A peculiar and strange convergence of seemingly disparate mechanics tells what appears to be a conventional fantasy tale full of fondness for the DnD/LotR creatures and lore it draws from. The last stretch and final ending subverts all of this, from the pawn system to the quest design, or just the worldview logically derived from being a fantasy role-playing game, and re-contextualizes it in a philosophical framework about the nature of free will in a world that frequently exerts its own free will on the people within it. It is about being human and being dehumanized, about breaking the cycle of systemic oppression and leveraging those systems of power to kill its own self in service of allowing others to choose for themselves. Dragons Dogma ended up being much weirder than I could've ever imagined, in more ways than I can count. A game that I predict I will spend quite a bit of time simply ruminating on.