One of the more interesting features of 2012 video game Dragon’s Dogma was its pawn system – which encouraged a single-player pseudo-online experience. Alongside creating your own custom character “The Arisen” when starting up the game you are also asked to create an NPC sidekick “The Pawn” to join you on your quest around Gransys. However they are also joined by two other pawns you can recruit and dismiss from other players pawns – with levels, skills and your cache of “rift points” to worry about.
While it is never really a heavily promoted part of the game, the console experience is complemented by the “Pawn Community” for the PC / console web browsers where gamers can share their screenshots and other aspects of the game with the extended community. This is done through a newspaper type setting where images and pawn profiles are shared via a number of ways such as a focus on a weekly theme, a personals type section and a notice board.
Capcom have recently updated the site with a new feature called the “Arisen’s Abode“. While only web-based it is a little personal space for each user on the Pawn Community website that can be edited by filling the room with furniture, items and characters that are acquired through quests. Once these goodies are collected the rooms can be decorated and in turn shared via The Gran Soren Times daily e-newspaper.
Quests are separate from those that you would find in-game, are carried out pretty much automatically and have been included for the sole purpose of earning furniture to decorate the abode. Not sure if I would call it anything more than something you would spend a few minutes and then forget about but…. at least it shows that Capcom is still dedicated to Dragon’s Dogma.
Dragon’s Dogma is now available on the Playstation 3 and Xbox360 under the enhanced edition pack “Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen“. This pack comes with the full original game, a handful of extras and a very challenging “end-game” dungeon. My review of this can be found HERE.
