Dragon’s Dogma, Capcom’s venture into the high fantasy open-world RPG, is often compared to the Monster Hunter series with its various similarities. Given Capcom‘s role as both the developer and publisher, perhaps the comparison between Dragon’s Dogma and Monster Hunter is inevitable.

Of course, both titles play nothing alike as the Dragon’s Dogma series is an open-world action RPG while the Monster Hunter series focuses on the loop of repeatedly beating up a poor fantasy animal for a nicer hat. That is to put it simply since both games are designed with intricacy and there are far more than what I have described.

Having played the magical fantasy world of Dragon’s Dogma back in the Xbox 360 era, I could see why people would set the game beside the Monster Hunter series and spark a neverending debate.

Giant Beasts Galore 

The most common comparison between the two is without a doubt the combat. Both games centered on fighting giant beasts roaming around in a fantasy world. Indeed, both titles also feature methodical combat where caution must be exercised to avoid getting pummeled and shredded to pieces by gigantic fantastical beasts to be their next happy meal.

Even if Dragon’s Dogma takes a slightly faster approach to the flow of combat, every swing of your blade commits you to the action and no Devil May Cry snappy move cancellation can be performed in either game. Both indeed pit players in a long epic battle between men and beasts where the player will get to target parts of the monsters, hack off their tails, or concuss them by breaking their horns to eventually wear them down.

The comparison does not stop there. Monster Hunter 4 introduces the mounting system, similar to the grapple mechanic in Dragon’s Dogma where players scale massive beasts to reach their weak points. However, both systems are fairly different otherwise as Dragon’s Dogma allows for a freer climb on a monster’s back while the mounting system in the Monster Hunter franchise is more of a minigame to knock the poor beast down for more Hammer whacking.

That said, Dragon’s Dogma’s approach to combat is a long way from the complexity of Monster Hunter’s mixture of part weakness, Armor Skills, weapon individuality, and whatever complex machinery the Charge Blade is. This is not to say Dragon’s Dogma’s combat is bad, in fact, the simplicity allows for other aspects to be complex such as the deep class system and satisfying magical spells that allow you to send meteors crashing down to a group of lowly goblins.

History Aligned 

Another part of the reason why fans of both series love comparing each other is the deep history of the Monster Hunter series.

Here is a fun trivia for the uninitiated because before Rathalos sores the sky of Verdant Hills, the Monster Hunter series was originally conceptualized as a high fantasy world. As shown in the first volume of the Monster Hunter Illustrations art book, the game was originally meant to feature fantasy elements such as goblins, a castle on top of a gargantuan tortoise, manticore creatures, and so on.

In the book, series director Kaname Fujioka said “We had it in our heads that this was going to be a fantasy game, so our ideas tended to gear towards magic and the like. The world as a whole was much more fantastical as well. I doubt any of us expected it to turn out so… analog.”

The earlier concept has shown that Monster Hunter initially has little connection to nature, but of course, as Capcom continued to conceptualize the series, the whole magic system was dropped early on during pre-production.

With early visuals of ancient ruins, red dragons, goblins, and treasures, it is easy to see why some may believe these initial ideas spawn Dragon’s Dogma out in today’s Capcom catalog with the totally fitting ever-so catchy hard rock song by B’z.

Arisen & Pawns

There is definitely more to Dragon’s Dogma than giant beasts, of course, and this is where the comparison to the other monster-hunting series fades away. Dragon’s Dogma has a deep complex character creation system, a list of parameters that one can alter to affect the rest of the game in terms of combat.

If your character is tall, you are able to cling onto monsters easier while a stout adventurer will have a tougher time regaining stamina but able to bring down those pesky harpies with weight. Or perhaps you are playing a female character, altering the behavior of the Ogre monsters that roam in the dark damped caves.

In comparison to Monster Hunter, every option in the character creator is entirely cosmetic and abilities are tied to Armor sets instead. When creating a hunter, you either create a beautiful lady for the list of appealing armor you are going to equip her within your hunt for fashion or a bearded man.

However, on the side of Dragon’s Dogma, every part of your character matters in the context of gameplay.

The complex character creator even extends to the Pawns, denizens of the Rift that serve the players. These NPCs act like party members in your team, assisting you in battle as you traverse across Gransys and reminding you that “Wolves hunt in packs!” every 3 minutes.

While Dragon’s Dogma does not have a direct multiplayer system where players skydive into their friends’ world for some jolly cooperation, they can upload and hire Pawns at Riftstones like trading soccer stars. Much of what the player can do, so can the Pawns, especially when it comes to the assigned Vocations.

Vocations

Speaking of Vocations, Dragon’s Dogma loves its sophisticated use of the English language. Instead of following any other RPG and using terms like “Classes” or “Jobs”, Dragon’s Dogma called the player roles “Vocations”. English vocabulary argument aside, yes, Vocations are the classes in Dragon’s Dogma and players advance from three basic archetypes of Fighter, Strider, and Mage to eventually something with more flair.

These Vocations serve as the combat pillar of the game as each fits into a specialized role with distinctive strengths and weaknesses.

For example, fighters are the typical warrior class, dressed in knightly fashion and armed with fancy tough shields, thus excelling at countering attacks in melee combat. Since fighters only fight in melee and love the thickest armor, they also tend to be terrible against flying foes as they flail their swords upwards and hit nothing but the air angrily.

As players progress through the ranks, they will eventually be able to advance their Vocations to either more powerful variants of the basic ones or hybrid classes like the Mystic Knight, a love child of a Fighter and a Mage.

No longer do the flying harpies harass you as being a hybrid of a knight and a spellcaster opens up ranged options for you to skewer down the bird-like monstrosities with lightning.

While it is annoying not being able to hit the swooping harpies, this is where the intricacy of the Pawns comes into play as you or your allies can execute certain actions to cover each other weaknesses. Being a Fighter with shields provides the option to use an ability called the Springboard and as the name may suggest, it is a skill that launches allies up into the air like a trampoline.

Open World Monster Hunter?

Look, both games revolve around the players fighting gigantic imposing beasts, knocking them down by breaking their kneecaps to eventually wearing them down to a point for a final blow. However, that is all there is that both games share even if both are Capcom titles.

The land of Gransys is a vast and fascinating world to explore, and Dragon’s Dogma plays more like any other traditional open-world action RPG, albeit sprinkled with some of those aromatic Capcom spices.

The original may not be praised universally, but the risks it takes should not be ignored as the title did not conform to genre conventions. From its intricate combat system to the chatty Pawns, Dragon’s Dogma breeds new interesting ideas in the genre and alters the way you approach enemies.

And now after a decade, Dragon’s Dogma is set to return in the form of a sequel, and from an early hands-on impression of a demo at Tokyo Game Show 2023, it seems that Capcom is doubling down on what made the original such a fascinating title to begin with.

If you want to try out Dragon’s Dogma 2 with its weighty combat, talkative NPCs, and interesting world, Capcom is currently holding a demo booth at gamescom asia 2023 in Singapore.