Image: Capcom
Capcom’s long-awaited RPG sequel Dragon’s Dogma 2 launched to ‘Mostly Negative’ reviews on Steam, after players discovered the game’s plentiful array of microtransactions. The game has 21 microtransactions all in all, offering basic features like editing the player character’s appearance and fast travel points for a fee. That’s on top of its $69.99 price tag, and shaky PC performance to boot.
Interestingly, the general consensus seems to be that Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a fantastic RPG in its own right – it’s just infested with senseless microtransactions weighing the whole thing down.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 is facing no small amount of criticism online for selling a large amount of microtransactions despite being a full-priced single-player game. If you hop on over to the game’s Steam page, you’ll notice that the game has 21 DLCs for purchase alongside its base and deluxe editions, offering players in-game items like better camping gear and wakestones for a real-life fee.
Some of these might legitimately tempt players too, as they’re hard to find in the main game. For example, Portcrystals allow you to fast travel across the game’s map, but they’re not easy to find and only available in limited quantities. Perhaps the most egregious of these items is a character editor, which allows you to change your character’s appearance mid-game. Other items, like Rift Crystals, just make it easier to buy certain items.
The RPG is also facing criticism over its poor performance on PCs, with Steam reviewers noting big framerate drops when they visit bustling cities like Vernworth. Players report gameplay at anywhere from 30-100 FPS at 4K resolution depending on where they go in-game, with more crowded areas causing performance to tank. Obviously, this all depends on your gaming rig of choice – but there is a clear optimisation problem at play here.
Capcom issued a response to Steam users following the bad reviews, explaining that the game’s CPU usage is very high in specific instances and causes performance to tank. The developer is looking into improving performance, “in the future,” but is prioritising “critical problems such as crashes and freezing,” and bug fixes. The developer is also adding the option of starting a new game – which is a whole other issue in itself – with an upcoming patch.
When it comes to microtransactions however, the developer simply listed off a few paid DLC items which can also be obtained in-game – implying that since you don’t actually have to buy them, there’s no reason to be mad about them being up for sale. Capcom is likely hoping that all this uproar over predatory monetisation fades away eventually, once it’s done fixing performance and other in-game issues.
Interestingly, this is not the first Hideaki Itsuno-directed, Capcom-published game to feature such extensive microtransactions. Devil May Cry 5 has a whopping 32 microtransactions to its name on Steam, ranging from character unlocks and skins to in-game currency and music tracks. The only real difference is that most of these items can be very easily unlocked during gameplay, like weapons and Red Orbs, but you’re not nearly as likely to stumble onto a Portcrystal in Dragon’s Dogma 2.
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