'Dragon's Dogma': What made the video game so appealing and how well will it translate to a TV series?
People remember the original 'Dragon's Dogma' game, and its updated version 'Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen' fondly for a number of reasons, but the plot wasn't chief among them. In fact, much like 'Skyrim', the game's main plot involving a world-ending dragon is something that was largely set aside in favor of an endless number of side quests and worlds to explore.
As Netflix brings another popular game to its unique anime format, it's worth taking a look at just what made 'Dragon's Dogma' such a beloved game and whether or not that appeal is something that can be translated into a linear story.
The upcoming show and the anime both begin with the same basic premise — after a dragon attacks a small village, a peasant whose family was destroyed in the fire is brought back to life as the Arisen, someone destined to defeat the dragon in its own lair. Already, however, there's a major deviation. 'Dragon's Dogma' had a huge range of customization for its time.
Many players were able to fiddle around with character creation sliders to create as accurate a version of themselves as the game's graphics would allow — or the best version of themselves they would like to be. The game then lets the players fight against that dragon in its initial fight — there is a personal investment in the story that the show completely loses by having a predetermined main character, Ethan.
Unlike 'Castlevania', which was based on a relatively straightforward game with a single story unfolding, 'Dragon's Dogma' is based off a roleplaying game — one that specializes in bringing players into the story and having them affect not just the way the story unfolds, but its ultimate outcome. There have been other shows and movies based off of video games, such as 'The Witcher', 'Sonic' and even 'Pokemon', but all of these properties feature predetermined protagonists — the story in both the show and the video games is tied to a specific person, unlike 'Dragon's Dogma', where the protagonist could be nearly anyone.
One of the most unique features of 'Dragon's Dogma', however, that could actually translate well to a more linear story, is the pawn system. In 'Dragon's Dogma', no player fought alone — they were each given another character, known as a pawn, who would fight by their side and grow in strength along with the player through their journey.
Along with the main pawn, the player would be able to hire other pawns designed by other players to help them through the game. Every battle fought in 'Dragon's Dogma' after the initial dragon fight was fought as part of a team — the only downside being was that the pawns had limited intelligence and there was always a 50-50 chance they'd wind up as much of a hindrance as a help.
Where Netflix's 'Dragon's Dogma' can improve upon the pawn system is by strengthening the story of Ethan's pawn sidekick. We've already seen Ethan's main pawn in the trailers — a mysterious creature of light-based weaponry, sworn to guard him. Unlike the game, the pawn of the Netflix series may benefit from the same level of care to character development as the players tend to invest in their own protagonist.
The journey that the pawn and the protagonist share together as they hunt the Dragon down is part of what made the game such a memorable experience. With no character creation, action or moral choices to make, the strength of that relationship is what might best evoke the appeal of the game. 'Dragon's Dogma' premieres on Netflix on September 17.