2024 has already delivered a string of massive, excellent RPGs, but we’re nowhere close to being done yet. Next in line for its time in the sun is Dragon’s Dogma 2, Capcom’s open world behemoth, a game that fans of the original Dragon’s Dogma have waited for for more than a decade- and based on what we’ve seen of it so far, it’s looking all set to deliver on its lofty promises. In the lead-up to its release, we’ve spoken about Dragon’s Dogma 2 and what to expect from it quite a bit, but there’s still more to talk about, so here, we’re going to go over a few more key details that you should know about the action RPG.
SETTING
Upon Dragon’s Dogma 2’s announcement, there were questions within the fanbase about what the game’s setting was and how it was connected to the first game, though director Hideaki Itsuno has provided a pretty clear answer on that front since then. He confirmed in an interview with Siliconera that Dragon’s Dogma 2 is set in the same universe as the original game, but the world that it takes place in is an entirely different one. A number of narrative and gameplay elements like the Arisen, Pawns, and the Dragon will return, but none of the locations from the first game will. According to Itsuno, it can best be described as a parallel world.
YOU DON’T NEED TO PLAY THE ORIGINAL
With the connections between Dragon’s Dogma 2 and its predecessor not being the most prominent or overt, it’d be safe to assume that the first game isn’t going to be required reading for those who want to jump in the sequel. Capcom itself has confirmed that as well. Speaking in an interview with GamesRadar, Hideaki Itsuno assured that Dragon’s Dogma 2 is going to be a good point to jump in for newcomers, saying, “The game starts off with a main character who has lost their memory. [You will also] have characters around you explain things to get you up to speed. So even if this is your first time playing Dragon’s Dogma, you can safely dive in.”
BATTAHL
Dragon’s Dogma 2’s world is going to bring its own unique locations for players to explore and immerse themselves in. One of the two major nations that will make up the game’s world is Battahl, the home of the beastren, a new race being introduced in Dragon’s Dogma 2. Characterized by canyons, deserts, ancient ruins, and makeshift cities built in their remains, Battahl is described as a harsh environment that has shaped the culture, practices, and beliefs of its people accordingly. Unlike most places in the world of Dragon’s Dogma, Battahl doesn’t seem to hold the Arisen and the Pawns in very high regard, with its culture instead revolving around what is referred to as the Lambent Flame, and the empress Nadinia at the center of it all.
SACRED ARBOR
The world of Dragon’s Dogma 2 is also populated by elves, though unlike the other races of the world, they prefer to keep themselves, which they do by isolating themselves in the Sacred Arbor, a remote village that serves as their home. Interestingly, elves in Dragon’s Dogma 2 will speak in their own tongue that players won’t be able to understand, so if you want to communicate them, you’re going to have to figure out how to do that- like enlisting the aid of a Pawn who understands elvish. Or, you know, you could just play as an elf.
VERMUND
Politically and culturally, humans seem to be the dominant race in the world of Dragon’s Dogma 2, and they make their home in the grand, sprawling kingdom of Vermund, which will be the first major location players will explore in the game. A bustling and populated nation, unlike Battahl, Vermund’s culture revolves around the perceived importance of the Arisen and the Pawns, though currently, the kingdom is caught in the grips of political trouble, with the Queen Regent Disa having thrown her weight behind a false Arisen, and conspiracies brewing in the shadows.
NO FAST TRAVEL
Dragon’s Dogma 2’s developers have spoken plenty about how large its world is going to be and how much content it’ll have, but interestingly enough, in spite of its size, the game is going to have pretty limited fast travel options. In fact, director Hideaki Itsuno very strongly feels that that’s how open world games should be. Speaking to IGN, he said, “Travel is boring? That’s not true. It’s only an issue because your game is boring. All you have to do is make travel fun. That’s why you place things in the right location for players to discover, or come up with enemy appearance methods that create different experiences each time, or force players into blind situations where they don’t know whether it’s safe or not ten meters in front of them. We’ve put a lot of work into designing a game where you can stumble across someone and something will happen, so while it’s fine if it does have fast travel, we decided to design the kind of map where players will make the decision for themselves.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean there will be no fast travel options whatsoever. Like the first games, players will still be able to use Port Crystals and Ferrystones to fast travel, though again, those options are going to be much more restrictive than what you might be used to in most open world games.
KEY CHARACTERS
Throughout your journey in Dragon’s Dogma 2, you’re going to be crossing paths with a number of key characters that’ll shape the story in different ways, a number of whom have been detailed by Capcom. There are the aforementioned rulers of Battahl and Vermund, Nadania and Disa respectively, while another key character is Ulrika, who nurses the Arisen (i.e. the protagonist) back to health after they’re wounded by the Dragon in the beginning of the game. Elven warrior Glyndwr and his sister Doireann will also have key roles to play, while you’ll also be meeting with a number of Vocation maisters, like the Fighter maister Lennhart, the Mystic Spearhand maister Sigurd, the Trickster maister Luz, and more.
SPHINX
Enemy variety is going to be one of Dragon’s Dogma 2’s key pillars, just as it was in the first game, and though Capcom is obviously leaving plenty of the game’s headlining foes a secret, a few have been revealed. One of them is the Sphinx, an entire optional boss fight that will come with its own unique mechanics- namely, making you solve riddles, but through action, in keeping with the game’s tone. Speaking with IGN, Hideaki Itsuno said, “Whether or not you can defeat or even fight the Sphinx is a riddle too. We’d like that to be a part of the fun players have dealing with the Sphinx and its riddles. The journey to finding it might actually be the biggest mystery of them all.”
UNCAPPED FRAME RATE
Though rumours claimed a while back that Dragon’s Dogma 2 would be locked at 30 FPS, Itsuno has confirmed since then that that won’t be the case. Instead, the game will launch with an uncapped frame rate, which means PC players can run it even at over 120 FPS, as long as they have the hardware to support on. On consoles, meanwhile, it hasn’t yet been confirmed what resolution the game will run at, or whether uncapped frame rate is going to be the only option, as opposed to also having a second graphics mode.
RAY TRACING AND DLSS 3
It’s also been confirmed that on PC, Dragon’s Dogma 2 will launch with support for ray tracing and DLSS 3. GeForce RTX owners will be able to play the game with DLSS 3 and ray traced shadows and reflections enabled, while ray tracing will require either a GeForce RTX 2080 Ti or a Radeon RX 6800. Whether we can also expect ray tracing support on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S hasn’t yet been confirmed.
PRICE
The number of major publishers who continue to release their games at the $60 price point is growing smaller by the day, and it seems Capcom is ready to cross its name off that list as well. Dragon’s Dogma 2’s standard edition will cost $70 on all platforms, making it the company’s first game to launch at that price. Presumably, it’ll be the first of many.