Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a game that’s all about holding players accountable for their actions. Capcom’s recently released RPG includes a lack of fast travel that requires methodical planning, a mysterious plague infecting pawns that you have to be mindful of, and an interconnected web of quests that can change depending on if certain NPCs die. Which is why (outside of defending against the game’s many monsters) I have refrained from killing NPCs. That is until I met Martin. I killed that man in cold blood. In my defense he had it coming, and I’m not the only player who thinks so.
But who is Martin? And why is he getting murdered by players with little to no regret? Let me introduce you to the man of the hour. Martin is by all accounts an average guy in the world of Dragon’s Dogma 2. He’s tasked with a quest within this world that gives him a purpose. As a magistrate of Vernworth, Martin serves the Queen Regent by enacting her law in the surrounding land. That includes Melve, a small town the player will encounter in the early hours of Dragon’s Dogma 2, where you find it partially destroyed from a dragon attack.
Melve is the residence of a few important NPCs, but the one players are most likely to take a liking to is Ulrika, the town’s leader. She’s a strong-willed archer who the people of Melve look up to. Over the course of the early hours of Dragon’s Dogma 2, players are encouraged to go back and check on Melve and its inhabitants from time to time. On one of these return trips players will cross paths with Martin. When you meet him, he will be yelling at Ulrika in her house, blaming her for the dragon attack and eventually accusing her of treason against the queen regent.
While I’m sure this quest tendrils out into a fascinating adventure, I’ll never know. Because as soon as the cutscene between Ulrika and Martin ended I picked that weasel of a man up, walked to the nearest cliff, and threw him off of it. Good riddance to bad rubbish. One of my friends shared that she had done the same. Turns out we aren’t alone. Videos, social media posts, and Reddit threads talking about Martin’s murder and the many reasons he had it coming abound. “Welp glad I’m not the only one.” wrote one Reddit user. I took great joy in throwing Martin to his death, but watching others do the same thing feels just as good.
The unintended drawback is that if Martin is killed immediately after the first cutscene with Ulrika, the quest “Readvent of Calamity” will be halted indefinitely. Of course, players can revive him in the morgue by using a Wakestone. But Wakestones are a rare resource, and it seems an awful waste to use one on the likes of Martin.
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