This game is sufficiently awesome that I own copies of it in two different formats and made a second Steam account just so I could make a second pawn to party with.

People seem to like describing it as Dark Souls mixed with Monster Hunter. Well that isn't exactly true. For one thing it is considerably easier than either of those (unless you play terribly). What Dark Souls and Monster Hunter have in common that this does differently, is that for the most part, your cooperative endeavours in those games rely on other players.
Not so Dragon's Dogma. The main focus isn't really about going about being all ARPGish by yourself (some people solo it, but screw them)... and neither is it about the giant monster battles that happen occasionally (where the climbing option is actually superior to Monster Hunter, ironically)... What Dragon's Dogma is about... are the pawns.

This is not a journey you undertake alone (unless you're one of those solo losers). You have an AI companion for your journey. Your very own human-looking, constantly jabbering virtual pet / b!tch / waifu. Always there to back you up and remind you that things are weak to fire, that wolves hunt in packs, that gravity is a fearsome foe, and that all roads lead to Gran Soren.

But not only that... you can hire the pawns made by other players as well! Instead of playing with you themselves, they pimp out their own virtual ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ to aid you in your journey and triple the amount of adorably asinine AI banter as you go from place to place (note : Sometimes other pawns know things you might not, so sometimes it is worth listening to them)! And because these are fully learning AI companions, you can teach them all sorts of bad habits before sending them back to their own players with a rotten fish gift and a one-star appearance rating (because everyone else's pawns are uglier than yours).

As you go about your adventure, you will also be able to gather vocation points to unlock new vocations (classes) for your character and pawn alike... 9 available for your Arisen and 6 for the Pawn (because they're simple-minded and can't use hybrid vocations)... and while you do so, some of the augments you unlock with one vocation may be useful to another, and so on... The end result is that every Arisen and Pawn ends up quite unique (the in-depth character creator helps too).

So yeah... ultimately it isn't what you do that matters so much as who you do it with... and kinda how you do it too. Replayability is mostly in tackling similar problems with different builds, different approaches, different teams.... and also those rare and delightful notifications that your Pawn has learned something new.

Note : Pawn inclination matters. Go Utilitarian or go home.

This game is sufficiently awesome that I own copies of it in two different formats and made a second Steam account just so I could make a second pawn to party with. People seem to like describing it as Dark Souls mixed with Monster Hunter. Well that isn't exactly true. For one thing it is considerably easier than either of those (unless you play terribly). What Dark Souls and Monster Hunter have in common that this does differently, is that for the most part, your cooperative endeavours in those games rely on other players. Not so Dragon's Dogma. The main focus isn't really about going about being all ARPGish by yourself (some people solo it, but screw them)... and neither is it about the giant monster battles that happen occasionally (where the climbing option is actually superior to Monster Hunter, ironically)... What Dragon's Dogma is about... are the pawns. This is not a journey you undertake alone (unless you're one of those solo losers). You have an AI companion for your journey. Your very own human-looking, constantly jabbering virtual pet / b!tch / waifu. Always there to back you up and remind you that things are weak to fire, that wolves hunt in packs, that gravity is a fearsome foe, and that all roads lead to Gran Soren. But not only that... you can hire the pawns made by other players as well! Instead of playing with you themselves, they pimp out their own virtual bitches to aid you in your journey and triple the amount of adorably asinine AI banter as you go from place to place (note : Sometimes other pawns know things you might not, so sometimes it is worth listening to them)! And because these are fully learning AI companions, you can teach them all sorts of bad habits before sending them back to their own players with a rotten fish gift and a one-star appearance rating (because everyone else's pawns are uglier than yours). As you go about your adventure, you will also be able to gather vocation points to unlock new vocations (classes) for your character and pawn alike... 9 available for your Arisen and 6 for the Pawn (because they're simple-minded and can't use hybrid vocations)... and while you do so, some of the augments you unlock with one vocation may be useful to another, and so on... The end result is that every Arisen and Pawn ends up quite unique (the in-depth character creator helps too). So yeah... ultimately it isn't what you do that matters so much as who you do it with... and kinda how you do it too. Replayability is mostly in tackling similar problems with different builds, different approaches, different teams.... and also those rare and delightful notifications that your Pawn has learned something new. Note : Pawn inclination matters. Go Utilitarian or go home.