
Dragon’s Dogma 2, by all accounts a sensational RPG, is getting obliterated for adding microtransactions on launch day. These, we must stress, were unavailable to purchase during the review period but were mentioned in a media guide; they’ve since been made available for sale on the release’s launch day. Already it’s prompted a cavalcade of negativity on Steam, where the otherwise critically acclaimed escapade carries a ‘Mostly Negative’ review rating.
The microtransactions are plentiful. Ranging in price from £0.79/$0.99 to £2.49/$2.99, the optional purchases include Rift Crystals, a kind of in-game currency used to hire Pawns and purchase items, and Portcrystals, which can be leveraged to create fast travel points. All of these resources can be obtained in-game, but in some cases they’re rare and limited, which suggests there’s something quite sinister at play here. Why explore when you can just whip out your credit card?
This isn’t the first time Capcom has tried something like this, and we daresay it won’t be the last. Obviously, the cost of making games is increasing, and you don’t need to invest in any of these items to enjoy the outing. But it all seems a bit counter-productive flogging items which are otherwise a limited commodity in-game.
We suspect the publisher may have flown too close to the sun here, because the backlash is already looking like it’s going to be vicious to say the least.
[source windowscentral.com]
Comments 155
This is nasty. Polyphony Digital/Playstation did this with Gran Turismo 7 after receiving rave reviews at launch and went on to get slated on it's Metacritic user score after the fact. The community clearly doesn't take kindly to this practice and rightly so.
Like with GT7, the timing of these additions seems implicitly manipulative and oriented around circumventing negative reception with the critics. I can see his having a bad reputational impact for what has by all other accounts been a massive success. What a shame.
No one is forcing u buy it like it been say u get this all in game idk why people are so worried about what others do with their own money.
Absolute joke, completely undercutting the vision of the developers.
As usual not a single one of them is necessary to get the full experience. They are there to fleece the impatient.
I don't play games without microtransactions because if something is cheap it's no good. Great move by Capcom, I'll be getting the most expensive version of this game now.
@C25CLOUD Because you and your money don’t exist in a vacuum. When these are successful it prompts more publishers to do it, and as those make money it starts to get forced into the game design. Look at Assassins Creed Odyssey and it’s prolonged progression. It doesn’t appear to be quite case here, just Capcom being opportunistic , but I’m tired of this argument that people can spend money how they want when we’ve seen examples of games following trends and being rekt. Look at Suicide Squad even.
Being blown way out of proportion as the items can be got in game fairly easily. In fact buying the MTX just goes against what the game intends and as the game gives you this stuff naturally its just wasting money. Yes it sucks that its there but its no different then past MTX Capcom games in that they're easily ignored.
@C25CLOUD It's not just that, when microtransactions have an actual effect on gameplay and especially when it applies to limited resources, it becomes problematic.
There will always be the feeling that the game is designed to artificially make certain things slower, grindier or more inconvenient to encourage people to buy the microtransactions. That feeling might be totally unjustified (the resources in question were also scarce in the first game), but the damage is done.
I think any right thinking person would agree that only adding this after the reviews come in is manipulative and immoral. The purpose is to prevent people from making informed decisions and to gain a higher review score than might otherwise be the case. These type of things are planned in advance. Scummy behavior.
@jt887 Fun fact poor performance and MTX don't actually affect everyone the same. Its too early for me to think of scores but the performance while rough i can overlook and the MTX i can easily ignore as the game is fantastic. Sorry dude but not everyone judges games the same and some people can not care and easily overlook issues others can't.
microtransactions can be either good or bad.
The only thing I'm surprised about is how blatant they were this time.
Everyone has been talking about "capgod" for the last few years. Every time I see it I think that people really do have short memories and I wonder why nobody remembers the launch or post launch DLC that came with the original Dragon's Dogma. It was so messy and lots of folks were pretty mad about it at the time.
Everyone forgot about it by the time the Dark Arisen version came out on PS4 packaged with all content.
Nobody seemed to care when RE2 and RE3 remakes did it either.
It was the exact same, they just waited a few weeks after launch so it didn't seem as blatant.
Launch day DLC = Negative reaction from core community
One month later DLC = Meh reaction from core community
I love Capcom, but they play us so well.
Sometimes.
EDIT: Game is still great though. You don't need the items in the DLC bundle either. By the time you reach endgame you'll have found as many of each as you need.
Nah don’t make try to semi justify this pushsquare it’s ridiculous a single player rpg has micro transactions. It would be just as crazy if FF 7 Rebirth,HFW or Witcher 3 did it or I don’t think any of them would get a pass would they?
This has the potential to stop me getting the game. I loved GT7 but trying to get all the cars in the game became too much of a slog and were obviously designed to only be realistically achievable with micro transactions. I've slowly learnt that 'can be got in the game' means 'spend your entire life in the game you may get it'.
That being said it may not affect DD2 in the slightest, but without spending 100 hours in the game how would I know? On my experience with micro transaction games its a massive turn off.
Reminds of RE4's upgrade tickets and the like. Crappy microtransactions that are there expressly to rip off people who would rather waste money than actually play the game.
Capcom execs are garbage for enforcing this and buyers are garbage for showing them it works. Good ol' vicious cycle.
