All the ways Dragon’s Dogma 2 will fight against you

polygon.com:

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a fascinating open-world fantasy role-playing game that gives players great freedom to explore and deep customization options to build their character and party. Dragon’s Dogma 2 is also incredibly restrictive. It doesn’t care much about your expectations of it based on other games you might’ve played (e.g., Elden Ring, Baldur’s Gate 3), nor does it follow many conventions of modern game design.

That’s kind of the appeal, though — Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a throwback. It adheres to many of the rules defined by the original Dragon’s Dogma more than a decade ago.

But as you start your journey in the kingdom of Vermund, you might find yourself wondering, Am I doing something wrong? What the hell is going on in this game? Don’t worry. It’s not just you. Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a brilliant game, but it’s not trying to cater to all players, particularly those looking for instant gratification or, like, convenience.

If you’re like me and have been playing some Elden Ring lately in anticipation of Shadow of the Erdtree’s arrival, you may wind up consulting Dragon’s Dogma 2’s control options early on to figure out how to target-lock enemies in combat.

Here’s the thing: You can’t.

Sure, you can grab onto enemies to pick them up, throw them, or climb on them like you’re battling a Shadow of the Colossus boss. But you can’t, say, click in one of the analog sticks to lock on to monsters to make combat easier to wrap your head around.

Fortunately, your Pawns have pretty good aim. And the game may have something of a soft lock to make your attacks connect, but don’t expect Devil May Cry-style lock-on during combat encounters.

There’s really no easy means of fast travel in Dragon’s Dogma 2. You can find and purchase consumable items called Ferrystones that will let you teleport to other locations. But teleporting is extremely limited — there are only a few Port Crystals in the game to teleport to.

Instead, you’ll have to rely on your own two feet to get around the