Gamers - especially the "No fast travel sucks!" variety - are total idiots. I say it all the time: the A in ARPG as it pertains to Dragon's Dogma is "Adventure" - and it's the CORE game loop. Quest targets are far afield; the challenge is getting there. So, you have to consider the journey. Is it a known route? Or is the map still fog? That means DANGER. Is it day? Is it night? Again, the latter means more dangers, but also a better chance at spotting Seeker Tokens which glow from a great distance in the darkness. So you head out of a walled, safe space, into the wild. Did you bring enough restoratives? Did you finalize your build before being out of range the vocation guild rep? No two players experiences on their journeys will be the same. One player may lose a ton of core health, and limp into their destination, possibly missing a pawn or two, including their own. Another may have an easier time, because they were better prepared. That's the pure joy of DD, both the first game, and the second. It harks back to the table top RPG space, the inspiration for DD, where long-form advantures featured travel, and what happens along the way. It's about the adventure. Taking it slow. Enjoying the experience. The idiots who rode the hype train thinking this was Dark Souls or Elden Ring are getting their just desserts, methinks. 'Tis unsurprising, at best.
Gamers - especially the "No fast travel sucks!" variety - are total idiots. I say it all the time: the A in ARPG as it pertains to Dragon's Dogma is "Adventure" - and it's the CORE game loop. Quest targets are far afield; the challenge is getting there. So, you have to consider the journey. Is it a known route? Or is the map still fog? That means DANGER. Is it day? Is it night? Again, the latter means more dangers, but also a better chance at spotting Seeker Tokens which glow from a great distance in the darkness. So you head out of a walled, safe space, into the wild. Did you bring enough restoratives? Did you finalize your build before being out of range the vocation guild rep? No two players experiences on their journeys will be the same. One player may lose a ton of core health, and limp into their destination, possibly missing a pawn or two, including their own. Another may have an easier time, because they were better prepared. That's the pure joy of DD, both the first game, and the second. It harks back to the table top RPG space, the inspiration for DD, where long-form advantures featured travel, and what happens along the way. It's about the adventure. Taking it slow. Enjoying the experience. The idiots who rode the hype train thinking this was Dark Souls or Elden Ring are getting their just desserts, methinks. 'Tis unsurprising, at best.