One thing is to say there will be such in a game which you are going to publish, but this is whole other level ... deleted from wishlist and 100% not buying it. ( BTW due to PS store rules, since you downloaded and played you can not ask for refund ... this for me is total deceiving marketing which is punished by law. )
Hardly sinister, these items were hard to come by in the first game.
Just.
Don’t.
Buy.
Them.
Simples!
I’d say they were limiting fast travel on purpose to deliberately sell more MS crystals but the first game had this rubbish limited fast travel system as well. Rather than update the system they’ve just monetised it?
@thefourfoldroot1 A file listing the microtransactions and their prices was included with the review code sent out to us and other outlets. All reviews were published with the knowledge these were going live on launch day.
Hideaki Itsuno, director of Dragons Dogma 2, on fast travel:
“Travel is boring? That’s not true. It’s only an issue because your game is boring. All you have to do is make travel fun.”
Indeed! I don't know about anyone else but personally I find it super fun to spend money on things that would normally be free.
Between this and Like a Dragon charging for new game plus I reckon it won't be long before some bright spark gets the notion to make us pay a microtransaction to press flipping start..
@LiamCroft
Oh, well that wasn’t mentioned here so I presumed it was like some of the other recent examples where it was hidden from the start. Did the review mention that this was incoming? If not I guess it’s not the publishers fault that people where blindsided by it.
I pre-ordered this game and this makes me 100% sure that I won't do it again if it's a Capcom game.
The worst part is that the reviewers including here at Push Square knew about it and didn't think it was important to mention.
Thanks for helping us make an informed decision.
LMAO and I'll still won't return it.
I'll never buy an Ubisoft game anymore though. They have never released a game as good as DD2 in a whole decade and they never will probably. Ubisoft has just become very good at screwing you and these pathetic nerds don't know how, so they'll still buy them.
Capcom doesn't even come close to that kind of track record, so benefit of the doubt. I'll remember this for my next Capcom purchase though. Its shady for sure
I think the bigger issue is that they hid them from reviews more than the actual microtransactions themselves. It's just shady is all. Do keep in mind however Itsuno's last game, DMC5, had microtransactions too but I found no reason to use them in the game unless you just had to unlock every skill in hour one. You can unlock most of them after a single playthrough which is like 10 or so hours.
Anyway point being I wouldn't let this stop any would be buyers from getting the game. It's shady how they didn't mention it before launch for sure but I'm also sure it isn't going to really affect the game either.
@jt887 10fps/480p? Talk about making up rubbish. I won't be spending anything on the MTX as all the stuff MTX gets you can be got in game by you know playing it.
Reviews are opinions based on how someone views something and its amazing in 2024 people still don't understand that. The reviewer for PureXbox think its a 10/10 so they gave it a 10, they judge it on their own standards not on the standards of someone who just recently made an account.
If anything, that's another hour trying to perfect my created character and pawn.
I will still be getting the game today, these are the type of Microtransactions that don't bother me, they are there to make the game easier for people who find certain things hard or tedious.
DMC5, Monster World/Rise, Street Fighter 6 and all the recent RE games all have MTX and somehow people still act shocked when a new Capcom game has them. Thankfully like with those games the MTX can easily ignored in DD2 as everything they get you can again be got in game by playing.
"But but CapGod?"
Also, agreed with everyone else. Just ignore them. Problem solved
@jt887 that's... not exactly what happened, though. It's not like it didn't have any voice acting unless you paid for it. It was only for the Elves and they explained that they had to hire extra actors for that. So, it's optional. They could have simply used voice actors to speak in English. They chose to offer an additional option.
@Shepherd_Tallon just saw your comment and realized we said the same thing again, haha (the first part anyway)
Just to note, I made an edit to the article as Capcom did disclose the microtransactions in a media guide prior to release which I was unaware of. We obviously couldn't purchase them prior to launch day, however.
Apologies about that!
@naruball You were far more concise than me though and made the same point! I used to be good at words, I swear!
Capcom: Our beloved "Pawns" had a stop work meeting & decided unanimously that with the increased risks of Monsters,higher costs of potions,& teleporting that the summoning prices we initially had during reviews was far too low!
But alas not,fair Traveller! We offerthese Rift Crystal shark cards to accommodate the Pawn's new pay rate!
We sincerely apologise for any negative impact you might’ve experienced since launch,but our dear Pawns need this rift summon increase,so we're sure you'll understand why we've patched this in day one!🙄😂
I suppose the reviews talking about the game being somewhat slow and tedious for the first several hours (before getting /really/ good, to be fair) makes a lot a lot of sense now.
@jt887 If the performance and MTX didn't bother PX then it didn't bother them.
Next up is a patch which adds dialogue to your pawns, "Sir (or Madam) should buy a multipass at the Inn".
(Repeated every five minutes, per pawn).
And then every so often, possibly midfight, all the pawns get together and chant "Multipass!".
This industry is fascinating. The worst jokes that could be made about it a few years ago ($70 games with microtransactions, mandatory online connection, F2P mechanics in full-price games,...) are now becoming a reality. And these publishers will soon be crying that their games aren't selling as well...
How do I refund on playstation? This is an awful practice and I want to let them know this player doesn't buy it.
Capcom going fully circle back to the PS3 days. Too bad they were going so strong.
Guess Ill just stick with Helldivers until Stellar Blade comes out.
