Early Dragon's Dogma 2 scores put reviews far above the original and even its Dark Arisen revision as one of 2024's best RPGs

It's taken 12 years, but Dragon's Dogma 2 is finally swooping onto store shelves this week, and judging by the early review scores, the wait has been worth it. 

The first Dragon's Dogma took players on a thrilling adventure to an epic fantasy world filled with intriguing characters and fearsome creatures. The sequel aims to offer the same immersive experience and engaging battles that made the series such a hit with RPG fans over a decade ago but in a vastly bigger world that offers more freedom in both combat and exploration.

With Dragon's Dogma 2 now only days away, reviews have begun to appear online, and if these early indications are anything to go by, Capcom has created one of the best RPG games of 2024 and a sequel that not only lives up to its predecessors but surpasses them. At the time of writing, the game has a rating of 87 on Metacritic, while its score on OpenCritic is a whopping 89. 

In comparison, the original Dragon's Dogma, which was released back in 2012, has a score of 75 on Xbox 360 according to Metacritic, while the PS3 release is slightly higher but still far behind the sequel with 78. Meanwhile, Dark Arisen, a revision including the base game and all previously released DLC, plus a new area, Bitterblack Isle, is sitting around the 80 mark on the same review aggregator site, with the highest rating being 81 for the PC release. Its rating on OpenCritic is 80.

Our Dragon's Dogma 2 review isn't live yet; given the sheer depth of the game, we've taken more time to really get to grips with it, but rest assured, it's coming soon. In the meantime, you can read our preview, in which returning director Hideaki Itsuno explains how the game is the truly open-world RPG he has always wanted to make.

Our own Austin Wood restarted Dragon's Dogma 7 times in a row trying to make the perfect character, but for Dragon's Dogma 2, he's making the weirdest RPG build possible.