Every Friday, AV club Our staff will start the weekend by looking at the world of gaming and digging a little deeper into the ideas that underpin the hobby we love. game theory. We'll have our say in the space above, so let us know what you'll be playing this weekend and your theory about it getting you hooked and reply in the comments section.
[Note: This column contains spoilers for pretty much the worst thing that can happen to you in Dragon’s Dogma 2.]
There are types of events that can only really happen in video games. They are a wonderland of wonder and few consequences, which we loosely refer to as “It's so funny to hear what happens to other people.” And, look, we know: That whole concept is based on the Golden Rule, the Categorical Imperative, that nothing inherently good can happen if you don't want it to happen to you or someone you love. And whatever philosophy you believe in, let's face it. Instead of some pathetic bastard relaying it on the internet in pathetic tones.But still, as bad people with dark hearts, it sometimes happens: stories of the misfortunes of the game evoked in us bad A kind of laugh.
dragons dogma 2“Dragonsplague'' is the kind of thing that was created just for the fun of having it happen to someone else.
Regarding the mechanics of “Dragonsplague”, I briefly touched on the mechanics of “Dragonsplague”. our review (It's really, really good!) It's a new action role-playing game, but I could only describe it in vague terms. Not out of respect for the review embargo, but because I honestly had no idea what this damn thing did. Capcom certainly didn't tell us anything, and even after 40 hours of starting the game, there are no pop-ups (and endlessly repeated NPCs) warning about how it could have horrible effects on the game. Conversation) but he only appeared one. This hypothetical disease can be transmitted between the game's key companions, the normally obedient pawns, at first rendering them disobedient and unruly, and then leading to a “catastrophic calamity”. provides an entrance.
To be honest, seeds It sounded like bullshit. We've all played games that threaten these kinds of dire consequences just to evoke a sense of paranoia and consequences in the player. Sekiro's dragon lot— it's not that it doesn't have the teeth to actually force players to do something really unpleasant.it seemed better than even dragons dogma 2 It was a bluff, trying to convince us of some mystical, existential anxiety through a fabricated “calamity.”
But here's the problem dragons dogma 2Dragonsplague: That's not just a bad thing. It's much worse than anyone could have reasonably expected.
The initial symptoms of Dragon's Plague are very benign. Your pawns (your main “main” pawns, or pawns you rent from other players online) will start to get attached to you. They may ignore orders during combat. They will almost certainly start grabbing their heads or showing subtly glowing red eyes.And that's all… until a few hours later, when you are resting in one of his inns in the game and the pawn in question appears explodein a beam of fire shaped like a black dragon, Almost every creature in town has it. The shopkeeper died. Quest Giver, dead. NPCs important to the story, died.and the death of the character dragons dogma 2 And it's not easy to undo it. Even though he needs valuable and rare items to undo one death, it's basically impossible to rebuild an entire town, especially if a plague breaks out in the capital. Don't think that he who saved can get back one game. The game performs a hard save every time you rest at an inn. That's what you just did. Right before the hands you hired were to develop nuclear weapons.
It's been a week or so since the game was released and we've had a lot of questions. Some of them were very serious questions. anger Players have asked why Capcom would introduce this as a mechanic in a 40-hour video game they're spending their precious spare time on. Whether through ignorance, confusion, or general ignorance, invoking a dragon plague in the wrong place at the wrong time can end up cutting yourself off from as many as a dozen quests in the game. . All elements of the plot can be obliterated with a blow of black eerie flame. So why do it? Is it intended to punish players who try to hire high-level pawns to survive early battles? (It seems logical to think that pawns recruited later in the game are more likely to carry Dragonsprague.) This is intended to encourage participation in the game's New Game Plus. Is it a system that allows you to replay adventures with old characters and new copies of the world? And is it an outright troll (enforced by the game's intentionally restrictive save system)? Or does it serve a deeper thematic purpose?
As pointed out in the review, dragons dogma 2 This is a video game about struggle and even hardship acquisition where. No institution can be fully trusted, or at least cannot take action without the possibility of unintended consequences. And you, as a mythical awakening who is sentenced to either follow the path of destiny or rebel against fate and risk everything, will suffer these consequences and share them with others. Uniquely suited for both slamming into the head.first dragon's dogma By giving dragon-type enemies the ability to temporarily corrupt them during combat, they attempted to introduce the same sense of menace and untrustworthiness into the pathologically subservient pawns. Dragonsplague can be seen as a thematic sequel to that concept, with your greatest and most loyal allies becoming potential sources of your most horrifying, game-changing disasters. there is nothing Trustworthy.
And yet, DD2 This game is also about people coming together to fight off apocalyptic threats. We argue that this is exactly what the players of the game have done in response to this mysterious and deliberately underexplained disease. The internet is full of warnings and guides on how to discover Dragon's Plague. Posts on reddit are filled with information (and sometimes misinformation) about how to identify, spread, and treat Dragon's Plague. (Incidentally, death and nothing but death. Sorry infected pawns.) A video with important information is going viral. Indeed, articles like this do exist. People are working hard to make Dragonsprague's explosions go from being a surprise to unsuspecting players to being predictable and preventable, just a bad story that happened to someone. Masu. There's a kind of cosmic beauty to it (unless, of course, it never happens to us).