Lets also not forget that "uncapped framerate" for capcom is 20 fps in combat and 60 fps in the menu...
@Cloud39472 I love this site but there is bias that sometimes comes through I agree
@Cloud39472 there is massive bias , if this was bg3 people would be claiming that they should be charging more and we should be thankful.
@Cloud39472 it seems that every PS5 exclusive needs to be torn down, just to make a point that the PS5 isn't a good console and meets expectations.
@DennisReynolds keep fighting the good fight brother. the same ones that whine and cry about this stuff either buy the game like normal or were never going to in the first place. if they knew anything about capcom they’d know this was coming and that it’s easily ignored/does not even slightly affect the core product
I suspect some of the same people who were BLATANTLY OFFENDED at Atlus coming out with their expansion pass are looking at the DD2 microtransactions and are somehow saying “oh, this is fine, people enjoy this sort of thing and you don’t HAVE to get any of it…”
Interesting…guess some developers are more easily forgiven if you like their games. Whodathunkit?
@Logonogo I mean yeah look i don't like it and i wish it wasn't there but at the same time i knew full well it was coming as Capcom do this as standard.
I Like my games with a dash of outrage. Actually I stopped playing games completely and get the satisfaction by outrage alone.
@DennisReynolds they're not particularly easy to get in game
Devil may cry 5, made by the same team, also had microtransactions but no such riot. The gaming community is getting more and more toxic.
Is this game online only? That would be the actual deal breaker for me. Bargain bin prices only, or PS plus.
This is what Capcom used to do during their antagonist spell. I'm worried they're going back to their old ways. They were doing so well in recent years.
Seeing this gives me the impression that MH Wilds will be your typical live service game where the gameplay focus is battle passes + microtransactions store.
Some of these responses are silly. Childish even.
"It's a bad practice!"
I see it all over, but the only justification that I've seen is, "It'll encourage bad game design!" Will it? Maybe. If it does, go after THOSE games. If the game is balanced around these items not being in it, then the game design is fine.
"It's a waste of money!"
What kind of pretentious, self-righteous git do you have to be to tell me what a waste of my money is? I'm in my late 30's, make great money, am married with a kid, and don't want to spend a ton of time on the game. This is a good option for me. I and the many like me are the target audience.
That's exactly what these are - options. When it gets to the point where games pop up the store to buy revival every time you die or force you to watch an ad, then we have an issue. When it's there in the background if you want it and completely separate from the game experience, this is blind outrage.
Standard capcom practices. Wish they'd just stop doing it.
Didn't devs talk about there not being fast travel in the game because it takes away from exploring
Simple just don’t buy these games, money and sales speak louder than words to these cheapskate gaming companies.
Additional why buy the game now anyway, sounds like a good few performance patches are needed, no sure about bug patches.
So wait for everything to be fixed and patched then buy the game cheaper later on.
Speak with your cash and they will soon learn.
As long as the game isn't balanced around the purchase of microtransactions, it doesn't bother me. I put up with it in Atlus games, and I'll put up with it here.
@MomsSpaghetti of course. They got me with their terms. I don't know if I have the power to fight it, tbh.
Put me off it now.
Was wavering re the frame rate and thinking perhaps a performance mode will be patched in.
But now the microtransactions have been applied I'll think I'll wait until I get a PS6 and play it on BC then maybe.
Stella Blade has my full attention now.
@DennisReynolds I refuse to believe that nobody was expecting this game to be free of mtx's. Just goes to show the complete niavety that some gamers hold. I don't care about the mtx's in games as I just ignore them and very,very rarely purchase them as I've stated in God knows how many posts about the evil mtx's in games that errode the very fabric of our society and cause untold horrors to the mental well being of those gamers that just can't say no! The same people complaining about the god awful performance in this game probably won't buy it anyway or will buy it and purchase mtx's and then complain about it some more in case we didn't get it that the game wasn't for them. I like yourself consider myself lucky to be able to think for myself and make my own financial decisions. A lot of noise about nothing again.
@DennisReynolds In regards to the MTX, yes, I can see that being ignored in game reviews. The performance shouldn't be though. It's great that you are able to still enjoy the game through it, really, but there's no way a game that is this poorly optimized should be receiving a single 10/10 (or even maybe 9/10). It just reeks of sheer laziness and/or incompetence, and that shouldn't be just shrugged off when other developers actually put in the work. Heck, Capcom's own developers (Resident Evil 4) outdid their own DD2 team.
@AK4tywill Bait and switch. :/
I still want to play the game but I'm gonna wait for a big sale.
Good god, you people are so well practised at being dramatic, it's painful to read. Not going to link names but so far I've seen someone ask "how to sell my PS5" and another proclaim that they will"never preorder again" because of this travesty against humanity.
Grow up. You're shooting yourselves in the foot to make some virtuous stand against evil, when in reality, you'll end up missing out on something amazing.
You don't need to buy the thing.
End of story.
It'll be some other apocalyptic event in a few days and you'll forget what you were even standing up to. Play the game, life's too short for this crap.
So the game was reviewed and given universal praise for its open world adventure and you was made aware that microtransactions would come.
Then when they come, and its makes the open open world quicker/easier for people to travel around SHOULD THEY CHOOSE TO, its an issue?
