I'd like to preface this article with a warning: I am a big fan of titles with strong underlying game mechanics. To me, what sets a video game apart from any other medium is its level of interactivity; if I can't engage with your creation in a way that is both satisfying and challenging, then your primary form of communication - player agency - is squandered. The downside of this premise, however, is that my criteria for what makes a mechanically engaging game can be rather high. To use action RPGs as an example, I simply could not connect with Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, while FromSoftware's Dark Souls is probably my favorite title of 2011. Skyrim is a gorgeous wide-open world, but after my twentieth round of cave exploration with uninspired combat and clunky enemy AI (which consisted mostly of being chased around tables), I had to set it down. Dark Souls, on the other hand, is almost entirely about tight combat with challenging encounters and, while the plot can be described as "minimalistic" at best, I still made more of a connection with my undead character than any dragonborn could inspire.

To be fair, the above examples may also highlight the core differences between Japanese and North American game design, as Japanese action RPGs (Dark Souls, Monster Hunter) are more famed for their challenging combat mechanics, while many popular North American action RPGs (Skyrim, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Fable) are more known for their open-world exploration and character development. I won't jump into any of the debates here as to which is a "better" industry (and the debate is very much ongoing), but all of the afore-mentioned information is there to give some background to two statements I will be leading with: one, that Capcom's Dragon's Dogma captivated me in spite of its vacuous NPC conversations (my subject headings are all direct quotes from the game), and two, that Dragon's Dogma may very well be one of the most important new RPG franchises to come out of Japan in some time.