Dragon’s Dogma 2 is now out, and critic reviews have been mostly favourable despite the bad reception among the masses.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 Review Scores – Generally Favorable on Metacritic

Out of the 51 Critic Reviews at the time of writing, only 3 (5%) were mixed and the rest were positive.

Lewis Parker of Eurogamer gave Dragon’s Dogma 2 a 5 stars out of 5 on his review. He applauded the improvement that the series has undergone since the first entry, but it was ultimately not a factor in his final score. “Even if I hadn’t have played the first Dragon’s Dogma, I can tell you with complete certainty that I’d have come to same conclusion I have now, and I’d have given Dragon’s Dogma 2 the same score I have now, simply because no other game in recent memory has inspired the same feeling of captivation and wonder in me,” wrote Parker.

IGN’s Jarrett Green gave it an 8 (Great) on their 1-10 scale. The review summary  from Green calls Dragon’s Dogma 2 “more of a redo than a sequel” and “a strange and wonderful action-RPG that bolsters the original’s strength without addressing its weaknesses.” The IGN review also got updated with a separate “microtransaction reaction” section and said that Capcom added these microtransactions that were not available during the review period. “I totally get not wanting to feel  like you’re getting taken for a ride, especially in a full-priced, single-player game,” wrote Green about the microtransactions. “But know that these microtransactions can at least be safely ignored without negatively affecting the gameplay.”

Keza MacDonald of The Guardian gave the verdict of 4 stars out of 5. “[Dragon’s Dogma 2] is mad, fun, fantastical chaos and I honestly love it,” said MacDonald in their review. “Before I started writing this, I had left my Arisen and her endearingly incompetent pawn in an ancient battleground patrolled by a dragon. We blasted it with a couple of ballista bolts, and then it flew over and crushed the ballista with a claw, at which point I realised we were somewhat outgunned here and ran for some castle ruins to hide from the creature. This seemed like a good idea until skeletal warriors rose from the ground, and I realised the castle is extremely haunted. I don’t know how we’ll get out of this situation. But I do know it will be an adventure.”

Digital Trends gave Dragon’s Dogma 2 3.5 stars out of 5 on their review by Tomas Franzese, calling it an “exhilarating, if occasionally frustrating, RPG full of dynamic player-driven moments.” He even produced a pros and cons list! Some of the pros that were included in the bullets were the tense open-world exploration, the Vocation and Pawn systems, and how the game encourages player creativity. The cons named were the slow start to the game, frequent performance issues, and the poor save system.

GamesRadar+ gave the same verdict, 3.5 out of 5, and with a pros and cons list too. Jon Bailes wrote “like the original game, Dragon’s Dogma 2 excels when you’re out in its open world with your pawn allies – finding hidden caves and treasure, fighting monsters, and generally losing track of time. Also like the original, it falls short in terms of quest design, convenience, and general polish. A somewhat conservative sequel, then, but one that retains the charm of its predecessor.”