People need to understand the differences in microtransactions, cause this isn’t an issue here.
Guess I'll wait for this game then 😅
@jt887 This performance stuff is worrying. I don't have a ps5 yet, but I'm concerned that games will barely work on the normal PS5 when the ps5 pro releases, at this rate
@Skadoosh People acting like they don't have personal agency. "They added microtransactions! I have no self control and it's THEIR fault! I will buy all of it and complain how I'm always broke!"
This is the central problem with MTX like these. We don't know what came first, the game design or the MTX idea. I.e. is the game creating an issue to make MTX appealing or is the MTX trying to break the games design?
If a MTX saves time in game then it suggests to me that the content is not worth the time to do it otherwise why have an MTX to save time?
The shadyness of releasing details at launch suggests that the former to be honest.
Its less about MTX and more about the way they implemented it.
Wanna change your character appearance? Well, you're outta luck because you can't delete your save nor can you delete your character. Cough up money or play for X hours until you get enough rift crystals to buy the item.
"DD2 director says he is against fast travel system"
Wanna fast travel? Cough up money or play for X hours until you get enough rift crystals to buy the fast travel item, one use only.
So yeah, people have a reason to be pissed.
Sleezy? Yes absolutely. I can keep my credit card in my wallet, though so I don't care about this. The performance issues are the most irritating thing.
@jt887 you are aware you are doing the same thing you just critiqued me for just with less sarcasm right?
@Shepherd_Tallon My memory is good and I didn’t forget.😉
The first thing I asked in my comment on the review:
“ Do you think Dragons Dogma 2 will be followed by, and the framework fixed by, Dragons Dogma 2: Dark Arisen 2 on PS6 or is this game closer to DD:DA already?🤷🏻♂️ “
Then the 2nd thing I asked @ShogunRok was:
“ In your 50 hours of play so far has the thought ever crossed your mind “This game could really use fast travel?” “
To which he replied:
“ It does have fast travel, but it's fairly limited. You can ride carts but only between settlements, and ferrystones — which are used to warp between set locations — are rare and single-use. The game definitely wants you to travel as often as possible (and that's really what the game's all about anyway) — but I understand the concerns. “
Which is a pretty long winded way of saying - “Yes you can fast travel if you pay for micro transactions dlc portal crystals.” 🤑
Sorry about throwing you under the bus like that Shogun but you got Sammy and Liam in here least you can do is put in an appearance after writing the review. 🤷🏻♂️ It was nice of you taking the time to answer like 100 questions in the review though.😁
As for the micro transactions themselves. Yes, so many games have them these days, and it kinda sucks, especially on a full priced game, $60/$70 - to - start should not be a gaming genre, but what makes this even more egregious the game director basically saying - only people who are bad at making games include fast travel - and then freaking charging extra for fast travel!?!? You can’t make this stuff up.😩
Lower the score
Boo Capcom, but also... this doesn't stop the game from being really fun, and lowering the score is just people being reactionary idiots, such is the modern way 😅
I don't think there are in-game prompts that say, "oh no you can't do this, better get your wallet out" It's not like the invasive microtransations in some games. 90% of the people playing it won't even know they are there!
Will it not be counter-productive? A few mtx, finish the game quicker, sell it on then somebody buys it second hand and Capcom get no money for that copy? Only for physical I know and most copies are digital but still...
@Stickleman As easy as the first game.
@LiamCroft Yall should have warned us lmao
@C25CLOUD exactly man! I don’t see the problem with this. NOW as long as the base game can be played then it’s okay by me. People are free to spend their money as they please even if I think it is silly. I.e. digital football card packs in madden and skin changes for free to play games.
As long as the base game can be played well. If others want to bypass progression then cool. It’s an RPG people can play as they please.
Good. I hope capcom will go bankrupt. Capcom is one of most dislikeable studios out there imo
One thing I’ve been curious about and have seen no discussion on is why this game is inexplicably more expensive than other new releases on PlayStation Store. Maybe it’s just in Canada but Sony’s new games are typically the most expensive at $89.99. Dragon’s Dogma II’s standard edition is $94.99. What’s that about?
@Jimmer-jammer That must be a quirk of the local market, over here it's €75 while the norm for new AAA PS5 titles is €80. So it's slightly below the other big games.
i agree, some of the micro-trans are not cool (camping gear), however my biggest issue with a game is the lack of a NEW GAME option. Sega (Game+ behind a paywall) and Capcom (missing new game option) are setting a bad precedent in gaming.
@jt887 I can see your point and I respect your opinion whereas you don't seem to respect mine. Its always the same people that complain about the mtx's and poor performance of games that they had no interest in anyway. It makes their opinion void to be perfectly honest. Why read about a game and then post comments about it if you had no interest in it? I'm still waiting on my copy to be delivered and I'm certain I'm going to enjoy it even more than I did the first game. If you thought this game was going to be mtx free then you were being very niave. I'll agree it is a bit scummy to introduce them on day one but you don't have to purchase them do you? Let's agree to disagree and move on yes?
@wildcat_kickz Precisely, the projection is getting unbearable.
I swear, the more comments I read (not just here, everywhere and nearly every title), the more I'm convinced that most 'gamers' do not enjoy gaming.
@Ainu20 Interesting. I’ll have to check and see what the cost is physically when I visit the store later today. It’s not a big difference nor a big deal, I just found it odd. Thanks for the reply!
