In a bit of news that NOBODY saw coming, Dragon’s Dogma 2 has released and created a bit of a conundrum for players… how far are gamers willing to go to have a superior gaming experience? No, I am not talking about all of the microtransactions in the game that can give players an advantage in exchange for real-world cash… I am referring to the actual gameplay of the game itself, specifically the framerate. While it is fairly commonly known that the quantity and complexity of the virtual items in a video game can result in various performance issues such as slowing down the game, items popping in unexpectedly, or low-resolution textures in the environment until the framerate stabilizes, there typically isn’t much we can do about it other than complain on the internet or perhaps upgrade our PC for the thousandth time this year. But with the launch of Dragon’s Dogma 2, gamers assembled with an entirely new solution to the problem… eliminate the items in the game that are causing the largest drain on the framerate performance. And unfortunately for the NPC citizens that populate the realm of Dragon’s Dogma 2, they are both the problem AND the solution.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a fully single-player experience, so none of the other “characters” in the game exist as an avatar for another real-world player… the Non-Playable Characters or “NPC’s” in games like this are artificial constructs typically added to provide texture to the world, offer additional quests to complete, or present items to purchase or trade. From a gameplay perspective, they are intended to enhance the feeling of immersion as well as provide an organic means of advancing the various plotlines in the title. Sure, some of these “NPC’s” can be a bit annoying or behave in an unpredictable manner at times… but from a narrative standpoint they are the whole reason we are on this quest in the first place. We are here to SAVE them and their world… which makes this whole framerate predicament such a challenging one. In order to make the game easier to play, eliminating anything in the environment that drags the framerate down seems like a simple choice to make… removing items that create additional unwanted complexity and overburden the game’s engine means it is easier to complete our mission of saving the world. But what if the items that are stretching the bandwidth of the game ARE the very people we are trying to help? And herein lies the dilemma… gamers don’t typically start a game with a plan to get rid of all the townspeople that inhabit it. But as the game veers towards unplayability, the temptation to make sacrifices that weren’t part of the original strategy slowly come to the surface.

While the “‘morality'” of choosing to discretionarily dispatch random NPC’s in order to make a video game more functional is debatable, this same issue pops up in our real world (and my real life) more often than I care to admit. No, I am not experiencing “framerate issues” in my day-to-day life… I probably just need to update my eyeglasses prescription to fix that. I am referring to the challenge of seeing the souls I am brought into contact with during my real-world adventures as a liability that simply exists to slow me down rather than a divine opportunity to fulfill my calling as an ambassador of Christ. And this is not a new problem… throughout Christ’s time on the planet, His followers frequently struggled with seeing the mission field that was literally right in front of them because they misunderstood the mission that Jesus was actually on. Over and over again, the disciples saw their paths intersect with souls that would cost them time, money, effort, or at least a mild inconvenience… and their responses ranged from avoidance to rejection all the way down to a very “Dragon’s Dogma 2” moment of calling fire down from heaven to punish them. And each time the Lord reminded them that these “inconvenient souls” were the very reason He came in the first place.

Matthew 19:13-14 Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 14:15-16 When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.” But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

Luke 9:51-56 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.

Matthew 9:36-38 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Whether it was the children who appeared to be an inconvenience, the masses who represented a massive investment, or the unappreciative audience who openly rejected them, Christ’s followers repeatedly misunderstood the assignment… and if we are being honest with ourselves, the same temptation exists for us. We are each precious to the Lord, but our salvation was never intended to occur in a vacuum.. He has received us to Himself so He can send us out to bring others to Him. Jesus wasn’t asking His disciples to protect His time or even defend Him from those who were antagonistic to Him… He instructed them to follow His prime directive to “seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Jesus didn’t come to be served, but to be a servant to all (Matthew 20:28)… and all who choose to follow Him will find that we are called to the very same mission. These souls He interacted with on His path were not a nuisance or an inconvenience even though they often wore Him down (Luke 5:15-16)… they were the entire reason He was there.

The missions we are called to in life will rarely feel convenient or even desired… and if we don’t carry the heart of Christ with us into these adventures, we will miss the whole reason we are playing the game. Like the players of Dragon’s Dogma 2, it is easy to see the individuals who populate our respective mission fields as unwanted distractions and undesired complications… but if our PASSION for Christ isn’t led by our COMPASSION for souls, we will fail in the only part of our mission that truly matters. As we go about our lives today, let’s remind ourselves not to resent the souls who may drain our batteries, stretch our bandwidth, demand our patience, or represent a detour we would have preferred to avoid. They are the very reason we were sent in the first place 🙂

• Like us?  Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Spotify, TikTok, or YouTube for our articles, podcasts, and videos!
• Facebook: Finding God in Video Games
• Twitter: @FindingGodIn_VG
• Instagram: Finding God in Video Games
• Podcasts on Spotify/Apple/Google: Finding God in Video Games
• TikTok: @FindingGodInVideoGames
• YouTube: Finding God in Video games
• Video versions of our articles are available here: