The original Dragon’s Dogma is one of my personal favourite games – but I can’t deny it has a few shortcomings. What’s surprising is in the brief time I got to speak with him I learned Hideaki Itsuno, Dragon’s Dogma 2’s director, felt exactly the same way. To him the original game is a flawed example of the dream game he’s always wanted to create, which is why I assume he only spoke of Dragon’s Dogma 2 with an infectious glee.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 previewDeveloper: CapcomPublisher: CapcomPlatform: Played on PS5Availability: Out 22nd March on PC (Steam), PS5 and Xbox Series X/S
So much of what I experienced in the time I played Dragon’s Dogma 2 gave me a very strange, but comfortable feeling of deja-vu. Have you ever gone back to play a game from your childhood, only to feel disappointed that it didn’t look or play as well as you remembered? Dragon’s Dogma 2 feels like the inverse of that sensation: as if I’m replaying the original ten years later, but it feels better and looks prettier than I remember.
My adventure in Dragon’s Dogma 2 began in the city of Battahl, a large Beastren settlement with striking similarities to the original Dragon’s Dogma’s Gran Soren. The Beastrens are a newly playable race in the sequel, something Itsuno-san was keen to include from its outset. “I was really glad to implement them into the game in the scale I always wanted to,” he told me. “Not only do different Beastren characters appear throughout the game, but you can play as one as well. This is the level I wanted to bring the Beastren to originally, but was never able to achieve in the first game, as they only had a small appearance in the original.”
The save file I was provided with had been meticulously set up to provide me with the most straightforward experience for my preview. My Arisen was a Magick Archer and a Beastren, outfitted with good equipment, and I had three equally well equipped pawns at my disposal. Directly in front of me was Battahl’s main gate, my path into the open world. To my right, there was an NPC who wished to give me a quest. Behind me there was a looming, conspicuous looking temple. My choices were clear. I opted to take none of them.I was informed by the team at Capcom that nobody who’d previewed the game had made it too far into the most southern part of the open world yet, due to how difficult the enemies in that section of the map were. Given the countless hours I’d poured into the first game, I was keen to take on the challenge. It wouldn’t take too long for me to be humbled.