Though the game is suffering a bit of a backlash due to some technicalities, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is still doing mighty well. And how could it not when it has taken one gaming fad from the 1990s and turned it into something great—live-action cutscenes.
The cutscenes in question are particularly reserved for the cooking animations. Capcom thought it too expensive and time-consuming to create a realistic rendition of the cooking process in the game’s engine, and contrary to Rockstar’s approach to Red Dead Redemption 2‘s realism, they opted for live-action footage. The juicy footage is actually an ingenious use of live-action content inside a video game, and probably the first time it was executed well outside of cinematics and trailers.
Popular YouTuber InternetCommentEtiquette said he’d “never seen that before,” and was pleasantly surprised to see the live-action footage. The cutscene is a rendition of a good steak cooking and simmering in a frying pan. It’s a simple and brief moment, but one that works well as a replacement for the overused “realistic” portrayal of every single action a character takes. This also likely has to do with Dragon’s Dogma 2 being an arcadey action game and not one where everything has to be deeply steeped in realism.
DD2 is a cinematic and graphical masterpiece whose art style has been generally praised by critics and players alike. Though it is drowning in performance and microtransaction controversies, the game is nonetheless good-looking and well-rounded in almost every department. The addition of live-action cutscenes only amplifies its unique art direction. Just make sure you aren’t hungry in real life before trying to cook something in Dragon’s Dogma 2.
Capcom’s flagship action game is out now and is facing poor reviews on Steam due to reports of crashing, unstable performance, and strange microtransaction options.
