so dragons dogma questions:
1.does anything cool happen if you beat the chimera in the opening? I was one hit away from killing that fucker
2.how many of the quests in the first town should I do, for experience-gaining purposes?
3.should I play on hard mode or is that designed for new game+? the giant ogre outside of the pawn camp kills me in one hit
I know it's been replied to already but hey, what the hell.
1. No you can't kill it then. But you'll kill it later
2. I took all the "get/kill x many" quests all at once upfront. They're like xenoblade, you don't have to report back and you'll complete them just in the course of playing. I did the witchwood quest first this time. I wish I had done it first last time. It's really well suited for a beginner. I did that one (the one to get your cousin) then the well one in the first town and then the hydra head back to Gran Sys. I did all the Wyrm hunt ones (just do them in the order they were given) and after that you'll have enough experience to decide what to do. There are several "escort" quests. Just do the ones that have the best reward or the ones where you want to build affinity with the person. Otherwise I wouldn't necessarily bother with them.
3. If you're hardcore go for hard mode, but the game is plenty tough on normal especially in the "post-game" (the game really kicks it into high gear after the initial credits so it's not really "post-game" because it's the bulk and best part of the game). I don't think I could do it on hard on my first playthrough. But if you got the skills, more power to you.
Also a few tips:
- Don't forget Pawns that aren't your main pawn don't level. I somehow missed that and found myself getting my ass handed to me regularly and then found that my pawns were nearly 10 levels below mine.
- It's all about the mix of players/pawns so don't be afraid to change pawns often
- Pick up everything (use the store in the inn to help keep stuff)
I don't really get why reviewers gave it such a "meh" reception. Honestly it's up in the running for game of the generation for me and the fact that I've gone back and find it even better is a testament to how good it is. I've had other games that I loved in my initial play through but going back was a bit of a let down. Skyrim had a huge open world that was stunning and loads of quests for you to do. But the combat was utterly terrible. Demon's Souls and Dark Souls are considered the messiah but really I feel that Dragon's Dogma is better in every way outside of the online component and lore. If I had to write a review of Dragon's Dogma I'd just tell the story about how I was travelling and was playing Dragon's Dogma and my wife called to see how I was doing and I said, "My god I'm playing Dragon's Dogma and I'm trying to finish this quest. First I leave the city and get ambushed by bandits. After that I get attacked by a pack of Harpies. Then going over a mountain and get attacked by a giant cyclops. I climbed on its back, struck at it's helmet to have it fall off and then had to stab it in the eye. I nearly fell off the cliff but I barely saved myself. It ended up killing two my companions but finally we beat it. Then after the mountain I was walking through a forest and got attacked by a huge Chimera. I had to climb on its back and try to dodge the snake tail as I was stabbing its neck. But it threw me off and then pounced on me, bit my head and tossed me like a rag doll and I died."
"Oh so the boss killed you?"
"Boss? No. All this happened BEFORE I even got to the cave where the quest starts. I hope I can make it there before night falls or then I'll REALLY be in trouble"
That's just the kind of game it is. Just awesome epic fights and they're not even boss fights. Sure I can see something that reviewers would hate, the world is big but it's not as huge as Skyrim or as varied. The story is pretty "meh" overall. Monsters respawn at the same points so it can get annoying "Oh I'm turning the corner there'll be bandits here." This was way worse in the initial release where you had to walk everywhere and it took forever just fighting the same enemies you beat earlier. Dark arisen though really does a good job of fixing that with port crystals and ferrystones so you just have to make the initial trek but after that you can fast travel around. But that aside if you just throw yourself at it and ignore the little annoyances and focus on the combat and the experience of it all you should be in for a great ride.
