The player will be able to select between various types of vocations, of which nine have been revealed: Fighter, Warrior, Mystic Knight, Strider, Ranger, Assassin, Mage, Sorcerer and Magic Archer.[4]
Gender choice and appearance settings will also be available.[5]

While the player's party is exploring the world, the three party members who accompany the main character will be controlled by artificial intelligence, but the player can issue orders like "Go", "Help" and "Come to them".
One of the party members is a non-playable character (NPC) and belongs to the main character's world. The other two party members are NPCs borrowed from other players by connecting online,
but the game will not require an internet connection. However, the player can only borrow the NPCs from other players, not their main character.[6] The party members will talk, seek the main character's help,
and provide information about enemies.[5] The player will need to work on strengthening the main character and the party members.[6]

The game will feature a "grab" action, where the main character can grab on or cling to enemies, objects, or NPCs. The player can use this feature for more advanced attacks.
For example, the main character can either grab on to a giant griffon's legs and attack it directly, or climb up to reach its head for a more lethal blow.[5]
"In a lot of action games, with big enemies the tendency is just to have you hacking away at the shins. You don't get the full effect of fighting a giant boss," Hideaki Itsuno, the director of Dragon's Dogma, said.
"With this game you can climb all over it. If it has a body part, you can attack it." The ability to climb enemies has drawn comparisons to Shadow of the Colossus.
The game also drew comparisons to Capcom's own Monster Hunter series as well as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.[7]

In addition to the large open world, Dragon's Dogma will also feature a large city environment with over 200 NPCs who will move about according to their own time schedules. The player will be able to communicate with the residents in full voice.[5]

The game is being designed to be playable even by those who are not too skilled at action games. These types of players can recruit strong NPCs and let them do the fighting during combat as they watch over the battlefield.[6]

Players can look forward to anywhere between 30 and 100 hours of gameplay, the former figure for normal play and the latter for those who wish to dig in to the game.[5]

"Japanese RPGs usually throw you into the role of a well-defined protagonist, but Dragon’s Dogma bucks the trend by offering up a character customization engine that puts most others to shame. The amount of depth on offer is borderline obscene, moving from the obvious like height and weight through to the more nuanced like a large selection of voice samples and a really stunning amount of actually significantly different hair. "

"How hands-on the pawns are in battle is really pleasant to see, and in an age when incredibly stupid AI who do nothing is still an issue, in this game they’re so active that they’ll even steal kills from you if you’re not pulling your weight. They’ll heal, buff, debuff and do everything you can, all whilst calling out often useful warnings or advice."

"The combat is interesting on its own, but the strategy introduced by the pawn system is what really makes it stand-out and special. With a massive load-free world, and there’s a very Elder Scrolls feel to how you can just walk forever through the map, spotting things in the distance and climbing towards them whilst splattering enemies on the way."

"There’s a patient, plodding pacing to the story that feels very Japanese indeed, but the end result is an opportunity to coast through the beautiful, expansive world at a slower rate – and that ends up feeling welcome."

Pelit - 9.2
PlayStation Magazine FR - 18/20
Game Informer - 8.5
PSM - 8.5
Xbox World - 8.5
Play3 (DE) - 83%
LEVEL - 8
GamesTM - 8
360 Magazine UK - 8
Console + (FR) - 16/20
GamePro (DE) - 79% PS3/78% 360
Edge - 7
OXM - 6
Play - 48%

okay, played for about 5 - 6 hours now... the game's difficulty is no fucking joke, heh. It's almost unfair at times but with some ingenuity you can beat a lot of fights.

Here is a bit more of my first impressions.

This is what I posted over on Unity.Happy to report that the PS3 version looks and runs great, with ony a bit of stutter when the game auto-saves sometimes. But that is only for a few seconds when it even does it. The game is precisely as advertised. If you love what has been so freely shown, then you will feel right at home and love it once you start playing.

Enemies within your level range are fair game, but be careful how far you wonder off. As you can get in trouble fast and will be quickly reminded just how mortal you really are - despite still walking around with your heart ripped out. It's this that gives the world a real sense of danger and that is something lacking in most games within this genre these days. It actually feels like an adventure.

All in all, I am still in the early goings and I can already tell that it is going to be a time sink that I will love every minute of and will come back to replay many times. Underneath things like some quirkiness here and there with some of the NPCs, a finicky camera in tight corners or maybe not the sharpest textures in places, there is a very special game in a world that feels alive and is brimming with attention to detail. In short, it delivers on being something that feels unique on the whole.

Nice. Mulle lähti peli vasta tänään tulemaan, eli huomenna sopivasti tentin jälkeen pitäisi olla kourissa. Silloin lähtee. Itse ajattelin kokeilla komboa, että teen omasta hahmostani vähän jykevämmän lähitaistelujannun - pelimekaniikka ja vauhti kiinnostaa - ja pawniksi laitan maagin tai jotain. Äh, kylläpä kutkuttaakin!