On Saturday I made up my mind. We went to Toys ‘R’ Us first because they had a game that The Wife wanted, and I intended to buy it for her. It’s not often that she wants a video game, and I tend to nurture those wants when they surface. But there was nothing for me there. I tried my luck in Future Shop, Best Buy and Superstore that day, but they all failed to meet my needs. Or more, it seemed that my needs came too late.
On Sunday she worked over in St Vital, and I asked if she could check around that area for me on her lunch break. Sadly, neither the Wal-Mart or GameStop were of any help to my cause.
On Monday I asked again if she could scout the local EB Games before work, since it’s a stone’s throw from her workplace. Not only did she check the one in the mall, but the one across the street from the mall as well. All to no avail. I feel lucky to have such a devoted wife, but was sad that I had her chasing wild geese. So I swallowed my pride and made nice with Wal-Mart’s electronics department, because they were apparently the only store in the city that had the object of my desire.
And now I own Dragon’s Dogma. Yay 🙂
Then I booted up the game and it played a remixed English version of “Samayoeru Aoi Dangan” by B’z on the title screen. Freaking B’z. Between that and the fact that the game is more or less a mix of Skyrim and Monster Hunter with a little Shadow of the Colossus thrown in for good measure, this is clearly Capcom’s love letter to me for being such a dedicated fan for all these years.
I’ve only really had time to rush through the intro and poke around starting town a little, but I am thoroughly impressed so far. The boss of the intro stage is a traditional chimera, made of a lion with a goat’s head grafted on its back and a snake for a tail. Your companions suggest severing the snake and diabling the goat to reduce the beast’s abilities. Very reminiscent of severing tails and breaking other bits (frills/beaks/armor/etc) in the Monster Hunter games. Possibly the most entertaining part of the fight was watching my allies grab onto and climb the beast. I tried to get onto it myself but couldn’t manage to stay on. I’m sure the game will teach me how to do it properly before long.
Also, there’s a dragon at the very beginning, and it is massive. Like, at least as big as Lao Shan Lung. So far I am very impressed with the scale of the boss monsters; that’s one of the things I was really hoping Capcom would go all out on, and it looks like they did. Even the chimera was big enough that my character and his three buds could fit on its back. The only, only thing I’m a little disappointed with is that all (or most of, anyway) the monsters are standard high-fantasy stuff: chimeras, griffins, cyclopes, hydras, and so on. I won’t lie, I snuck a peek at the bosses in the strategy guide, and there’s nothing overly original in there. Maybe Capcom will note the excellent cross-promotion opportunity and release some Monster Hunter monsters as DLC. I would be more than happy to pay extra for the opportunity to take on Teostra in a setting where I might have a chance at victory. Or Shen Gaoren. Any of the carapaceon family would be fun, really.
Aaaanyway enough daydreaming. My first impressions of Dragon’s Dogma have been excellent, and I hope that it ends up being as compelling as its influences. I sunk over 100 hours each into both of the Monster Hunter titles I own, and a good 70 or so in Skyrim. I haven’t even seen most of Skyrim yet either.
Oh, the big problem I have with Dragon’s Dogma is that there is a very limited hair colour palette to choose from. Pink is not an option at all, so Claire is stuck with a deep red. Not acceptable.