How did this happen? I didn't see this mentioned ANYWHERE in any review or preview
The next generation of gamers has been forcefed microtransactions since birth so they shrug at their inclusion. What a sad state if affairs.
Whelp. There goes this otherwise promising looking game.
Full price game backed by an F2P app store transaction model. Why play DD2 when there's already Genshin and Rail Star? This isn't benign cosmetics, this is core game functionality sold in recurring payments. Grind in game, or skip the cooldown and pay for convenient travel is as mobile gaming as mobile gaming goes. If you want to sell an F2P model, you need to start by making the "F" represent "FREE" rather than a different word starting with the letter "F." Capcom has really fallen from grace again.
Seems the future of console gaming really is to just be merged with mobile gaming. At which point, why buy the hardware when we already have the phone?
@StonyKL Yeah, I loved the GT7 core experience but when I got to the postgame content that required supercars and each supercar would require grinding 30-60 minute races over and over to buy just one, and having to WIN each time for it to not be a total waste of time, it became clear what they really wanted was for me to spend another $100 to access the post-game. At least with that one though you got a full game before they tried to sell you another game. I just wish they'd sell the latter as an expansion pack for one price rather than currency MTX.
@get2sammyb Did the press guide specify WHAT MTX would be available for purchase? There's a difference, I think between critics ignoring the MTX if the guide just says "there will be MTX" vs critics ignoring the MTX when the guide says "we'll be selling fast travel per trip." while they review a giant open world with little to no convenient navigation.
I somehow don't think Diablo II would have become that popular if town portal scrolls were a rare drop and they sold them for $1 on their store.
If Capcom didn't say what the MTX were critics could assume it was cosmetic and shame on Capcom is doubled for hiding it. If Capcom did say what the MTX were, shame on the entire world of reviews proving itself as a relic marketing influencing arm of the industry for ignoring it.
"Obviously, the cost of making games is increasing, and you don’t need to invest in any of these items to enjoy the outing"
It's funny that this site didn't use this kind of sentiment when SEGA and ATLUS showed their DLC package with Persona 3 Reload and Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth but just outright bashed them. Biased article is the worst.
@NEStalgia the problem with your question to @get2sammyb is whether the game was released to play perfect for reviewers then patched to make the game more MTX dependant. I think I remember reading when GT7 released, once it had been reviewed the amount of money received from events were reduced to make MTX more of an incentive. If this is true, and ends up being the same with DD2 then the reviewers may say the game doesn't need MTX, which at the time it didn't, however post patch it may affect the core experience outside of what the reviewer experienced and to some extent making their job a bit of a joke.
It really is a disturbing trend that firstly this kind of thing is happening and secondly that we can't trust that a game will be patched after purchase to make the grind even bigger and the game less enjoyable. And indirectly we can't trust the reviewers as they will have reviewed a different experience than what we may end up getting.
In fact here's the article:
https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2022/03/new-gran-turismo-7-patch-lowers-currency-rewards-fuelling-more-microtransaction-criticism
I know it won't affect your playthrough that much, can be earned just by playing and are completely optional, but I still think games at full price should NOT have any kind of MTX in it.
@NEStalgia Yeah, I haven't played a GT game since the very first one, and was interested in jumping back in for 7, but reading about the MTs just put me off completely. Outside of post-game stuff, can the game be realistically enjoyed without them?
@C25CLOUD strawman argument, this is you just burying your head in the sand instead of facing reality. If you want to understand why this is a problem, go play Street Fighter 2 and 4 on PS3, then go play Street Fighter V launch edition on PS4. I think you'll get a pretty good idea of what the problem is.
Let me guess, the stable FPS mode is going to be locked behind a micro transaction?
Here’s a fantastic idea just don’t buy them? I had no idea they were even in the game but I have to say I’m not going to grab my pitchfork because I have this wonderful option called choice.
@Loamy
You can do that, but you should not have to.
I'm sorry, but adding a boat load of microtransactions in a single-player focused game after the review embargo lifts and game releases is absolutely ridiculous, especially literally right after release.
Sounds like they made some of the in-game currencies deliberately hard to obtain just so they could give you the easy option via micro transactions, especially as they seemed to have held them back until after the reviews had come out. Needless to say this is all quite sinister.
This is nasty as hell and Capcom absolutely deserve the stick they're getting for this....but I already have a 99% hunch that people are going to forget about this about a month after release if games like DMC5, RE4R and countless others are anything to go by: if the game itself is good without the need for MTX, the ire surrounding stuff like this starts to fade away into the background most of the time. I still despise it with a passion don't get me wrong, but given the s*** Capcom's pulled in the past when it came to DLC/MTX (especially during the early 2010's), this is comparatively quite tame.
EDIT: @Shepherd_Tallon's thoughts on the matter pretty much sum up my overall opinion on this to a tee 👍
@Mintie That's what easy mode is for. Easy mode should not be the credit card. This once was feature never charged for.
@Andee GT7 is a very big game with a ton of "campaign" races without feeling pressured to pay MTX, as long as you're not into collecting tons of cars. The campaign unlocks several models of all the classes and you get just enough money to upgrade a few of them to high specs without grinding, just playing through the career normally. If you're happy playing and selecting one or two cars in each class to max out as you go, you will never feel pressured for MTX (was not true at launch, is true now.)
