Walking to the capital in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is the best tutorial I could have hoped for

Dragon’s Dogma 2 thrives off of a player’s curiosity. The beginning of the game does very little hand-holding, and shockingly, walking to the capital city of Vermund in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is the best tutorial I could have hoped for.

Should you walk to the capital or use the oxcart?

The beginning of Dragon’s Dogma 2 places you right in the thick of things. During the quest “In Dragon’s Wake“, Gregor will ask you to accompany him and his soldiers back to the capital of Vermund, Vernworth. After a bit of walking, Gregor says that an oxcart was supposed to meet me at a security checkpoint, but is nowhere to be found.

Once you find the oxcart, Gregor asks if you prefer to ride with him to Vernworth, or simply walk to the capital yourself. I know how exciting it can be to want to immediately head to the capital to start summoning your friend’s pawns and more. However, I became a more experienced Arisen by taking the road less traveled.

Because of this, I recommend that you walk to the capital. Of course, this path is far more treacherous than accompanying Gregor on the oxcart. But I think you’ll find the skills and experience you earn invaluable.

Taking the road less traveled

Immediately after setting off on my own, Dragon’s Dogma 2 gave me two paths to choose from. Each one has its benefits, but this type of decision-making in the open world is something you’ll see over and over again. Walking to the capital gave me a better understanding of the world of Dragon’s Dogma 2, and not every lesson was a nice one.

For example, I was strolling through the dense woods on the way to Vernworth, picking ingredients that my pawns kept pestering me about. Then all of a sudden I heard a loud roar, and a Cyclops was barreling towards me from the tree line. Now this isn’t the first Cyclops I encountered, however, what made this fight particularly challenging was the environment I was in. With so many trees around me, I could barely get some distance from the Cyclops to cast spells before he was right on top of me again.

This is the best sense of environmental storytelling that Dragon’s Dogma 2 offers. The game taught me that fights are unlike any other game I’ve played. Usually, I can spot a combat area for an open-world game, since most of them are flat pieces of land so you have enough room to fight.

But Dragon’s Dogma 2 challenges this ideal, by essentially throwing enemies at you at any given point. I’ve even been trading items in a town as it gets attacked by an Ogre. Combine this with finding ingredients, pawns, and even weapons, and somehow I never want to use a Ferrystone again. So the next time the game gives you the choice of walking to a location or fast traveling, the rewards might outweigh the risks. Just pray you don’t have to find out what goes bump in the night.