Dragon's Dogma 2 is the new standard. This is the game I will measure all other action RPGs by.

This game has technical and performance issues aplenty and Capcom inexplicably shoehorned a completely and utterly pointless online shop (Seriously, there is no reason to buy anything from that shop, I don't know why it exists) into the game creating controversy for no reason whatsoever. Underneath the technical issues and the stupid pointless controversy is an ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE game.

This game has my favorite action combat of all time, it's so much fun and it's literally a dream come true. When I was a wee lad decades ago and I played p&p RPGs and then early computer RPGs (I think Pools of Radiance was my first one) I fantasized of a game like this. Back then with the rudimentary graphics you had to use your imagination on how your party would fight giant monsters. In my head I imagined climbing onto a dragon, hanging on for dear life as it took off flying, then stabbing it in the head. The games obviously couldn't render that back then so it was all in my mind, but maybe one day you could actually do that in the game. We've had that before, but generally in cutscenes or scripted sequences, but it wasn't until Monster Hunter that you could do that dynamically AFAIK. The original Dragon's Dogma took Monster Hunter's combat and adapted it to a party-based RPG, but it was kind of jank. The ideas were there but the implementation was lacking. In Dragon's Dogma 2 they polished, refined, and expanded all those ideas to the point that it has now surpassed Monster Hunter combat. It's incredible.

Furthermore, the pawn system is the single best companion system I have ever seen in a RPG video game bar none. It's absolutely brilliant. The pawns learn, they adapt, they work together, they advise you... It's so much better than any other companion system I've ever experienced that it boggles the mind.

Forget Game of the Year, Dragon's Dogma 2 is the current front-runner for Game of the Decade.

Dragon's Dogma 2 is the new standard. This is the game I will measure all other action RPGs by. This game has technical and performance issues aplenty and Capcom inexplicably shoehorned a completely and utterly pointless online shop (Seriously, there is no reason to buy anything from that shop, I don't know why it exists) into the game creating controversy for no reason whatsoever. Underneath the technical issues and the stupid pointless controversy is an ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE game. This game has my favorite action combat of all time, it's so much fun and it's literally a dream come true. When I was a wee lad decades ago and I played p&p RPGs and then early computer RPGs (I think Pools of Radiance was my first one) I fantasized of a game like this. Back then with the rudimentary graphics you had to use your imagination on how your party would fight giant monsters. In my head I imagined climbing onto a dragon, hanging on for dear life as it took off flying, then stabbing it in the head. The games obviously couldn't render that back then so it was all in my mind, but maybe one day you could actually do that in the game. We've had that before, but generally in cutscenes or scripted sequences, but it wasn't until Monster Hunter that you could do that dynamically AFAIK. The original Dragon's Dogma took Monster Hunter's combat and adapted it to a party-based RPG, but it was kind of jank. The ideas were there but the implementation was lacking. In Dragon's Dogma 2 they polished, refined, and expanded all those ideas to the point that it has now surpassed Monster Hunter combat. It's incredible. Furthermore, the pawn system is the single best companion system I have ever seen in a RPG video game bar none. It's absolutely brilliant. The pawns learn, they adapt, they work together, they advise you... It's so much better than any other companion system I've ever experienced that it boggles the mind. Forget Game of the Year, Dragon's Dogma 2 is the current front-runner for Game of the Decade.