However if you like buying/unlocking as many cars as you can for the collection, 100%'ing/trophy-hunting, and those post-game supercars that are a million plus credits each......the game is going to require a LOT more credits than you'll win through a natural playthrough. I really enjoyed it, but I tend to play just sort of taking what I'm given as prizes for cars and upgrading them. And it's a very lengthy game even doing just that. If I were into collecting a lot of available cars, I think I would have had a lot less enjoyable experience though. And the post-game can go screw off.
@Jaz007 "Easy mode should not be the credit card."
This quote needs to be enshrined as a sticky on every gaming site in existence until it's a meme included by devs in every game.
There's an irony to this mentality in the industry. They want to grow their market, while simultaneously making the barrier for entry higher and higher, and also making games less and less enjoyable without spending more and more money the LOWER your skill level is. The "I eat, breathe, sleep Nightmare difficulty in games" crowd won't care about the fast travel, the brutal slog is what they live for. The casual gamer that's like 75% of the market, and 100% of the potential growth market for games will play the game, find it to be a frustrating slog, deciding games are not for them, and move on. All growth potential lost. They're so focused on extracting every potential penny from their target market they don't even remember how to attract new business.
If publishers were pirates all their ships' guns would be aimed at the deck.
@StonyKL Fair point on if the game was patched to adjust it or not, but, otoh, is that necessarily something we could even know? Rob did point out that fast travel items are rare. It was already rare in the review. Would knowing that in addition to items existing and seeming rare combined with knowledge that they're intending to sell them for real money affect the way that aspect of the game is evaluated? I should think so, yes. There's a difference between "item is rare, quirk of the game, minor annoyance in design, just hoof it" vs "item is rare, annoyance in design intended to frustrate player and manipulate into purchasing ability to fix it" is another.
Additionally we would have no way of knowing if they've adjusted the drop rates or availability of rare items in a patch unless they tell us. And they are under no obligation to tell us.
I think the question to Sammy stands, the content of that press doc answers for us some of these questions. Capcom's foot forward tells us their intent. If Capcom openly said they're selling fast travel per trip, reviewers were armed with that info to evaluate how cumbersome navigation is and how much it's designed to move product (curious then nobody mentioned it.) If Capcom didn't specify that, reviewers easily were manipulated to give a pass to something they likely would not have.
The GT7 example was an interesting one, because then after controversy they reduced car prices. It placated people. But it actually changed nothing where that post-game content requires SPECIFIC car classes per event, and there's only 2 or 3 races in the game that can even reasonably generate that amount of money, each of them is about an hour long (or two half hour long events to net similar credits), and if you don't win you wasted time. And you'd have to win multiple times to generate the revenue. So each car-gated postgame race literally mandates a minimum of 6+ hours grinding to unlock, and only that low if you never, ever lose. Or just hit up the PS store and unlock right away for cold hard cash. The really sad thing is it's so unnecessary in that game. There's a ton of content that IS included why go the manipulative artificial slog MTX route to just gate content that most will then just never see? Why not just sell an expansion pack with more races and cars? People would like that. Or gate the car unlocks behind winning a really hard challenge rather than grinding races for hours for currency?
We're right back to the arcades except we have a $570 cover charge to get in.
Edit: And yeah, we've had this sort of honor system in gaming where we assume patches only improve games. People are starting to but until now haven't considered the modern patching/live servicing of games means games can be made worse to extract additional purchases at any time. Mobile has done that for ages now, and we're facing an uphill battle that publishers have figered out the new younger generation of console gamers was raised on mobile gaming, and is just used to seeing $2.99 purchases for everything they do (though those kids were used to using their parent's credit cards until now, too. Even the kids grow up into bitter consumers eventually... )
@NEStalgia Thanks — yeah I've zero interest in "collecting" or trophies, but I always enjoyed the RPG-style upgrading of old bangers that they had in the first game.
A totally underhanded way to go about it, they deserve the backlash they'll get.
So like many open world game you have to travel everywhere, but fast travel is locked behind a paywall and if you don't want to pay, it's going to take real life months to do it by foot. This is evil.
Almost every game I play has microtransactions. I’ve yet to pay for a single one of them and am able to enjoy the games just fine. Cut it out! They’re optional and you don’t have to purchase them if you don’t want to! Nothing’s being “forced down your throat”.
Not going to read all the comments, there are 126. I agree this information should have been included or more obvious to people previewing the game. The fact micro transactions exist in DD2 is not that big a deal to me personally, I just ignore them. But I do understand the issues with them.
Trying to understand... from what I gather, the main problem here is how cagey Capcom was before today (release day) about these. Then to add insult to injury, they're for things you would find in a f2p mobile game. I believe these two things are undeniable, and why the people who are upset have reason to be.
I suppose I don't understand why there are people who have no issue with this don't understand why others do. Oh well I guess
@Andee I think you'd enjoy it well enough, it's still a "caRPG", you just can't upgrade a ton of cars without grind, but you can upgrade several favorites, and doing some extra races for cash isn't a bad thing until you need crazy money. And there's a long campaign of races with steady currency. Plenty of racing and upgrading in a normal playthrough. But vs old entries where filling up the car Pokedex was a main feature to many, it's pretty gross in that aspect.
