Let me first say that I am by no means defending the choice to put a lot of microtransactions on "Dragon's Dogma 2". Nor am I surprised by the current state of Steam reviews for this game, just as I am not surprised when I kick the beehive and get stung in the ankle.

Two important points of context: first, Dragon's Dogma 2 was recently released and is a very fun and weird RPG, despite some pesky performance issues. Second, the game comes bundled with a number of very dumb microtransactions, many of which are simply sold in pieces, detached from the Deluxe Edition's "New Adventurer's Perks - New Journey Pack."

Not surprisingly, there is a barrage of (understandably) negative reviews from players who have no context for how rare any of the items listed are. I can't imagine that this decision was favorable to anyone, but here we are.

If you are opposed to the idea of microtransactions in full-priced games in general, I don't want to say you were wrong to abstain. But if you were looking forward to Dragon's Dogma 2, rest assured that almost all of these items are lying around or in the store.

Of particular concern to me at the moment is the badly named "Art of Metamorphosis - Character Editor". What one thinks about the save file is one's own business, but the price of the "Art of Metamorphosis" book itself is about 500 rift crystals, or RCs.

A bit expensive in the beginning, but the RC will eventually pay for itself. Interestingly, it is cheaper to buy 500 lift crystals outright. For the most part, microtransactions are just a paid convenience skip for this game, where inconvenience is what matters.

The two microtransactions I have a problem with are the Explorer's Camping Kit (which seems lightweight, with the caveat that it will be available in-game when the DLC is purchased) and the port crystals only, and guide writer Sean Martin has found only a handful in about 50 hours. However, the port crystal requires a ferry stone, which cannot be bought with a purse.

But still, both of these choices only ruin what makes Dragon's Dogma 2 a fun and unique game, and these microtransactions are frankly very stupid, most likely made at the publisher level rather than the developer My conclusion is that it is a very stupid decision, likely made at the publisher level rather than the developer.

Part of what makes this whole mess so frustrating is that this is all context that can only be gained by playing the game or reading this article. But for a game that does so many things right (performance issues aside), this is a totally unnecessary mess.

If you're shying away from Dragon's Dogma 2 because of these microtransactions, that's entirely plausible. It is important to note, however, that none of these purchases are necessary and the game is not designed to be purchased. From top to bottom, it is nothing but inexplicable business choices and bad optics.