AI

Pawn AI can do some pretty great things, supporting you in battle, helping hurl you aloft to face flying enemies and drawing the ire of bigger monsters. The party mage can really be a massive support if the AI works well during an engagement, buffing the group with fire or ice based magic for example, so that they can do extra damage to the enemy. Pawn AI varies from great to a little stupid at times, the monster AI on the other hand is pretty amazing and the various beasts/creatures all have a wide range of behaviours that make each fight unique and fun.

Sound

Dragon's Dogma has a solid audio suite that really brings the game to life with atmospheric sound effects, the world feels more alive thanks to these spot effects and exploring the darker recesses of the game world is truly spooky at times when the lights are dim and all you can hear is the whispering of ghostly voices, or the drip of water in the cavern somewhere. Sound effects in combat are also excellent with a variety of bone crunching noises and cues.

Music

An odd mix of music from the opening theme in the menu to some really lovely medieval fantasy tracks. It works though and CAPCOM should definitely take a page out of the Witcher/Witcher 2 book and release the game's soundtrack.

Voice

Good solid voice work with some great performances from the dragon.

Dialogue

The writing is solid enough though there are lots of old-worlde English style scripts that tend to make us giggle because we remember Two Worlds. Thankfully, it's not that bad!

Multiplayer

None...but there is an online component where you can share your main pawn online, cooperatively kill a massive Ur Dragon via an a-synchronous event and a few other surprises in store down the road. You can also hire pawns from friends and random players through a very robust system in the Rift.

A step in the right direction

Dragon's Dogma might appear generic and pretty bland at the start, but the spot on combat system, mix of rpg elements and core features more than make up for the short comings in terms of generic story and graphical issues at times. It's one to watch, one to get for yourself and definitely one that deserves a sequel. It stands with the likes of Skyrim and Dark Souls and gets a resounding 'yes' from us!