We live in a time where people COMPLAIN about FREE GAMES so I'm not surprised people are being negative about this.
@AK4tywill Didn't they also do this with Crash Bandicoot and with many more its quite disappointing. And you are probably right firsr get those great reviews and pit it in after release is scummy.
The game doesn't run particularly well on any platform and doesn't currently allow a second save file but they are "working on it." They did launch with a full slate of microtransactions. It really shows where the priorities were.
@NEStalgia Nintendo's still mostly safe from that kind of stuff (microtransactions contained to mobile) though I do worry about next gen. Tactics seem to mirror the generation's power so like Switch is 7th gen power and we saw a lot of PS3/360 era strategies.
The main things that happened with 8th gen were:
@dark_knightmare2 The original DD did this and it wasn't held against it. Every Tales of game for many years has had things like buyable currency, level ups, more item space etc and it doesn't seem to cause backlash. RE4 had a thing where you could pay to make your weapons better. In thousands of cases games do this and there's no massive backlash, just some scattered grumbling at worst. Most of this DD2 backlash has been whipped up by streamers and YouTubers, many of whom have claimed there's no way to re-customise your character without paying.
@NEStalgia Heh, "caRPG" still makes me smile — and yeah, if I wanted "Crrraaazy money" there's a whole separate game I can play for that...
If PC players want to play a newly released action RPG that's well optimized, is fully featured and not a single MTX in sight...then I recommend Horizon Forbidden West.
These are all entirely optional but I am disappointed about the lack of a toggle helmet option.
@Matroska yeah but where any of those day one I’m seriously asking?
@Grumblevolcano Gen 9: RELOADING!
I'm surprised how many people are defending DD2 though. MTX in full price games is one thing, but selling fast travel per use is a low on a scale even MiHoYo hasn't attempted, and their game is free. An hiding it tells us they knew that. I expect more out of Japanese business than sneaky behavior. Though not from Capcom and Konami.
That's the thing with Nintendo. As soon I started playing into ACNH I knew they were testing the waters and building their designs for GaaS/MTX models. The whole game is built like a mobile game just without the payment prompts for now. Next gen we're going to see full scale monetization at least on key money makers like Kart, AC, Splatoon, Poke, probably 2D Mario. And even exposure to Atlus and Ubisoft has not fully prepared us for what a fully monetized Nintendo could look like.
This kind of garbage does not belong anywhere near a single player game, and is evidence of the rampant greed that has played a major role in why a significant portion of the industry has lost their jobs since the start of 2024.
People really need to calm down and find something important to worry about.
If you don't like micro transactions then don't pay for them.
I understand the contention around microtransactions and, despite the “just don’t buy them argument” being fair, it’s also fair to levy feedback about the many ways microtransactions have become rampant industry-wide.
This isn’t solely criticism aimed at DD2. Rather, it’s a symptom of a larger issue. DD2 is just the latest to be caught in the crosshairs.
Gaming, like any other form of entertainment, is an industry. Businesses need to turn a profit. However, how they go about doing so when gaming is a form of active (vs passive) media means they’re going to get more impassioned reactions when anything they do interferes with the reason many of us play in the first place: to have fun.
There’s a balance, and the industry seems off-balance in many ways as of late.
@dark_knightmare2 As far as I know - but it's seen as worse if they aren't day one since if they add it after most people have bought it rather than being up front about it. Capcom even told reviewers the game would have microtransactions.
@AdamNovice See, this is why this is being blown out of proportion. Despite the noise about how bad this is, and despite HFW not having microtransactions, the 24 hour peak player count for HFW is 26,697 whereas for DD2 it's 200,175 with about 170,000 playing now. People in general can't be that affected by the presence or lack of microtransactions or those figures would be reversed.
Removed - unconstructive
@Matroska And how many of those Steam sales will turn into refunds? I bet you a lot.... especially with the negative reception it has gotten there (https://steamdb.info/app/2054970/). Refunding in Steam is really easy after all.
HFW was never going to do huge numbers in Steam (it is a 2 years old game after all). But it is doing fine for a late port. Also HFW port is exceptionally good and have a really positive reception in Steam. This might help the game in the long run there.
If DD2 takes too long to fix the performance problems, it might hurt the game in the long run. Steam numbers might start dropping rather quicker than usual. So Capcom... you need to start working on fixing that mess you call performance.
Time will tell if they tempered with the gameplay to make people go and buy stuff. No judgment here as of now.
Fact is tho, they did not inform the reviewers about the MTX, right? If that is true, F thoose effers!
@NoHope The article has been updated and comments have been posted by Push Square staff clarifying that reviewers were provided with a list and cost breakdown, but told they would not be available for purchase until launch.
Unfortunately, a lot of the commentary and sentiment in the comments before that was corrected is too late to reign in. 😅
I've just made camp and witnessed the glorious cooking scenes. All is forgiven.
@anubisvel
Thanks for clearing that up. I will get DD2 eventually, I just finished the first DD a few weeks ago. I am in no rush whatsoever, there are so many games to play. It is mayhem.
@NoHope Please put me out of my misery! Lmao. I’m in the same boat.
I have a bit of backlog paralysis, but I’m trying to get through those games before I jump into anything new. Thankfully, that usually means being able to take advantage of sales on newer titles.
