Highlights

  • Dragon's Dogma 2 lacks mounts, forcing players to walk a lot, much like Death Stranding, which received criticism for its walking-heavy gameplay.
  • Dragon's Dogma 2 makes players spend time walking and searching for objectives without giving them mounts for faster travel.
  • Dragon's Dogma 2 and Death Stranding deliver unique experiences through their walking-heavy gameplay, but the end result isn't for everyone.

Dragon's Dogma 2 has thrust players into an exciting fantasy world filled to the brim with things to discover, yet something crucial seems to be missing. While it has practically everything RPG fans have come to expect over the years, and it even tosses in a few fantastic additions, there are no mounts in sight. Instead, players spend much of their time in Dragon's Dogma 2 walking from one point to another. Even though they are two quite different games, that feels like something ripped straight out of Death Stranding.

Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding was perhaps one of the most anticipated games of 2019, as it was going to be the first game by Kojima Productions without Konami's oversight. That alone was cause for excitement, and the trailers all really helped build that hype. However, once players got their hands on it, some were surprised by its unusual gameplay loop. Many felt like it was nothing more than a walking simulator, which is exactly what Dragon's Dogma 2 can feel like sometimes.

Mystic Spearhand fighting monsters in Dragon's Dogma 2
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Dragon's Dogma 2 Seemingly Takes Cues from the Death Stranding Series

Death Stranding Was Often Called a Walking Simulator

Hideo Kojima described Death Stranding as the world's first strand-type game, a new genre that he penned himself. The world and story were both gripping, and many of the mechanics helped to build an adventure unlike any other in the industry. Additionally, Kojima built a star-studded cast with the likes of Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen, Lea Seydoux, and Troy Baker. But while that was all cool to see, some players were left wanting more when it came to the core gameplay.

One common criticism of Death Stranding's gameplay was that it was ultimately a glorified walking simulator. Players would collect orders from one outpost, walk long distances to another, deliver their packages, and then repeat the process over again. It was not until order 23 that they would unlock any sort of vehicle, but even with those vehicles, they still found themselves walking a lot, often through the same exact locales as the game brought them from one end of the map to the other constantly.

Dragon's Dogma 2 is Following in Those Same Footsteps

Overall, Dragon's Dogma 2 delivers a fantastic experience worthy of the first game's reputation, but it too forces players to walk a lot during their journey. Not only are they often tasked with retreading previously explored areas, but since the game does not always give players exact locations for their quests, they must spend a lot of time searching for their objectives as well. Yet, unlike Death Stranding, players are never given a mount to alleviate their long journeys.

Besides an Oxcart, there is no way to really speed up travel. There is a fast travel system, but that system is rather limited. It requires players to use rare Ferrystones to fast travel between various beacons on the map. These can be extremely hard to come across unless players want to spend a lot of gold, so Capcom has also given players a way to buy Ferrystones with real money if they choose. Outside of that, players must resort to walking if they want to get anywhere.

Dragon's Dogma 2's Pawn system is also arguably a similar concept to Death Stranding's many online features. Still, the most obvious similarity is the fact that both games force players to spend a lot of time walking. While they also both make up for that with interesting worlds, players looking for a more fast-paced experience may not find that in Dragon's Dogma 2.