Finally, another Wreckonomics post! It has been quite a while since I've babbled on about how to destroy a game's in-universe economy, and soon I'll have more to show as well (hopefully).
This one deals with Dragon's Dogma.
Dragon's Dogma and Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen is copyright Capcom. All content discussed in this article are strictly for review purposes and related discussion.
Holy crap, did Capcom actually deliver for once! This is one of those RPGs that really need to be played once. While the plot is somewhere between bland and cliché, the combat is truly a wonder. It's face-paced and brutal, and very much real-time. You fight all sorts of wonderful nasties, from goblins and angry lizard-people to bigass cyclopes and dragons. The big boss fights are a joy, actually expecting you to climb on a huge monster and whack the hell out of it, clinging to dear life.
Another nifty idea is the Pawn system. Not only do you get to create a badass main character for yourself, but you get to make a second character to be your personal kickass henchman. Both of these characters take advantage a very deep customization system, with basic physical stats derived from your body type, musculature, height, and so on. And once you're done, you can get your hands on all sorts of armor and clothes and play Badass Dress-Up. Once that's over, you can hire two more pawns created by other players to make a party of sweet monster destruction goodness.
The customization system and equipment combinations are extremely deep, but there are...well not so much flaws as there are possibilities for all sorts of weirdness. Rainbow Pimp Gear syndrome is very extant in this game, compounded by crazy skin/hair tones and body types. For example, I frequently encounter a pawn that looks like a fat giant Smurf and dresses like a bad Mortal Kombat OC sketch. Oh, and this abomination talks like a reasonably normal 20s-30s-ish woman!
Everything got cranked up to 11 when Capcom decided to make an expanded re-release of the game, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen. They added some needed features, including an improved fast-travel system, plus a whole new dungeon set and a new layer of monsters, suitable for high-level characters and/or total battle addicts. Protip: Go ahead and get your hands on the vanilla game, then get Dark Arisen. The fast-travel improvements are even better if you start with a vanilla savefile and then update.
I could really keep going, but you need to play this game to really get the taste. Fortunately, there are versions for the PS3 and Xbox 360, and are reasonably prices all around. Then come back for the nitty-gritty for destroying the monetary system.
Crafting System: Both Direct and Indirect. You can combine all sorts of items and ingredients to make stuff from curatives to charms to offensive items and bombs. The recipes are the classic Item A plus Item B equal Item C. Most of them are intuitive, and the game will let you do this sort of crafting at any time, provided you have the ingredients; you don't have to unlock recipes. Equipment is found and/or purchased, with an indirect enhancement system. There are only a few places that offer enhancement, and these consume gold and items according to a static table, dependent on the gear involved. One thing to note is that there a second layer of enhancement, which starts after fighting and defeating dragonkin. This "dragonforged" equipment are the highest versions available for that particular piece in the vanilla game, but the Dark Arisen version includes "rarification" services, which provides two more enhancement levels, consuming rift crystals (the second, more rare in-game currency) and harder-to-get items.
Theoretically Unlimited Wealth: Oh yes. While there is an encumbrance system in place to keep you from carrying around too much junk, the game has an easily accessed storage system, with no upkeep costs and no unlocking required. You can literally hold enough ores, foodstuffs, herbs, and arms, and other sundries to supply the entire realm indefinitely, plus a very generous wallet size.
Limitations: First, the aforementioned encumbrance system, which is really in place to keep your party lean and mean at any given time. The more problematic limitation is classic Breath of Fire Economy Syndrome. While getting curatives and basic supplies is easy, prices for equipment are pretty damned steep; enough so that keeping your main character and pawn up with the game's unlocks requires a great deal of farming and selling. This is aggravated by fairly low cash drops. The good news is that the enhancement system is a viable way to upgrade without burning the proceeds of multiple dungeon crawls, and that there are equipment drops in chests all over the place. The bad news is that enhancement services are more expensive monetarily and materially for higher level equipment.
Gas Pedals: There are multiple, which is a godsend.
First, and the one most often mentioned, is the souring/molding system. There are a several curatives that are time-sensitive and decay. The interesting part is that the first stage of the decay for most of these (where the item becomes sour, rank, or moldy) is much more valuable than the preserved state. It was so crazy that a player could buy an large number of these (carrots were the most popular) let them decay to the moldy state, reap a huge profit on resale, and repeat the process indefinitely. This was patched to an extent (shops have hard--but restockable--limits on these items now) in the Dark Arisen version.
Second is basic farming. This game's version is actually made easier by a quirk: chests actually refill after a certain number of in-game days (usually five), along with mining spots, harvesting spots, and fixed item locations.
Third is my personal favorite: The Arisen Mining Company. One of the earliest dungeons unlocked is an area known as the Quarry. This dungeon has many advantages going for it. After you clear it out for the first time (make sure you pick up the quest, and finish it), the monsters never return, and a shop opens up inside. Hand out pickaxes to everybody and go to work! While you do not see anything particularly spectacular, there are a lot of things to be picked up, mined, and harvested, plus a few chests with usually good loot inside. You can load up on goodies and sell them at the shop (extra funny note, there's a pouch of gold coins right on the counter to nab, no repercussions at all). What this place offers is there is a rest camp just south of the western entrance, so you can leave (smack critters and harvest stuff on the way) then rest for five days and return to do it all again!
Finally, a variant of the above, the Bitterblack Mining Company. I only recommend this for experienced players, and it is best done before beating the final boss of Bitterblack Island for the irst time (or do this on a second playthrough). That said, you can do this after beating the boss, but make sure you have a well-prepared party. Because this is a dungeon meant for high-level parties, the drops, mining.harvesting points, and chest contains very valuable loot (chests tend to yield vanilla end-game loot, for example), and breakables tend to hold more things more often to pick up. The hub zone itself contains several mining points, chests, and breakables, all risk-free! You can go in, clear a couple of floors, leave and return in five in-game days, and clear the floors again! The reason I recommend doing this before beating the final boss is that the second (technically third) area remains a safe zone, and has a ton of harvesting points, mining deposits, curative herbs to gather, and wildlife to hunt. Beating this boss activates high-level encounters for the zone, which typically aren't all that terrible, and tend to be profitable, I just prefer the safe version so I can snag a bunch of herbs and ores and chest drops in peace.
So there you have it, several fairly simple ways to get the cash you need to tear around Gransys in style!
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