Capcom’s fantasy role-playing game Dragon dogma 2 has finally started rave reviews – but some players’ reactions are much harsher. At the heart of these complaints is a series of 21 downloadable items that Capcom released without warning Dragon dogma 2 on PC, PlayStation and Xbox. Most of them are single-use in-game items that enable features such as new fast travel locations, the ability to change character appearances, and revitalize combat.
On steamWhere Dragon dogma 2 was a much hyped and wishlist title, user reviews are at ‘Most Negative’ at the time of writing. In addition to the microtransactions, critical players cite the game’s poor performance on PC and the developer’s use of the unpopular anti-cheat and anti-piracy software Denuvo. (Polygon has reached out to Capcom for comment and will update if we hear back.)
Capcom is often criticized for tagging many microtransactions in largely single-player games such as the Resident Evil 4 remake or Monster Hunter is rising. If Dragon dogma 2 is generating more ire than usual may be due to the way the items on sale are being handled Dragon dogma 2‘s deliberately challenging and restrictive game design.
It’s important to note that all items for sale can be obtained during normal gameplay, so in theory Capcom is just offering players extra convenience. If you play the game long enough you will have most of these items in your inventory, such as the Rift Crystals which allow you to hire Pawn Party members at a higher level than your character to assist in tough battles (500 Rift Crystals cost $0.99, while a pack of 2,500 costs $4.99).
Image: Valve software via Polygon
But many of the items available for purchase are rare, expensive, or difficult to obtain in the game. Wakestones, for example, allow you to revive your character mid-battle, and they are so rare that players are advised to save them for use during only the most challenging encounters. But now the temptation is to buy your way out of trouble for €0.99.
The Art of Metamorphosis item, which allows you to change your character’s appearance, can be purchased from a vendor, but has a high price: 500 Rift Crystals. That’s too much to afford early in the game, and sellers have a limited supply. Capcom sells these for $1.99.
The availability of Portcrystals for $2.99 each has led some players to accuse Capcom of selling fast travel, but this isn’t entirely accurate. Fast travel is very limited Dragon dogma 2 by design, to encourage open-world exploration and to make distances feel important (a choice that could be frustrating for some players). Portcrystals allow players to create new fast-travel points in the game, which is useful as only a handful exist in major cities. But to use Portcrystals you need Ferrystones, another rare resource.
Image: Capcom via Polygon
It is significant that Capcom has chosen this not to make Ferrystones available as microtransactions, indicating that literally selling fast travel was a design Rubicon was unwilling to cross. Nevertheless, selling Portcrystals is still a controversial choice considering how extremely rare this item is in the game. In our first 50 hours with the game we only found one, and it was as a reward for a quest.
Dragon dogma 2 is a single-player game, so players can easily ignore these microtransactions if they find them distasteful. If there’s a problem, it’s the way they handle the game’s signature design ethos, which is to use the scarcity of these items (among other things) to make the experience more challenging and immersive. Selling the items seems to break this ethos, or call it into question by suggesting that scarcity was always a sales tactic.
Additionally, there’s a $15 bundle available for purchase that includes 1,500 Rift Crystals and one of each DLC item (notably excluding the Portcrystal). This bundle is also included in the $80 Deluxe Edition, so there’s an option for those willing to part with a little more cash.
Capcom – which is charging $70 for the base game, a first for the company – has not yet commented Dragon dogma 2‘s microtransactions. If it were to defend itself, it could make a similar argument to Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada recently argued that this kind of monetization was a necessary countermeasure to the rapidly rising costs of game development.
Regardless of the reasoning behind it, Dragon dogma 2It’s unlikely that the company’s microtransactions will tarnish its reputation for good; it’s a compelling game that will likely captivate even more players than its cultish predecessor. But they’re yet another sign of the increasing pressure on AAA game development – and that’s likely to continue.