Developer/publisher Capcom

Format PC, PS5 (tested), Xbox Series

Release Out now

The road from Vernworth to Bakbattahl is scenic but arduous. Ignore the dawdling mobs of goblins, and duck beneath the chanting harpies that circle on the currents overhead, and even moving at a hurried clip it is impossible for a party of four to complete the journey by nightfall. So, at the midway border checkpoint, you’ll find a settlement named, instructively, Checkpoint Rest Town. Even the saviour of the world needs a stop-off, it seems – a place to stow the day’s harvested trinkets, and to repair their damaged health bar. Still, even Checkpoint Rest Town is a stretch. For all its leathery monsters, its array of combat vocations, its Monty Python And The Holy Grail acting (this is a script filled with “mayhap” and “well met!” spoken by characters named Ian and Norbert), its pratfall humour and arresting vistas, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is principally about the thrill of treasure hunting. In this world, caves, thickets, gorges and waterfalls sing out to the adventurer in us all, a siren call to tempt passers-by from their duty.

‘Oh!’ you’ll think, ‘I’ll have a quick rifle around this cave system, mine some ore, prise open some chests, then I’ll be back on the road.’ But before you know it you’re clinging to a chimera’s mane as the beast attempts to fling you into a rock wall. Your party – and the camera – gamely contend with the complications of combat in a cave, so you draw the monster outdoors. Then, just as the creature begins to weary, down swoops a griffin, screeching and pecking at all-comers. A gaggle of goblins wanders up, hurling their spears into the fray. A party member who has been travelling with you for the past few days falls unconscious. You must try to revive her among the chaos, these warring factions now only dimly aware of your presence as they battle one another. Finally, as the griffin’s flaming feathers turn to embers, and the dust settles on the scene, you look up and see a panoply of stars. Forget Bakbattahl. Forget Checkpoint Rest Town. The day is done and you’re nowhere. A new choice: camp under this tree, or traipse the haunted footpaths by the weak light of your lamps?