@rpg2000 Those aren't sales they're people actively playing the game. You can typically only get a refund if you've played for 2 hours or less. So I just checked again and DD2 now has over 180,000 playing as we speak despite this backlash. Surely it would have plummeted from what I posted earlier but it's gone up from the 170,000 that were playing hours ago when I posted my previous post. Meanwhile HFW's concurrent player count (playing right now) has dropped by 7000 from earlier to just over 19,000.
I just want to make it clear that I'm not saying this to crap on HFW but just to say a game with great performance and no MTX is doing WAY worse than a game where apparently everyone is annoyed at the bad performance and MTX. Just makes the backlash seem a lot smaller than implied.
@C25CLOUD
What happens is they create more and more design problems and sell you the solution. That permissive atitude is exactly why games launch in incomplete states despite you paying premium price for it.
shrugs I have a dragon to kill.
@C25CLOUD if they loudly advertise these kinds of micro transactions in-game, it ruins the game for me. It killed Mortal Kombat. It was one of my favorite series, and I just stopped buying the games, full stop. I play games to escape this kind of trash.
Right now I am rating Dragon's Dogma 2 a 1/10. But Capcom can pay me a micro transaction so that my rating go up to 6/10. Another micro transaction will raise the rating to 8/10. At that point, I think we will be even in terms of respect, right?
This kind of nickel and diming of players is the worst trait of modern games. Those seeking to defend it simply because they enjoy the base game should reappraise their own motivations for trying to trivialise and normalise this practise.
In this game, these items affect gameplay, and I guarentee that the rarity and drop rate of an item like the portcullis has been adjusted to encourage more mtx.
I have more than enough games for now, and good will for this publisher is reduced by this shady monetisation, so this game can wait for a sale, maybe they will have fixed or improved the fluctuating frame rate by then.
Enjoy the game, please dont use mtx...
@LikelySatan We agree! I'd much rather agree with you 😁
@Cloud39472 It is true. Rebirth is criticized for its performance mode which has a pretty stable 60 fps. However, the disastrous optimization of DD2 seems not to affect its review score. Who knows why?
This is a shame.
I am looking forward to this game, after the review I just saw here. And shall probably buy my copy in a few days.
But most of the fun of the game seems to be in the exploration of the world. So why would you want to honestly pay more money in order to unlock a mechanism which actually makes the game LESS interesting?
@Jimmer-jammer Not sure what is going on there, base game is £60 (£10 less than average) and the deluxe is £70.
Not sure about exchange rates etc, but something is awry?
@Skadoosh Yeah, it’s a bizarre price point. I’m not sure either 🤷♂️
Well this sucks. The game is amazing. Its almost everything I wanted it to be after the long 12 year wait. I was over 10 hrs in before i heard of these microtransactions and probably would never have noticed them if the gaming community hadn't exploded. The items on offer seem so at odds with the design and philosophy of the game. My guess is this was Capcoms genius idea and not the development team.
@Matthewnh Dont worry dude they are easily avoidable and as you said the enjoyment comes from traversing and exploring this amazing world they've created. With that mindset you won't even think twice about them.
@NEStalgia I feel that Gen 9 has been a situation of going deeper into Gen 8's strategy, realizing it was a mistake too late and using emergency strategies (usually very bad ones) to try and make up for those mistakes.
@Grumblevolcano Maybe true. But I can't even tell that what strategy is. It mostly seems to just be about finding some way to extract more money for the same thing. Which inevitably leads to a whale driven model. We now have Spencer, Layden, and other execs openly discussing that which is funny when Internet hacks would mock everyone that suggested that.
You can get the stuff in game. Granted, it’s a grind
@MidnightDragonDX That's the point though. That's how all mobile games work. And genshin. Design mechanics or currencies that are a grind/time waster to get and then sell the shortcut, like the line priority passes at Disney land. The item is present in the game in just scarce enough supply to make the game much better if you just pay up. Now, Rob updated the review to say he doesn't feel this game is designed that way. But the caveat is he reviewed it before the day 1 patch when the store was introduced. Did they change the drop rates? Will they change it in 6 months? The problem with this is with live patching is just because the item wasn't problematically scarce at review doesn't mean the won't make it so in a patch when the quarterlies need the boost. Which is why it's best to not quietly add mtx seeking core game tedium removers for scarce items. Leave that to f2p games where the game itself pretends to be free.
@Grumblevolcano Plus it seems like Gen 9 strategy is to look at mobile and console as one market and migrate console players to have the same expectations as the much more profitable mobile market while also still charging console prices
DD1 had some of the same mxs. And that was 12 years ago.
Wow a business looking at ways to make money off consumers - when will it ever end!
My problem with the outrage is where were these people for DMC V, MH Rise, RE4 Remake, etc? ALL of those games have microtransactions. All of them, and now it's suddenly an issue?
If you're going to be outraged about it, do it for all of it, or not at all. The double standards and hypocrisy makes it hard to take the outrage seriously.
@Titntin any chance you can say that two more times???
@IceClimbers I think the problem is that review copies came w a PR blurb about how the game was going to have mtx added at launch, and no reviewers mentioned it. I'm playing the game though, and they are not intrusive in the slightest. You need to go to PSN from the menu, but it's not loud at all.
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