythic hero, destined monarch, and fledgling demigod, but the most important thing I can do during my adventures is make sure I’m not left with a backpack full of rotten meat. My Arisen can fire a hail of magic darts from an enchanted bow; he can enlist a legion of soulbonded companions drawn from countless parallel worlds in a metaphysical conflict spanning the infinite strata of reality.

That only counts for so much if I’m not keeping track of my camping supplies.

Other fantasies can feel paranoid about the times between your moments of high adventure. Take Blizzard’s, for example. I’ve spent a few dozen hours with Diablo 4 this year, and there’s an almost anxious tension during the long stretches of riding overland between dungeons and world events—like the game’s self-conscious about whether I’ll notice that the downtime conveniently gives me plenty of time to ponder all the spots on my horse and hero that I haven’t draped in premium cosmetics.

World of Warcraft, meanwhile, feels like it’s waking from a fugue state spanning multiple expansions, where its mad sprint to endgame content meant blazing through regions and villains at such a blistering pace that everything smeared together into an undifferentiated blur of magic and huge pauldrons.

(Image credit: Capcom)

An Arisen charges a pair of goblins in Dragon’s Dogma 2, sending them toppling.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is unapologetic about slowing down.

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(Image credit: Capcom)

An Arisen and their party of pawns battle a drake.

I won’t minimize it: It’s an odd game. But it’s an honest oddness. It’s weird without pretension. It’s so dense with charming design idiosyncracies—like mechanics letting you clamber all over an ogre like a horrid little bug, or grab a panicked stag as it sprints past and casually lob it at an enemy—that it feels like it never occurred to anyone that it could play any other way.

(Image credit: Capcom)

An Arisen stands on a hilltop with their accompanying pawns nearby. A mountain looms in the background.

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