As Dragon’s Dogma 2’s launch draws closer, hype surrounding it continues to build, and Capcom is doing everything in its power to fan those flames. Through a recent round of previews and interviews, several new details on the upcoming open world action RPG have emerged, entailing its length, Vocations, Pawns, and much more. Here, we’re going to continue our coverage of Dragon’s Dogma 2 and talk about a few of those details.
MAGICK ARCHER DETAILS
We’ve previously spoken in plenty of detail about the ten different Vocations (or classes) that’ll be available in Dragon’s Dogma 2, but recent previews have shed a bit more light on one in particular- the Magick Archer, a hybrid Vocation that will let you combine elemental and ranged abilities with a special magick bow. IGN’s preview in particular spoke about some of the many abilities that this Vocation will have at its disposal, including the heavy damage dealing Flamefang Arrow; Ricochet Hunter and Frosthunter Bolt, which can supposedly be used to stunlock enemies, and Recovery, which, presumably, will be used as a support/healing ability.
SWITCHING BETWEEN VOCATIONS
Given the variety of different play styles that it looks like Dragon’s Dogma 2 is going to offer with its different Vocations, there will be many players who’ll want to be quite experimental with them, rather than sticking to one or two that they like. Thankfully, the game itself will encourage that. As per the IGN preview, players will be able to freely switch between Vocations by simply speaking with a vendor.
MAIN STORY LENGTH
We’ve already had an abundance of massive experiences with meaty runtimes in 2024, and Dragon’s Dogma 2 is set to join that list. Speaking to Game Informer, director Hideaki Itsuno confirmed that the game’s main story is going to be roughly as long as the first game, which clocked in at about 35-40 hours (and could go significantly higher depending on your play style). That’s a substantial runtime in and of itself, on top of which the game is also going to offer plenty of side content.
TIME-LIMITED SIDE QUESTS
Interestingly enough, some side quests in Dragon’s Dogma 2 are going to be time-limited, which means they’re going to automatically fail if you ignore them for too long once you’ve accepted them. Several previews have described, for instance, a quest where you’re asked by someone to rescue their grandson, who was kidnapped by a pack of wolves, and if you let that quest sit for too long, the boy will be killed by his bestial captors. How well the game will delineate between quests that are timebound and those that you can take your time with remains to be seen, but it certainly does add more stakes to even the simplest of setups (on paper, at any rate).
NEW DETAILS ON PAWNS
Pawns are going to be at the core of Dragon’s Dogma 2, just as they were in the first game, and it looks like Capcom has tried to flesh them out much more to make them feel more strongly integrated into your journey. For instance, according to GameSpot’s preview, pawns will physically point things out in the world that might be worth investigating, or call out to you to help you guide down paths that you may want to take- all of which should be incredibly helpful in game that is eschewing all kings of waypoints, markers, and the like. According to Polygon’s preview, pawns that you’ve imported from other players’ games are also going to be able to help you out in situations where you’ll be stuck and can’t figure out how to progress.
NO SWIMMING
This will be familiar to anyone who’s played the first game- in Dragon’s Dogma 2, you can’t swim. Every body of water in the game’s world has been infected with red, murderous tendrils known as The Brine, which will consume you from head to toe within seconds if you try and swim. That means you’re going to have to think about how best to navigate your way around water bodies and figuring out how the chart a path to something that, say, lies across a river. It isn’t going to be as simple as simply swimming or riding through it on horseback.
WHY THERE’S ONLY ONE SAVE FILE
Like its predecessor, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is going to have just one save slot for manual and autosaves, and while that might be a concern for some, according to director Hideaki Itsuno, the restriction’s purpose is to “encourage the thrill of exploration”. Speaking to Game Informer, he said, “Regarding what the thinking was behind that, it’s really simple: we want to encourage exploration, and this is quite the opposite of what you get when you allow too much freedom in this regard.” So if, for instance, you’re considering whether to dive off the edge of a cliff while exploring, if you have the option to simply reload a recent save if the consequences of your jump are unfavourable, that “has quite the opposite effect of encouraging that exploration feel,” according to Itsuno.
DYNAMIC ENEMIES
The way enemies behaved both in and out of combat in Dragon’s Dogma was one of the game’s biggest strengths, and it seems Capcom is looking to take that to new heights with the sequel. For instance, while certain enemies would give chase if you tried to flee combat even in the original game, in Dragon’s Dogma 2, they’re going to be much more dogged about it- so if you try to escape a dragon’s clutches by fleeing to a village, it’s entirely possible that the dragon ends up following you all the way back to that village to continue wreaking havoc (though the townsfolk may join in and aid you in your fight, so there’s that). Similarly, enemies can also flee themselves, and if you manage to find them again before too much time passes, they will exhibit all the damage and scars (and lower health) from your previous battle- which is something fans of the first game will be very familiar with.
OVER 1000 CHARACTERS
Clearly, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a game that’s going to be more about the stories you craft yourselves through its emergent mechanics, rather than one that guides you down its own prescribed path. As a massive fantasy world, however, it’s also no surprise that it’s going to be teeming with characters for players to meet. In fact, according to Capcom, there are over a thousand characters scattered throughout the game, many of whom will approach you with side quests of their own.
ONLY ONE GRAPHICS MODE
The one point of concern many have had with Dragon’s Dogma 2 is how it’s going to run. It was previously confirmed that the game would feature an uncapped frame rate with a target of 30 FPS, though uncapped frame rates often come with their own issues. Now, Capcom has also confirmed that that’s going to be the only option available in the game, which means there won’t be other graphical modes that let you prioritize frame rate over resolution, or even one where you can cap the frame rate at 30 FPS for a more stable experience.
CHARACTER CREATOR DEMO
Though Capcom hasn’t quite released a demo for Dragon’s Dogma 2 the way many had expected it would, players do still have a chance to get a taste of some of its offerings. Specifically, the game’s character creation toolset has been made available for free, which is what you’ll be using to create your Arisen (i.e. your player character) and your main pawn. Ahead of the game’s release later this month, players can create and store five Arisen and pawns, and those creations can be transferred to the full game when it releases.