Shortly after its 2012 release, Dragon’s Dogma quickly garnered a passionate following thanks to the game’s mechanical complexity, exhilarating combat, and engaging low fantasy world. With Dragon’s Dogma 2 finally on the horizon, each new glimpse at the game reveals a more polished and refined version of what the original 2012 cult classic offered. To get an idea of what new and returning fans can expect from the sequel, Siliconera spoke with Dragon’s Dogma 2 Director Hideaki Itsuno and Producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi about it.
Daniel Bueno: Are the worlds of Dragon’s Dogma 1 and 2 linked in any way? And if so, how did creating the narrative for the first game affect that of the sequel?
Hideaki Itsuno: In terms of world setting, Dragon’s Dogma 1 and 2 share the same setting. However, they should also be considered different worlds. By which I mean, both stories share common elements like the red Dragon, the Arisen, and the Pawns, but they should be considered parallel world.
From what has been shown so far, the Beastren are designed as creatures with feline features. What was the motivation behind their creation and their design?
Itsuno: When developing the first Dragon’s Dogma I already had the idea of having a Pawn that looked like a beast or a lion, similar to the character of Leo from the Red Earth game (1996 Capcom fantasy fighting game). The idea had been there for a while. The main point wasn’t to have a character based on a lion, but I wanted them to have features close to that of a lion.
In recent new Dragon’s Dogma 2 footage, the Mystic Spearhand was shown using a new dual bladed spear weapon. How will this new weapon type differentiate itself from others, and how will the move set be like?
Itsuno: There was a lot of very careful planning that went into creating the new weapon type, but the overall idea was to create actions that were not possible for other Vocations. For example, Mystic Spearhands can use magic in their offhand. Weapons with one blade require simple movements. However, because the duospears have two blades the moves will look very different from other Vocations, and of course it looks really cool.
The original Dragon’s Dogma felt ahead of its time thanks to all the interesting systems that interacted with each other in meaningful ways. For example, the size of a character could change their stamina consumption and restoration, and walk speed. I’m curious if we will see similar old or new systems in the sequel, and in which ways they have been updated to modern sensibilities and technologies.
Itsuno: For the first Dragon’s Dogma, part of the reason people might have felt the systems were so new is because I wanted to think about an RPG game from the logic and feel of an action game, and we tried to create that from scratch. Thinks like magic points and different parameters are very standard in RPG games. But I felt like these things didn’t really fit the logic of an action game, so I tried to convert those elements in a way that moving around and doing different actions would feel more as a part of your adventure, and within the action.
For Dragon’s Dogma 2, our team tried to focus on achieving many things that were technologically difficult when developing the first game, and to delve deeper into those ideas. In that regard, the sequel may not include as many things that feel completely new or different, but will be more polished and enhanced in order to achieve a more immersive RPG and action adventure for the player. That is our focus with this game. We can’t mention all of them of course, but some new expanded systems include the recently shown camping mechanics, and the oxcarts for faster traversal through the world.
Another iconic system from the previous game is character relationships. One example that many players fondly remember is the role of the Arisen’s Beloved near the end of the first game, and how that story unfolded. Is the character relationship system making a return as well?
Itsuno: Yes, the relationship system is still there. It has been enhanced and powered up. There are also some new elements added to it. I also personally like this system a lot, and I consider it one of the hidden themes of Dragon’s Dogma.
Beastren will be playable in Dragon’s Dogma 2, and I know a lot of people are very excited about it. Are there any differences between playing a human or a beastren character, other than the aesthetic?
Itsuno: As we showed in recent gameplay footage, both human and beastren have their own kingdoms and homeland. While there are no huge differences between choosing either, story-wise players will notice that your character will be perceived differently depending on where you are from, as a human in a beastren nation, or as a beastren in human nations. These differences will be noticeable. There is no “better” or “right” choice, but people will want to consider carefully when creating their Arisen.
The Everfall in Dragon’s Dogma, and Bitterblack Isle in the Dark Arisen expansion were two standout parts of the game, being such expansive, layered, and challenging levels. Can we expect to see locations with a similar level of complexity in Dragon’s Dogma 2?
Yoshiaki Hirabayashi: For the time being, we are focusing on people getting an idea of what the concept of the game is. For further elements such as these, we will have further announcements in the future.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 will release for Playstation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC via Steam. A release date has yet to be announced.
