After the Capcom Showcase drama, we almost gave up hope. Everyone was waiting for this Hideaki Itsuno, one of the Japanese house’s most prolific and talented directors was due to show up during the event to deliver the rumored sequel to Dragon’s Dogma, so the hype quickly skyrocketed when he actually peeked. And instead the good Itsuno saluted, announced that there would be a celebratory video, and then went away as if nothing had happened, leaving room for other games.
The same celebratory video tonight gave us some despair: until the very last moment it actually looked like a mini-documentary about the making of the first Dragon’s Dogma, but was very careful to leave out the most succinct information about its saga. game (completion was very difficult and led to significant content cuts during production).
However, in a moment of humanity’s great pity, Itsuno and his collaborators (including exceptional artist and one of the gaming world’s most influential figures, Daigo Ikeno) finally surrendered and confirmed the development of Dragon’s Dogma II with a brand new trio of t-shirts. . . . The game exists, the leaks are real, and fans of the original game can finally sleep peacefully.
Unfortunately, nothing else came with the announcement: zero trailers and zero artwork, a beautiful sketch of absolute void. Therefore, we are trying to save the ground by explaining it to you today. What to expect from this highly anticipated sequel to Dragon’s Dogma 2?. And maybe, why not, we will even try to make predictions based on some realistic rumors about the development of the game.
An RPG made by action artists
As mentioned earlier, Dragon’s Dogma was a troubled project born out of a turbulent administration period. Kapcom. The ambitions of Itsuno and his team were remarkable, and many of the original ideas for the game did not find their way into a production whose timing and resources were not sufficient to fully realize what the developers wanted to create.
However, either because of the experience of the people involved or because of the excellent basic ideas of the project, this curious person Action RPG It has become a minor cult, so much so that it deserves an important DLC called Dark Arisen and is today considered among the least rated games in circulation by a large number of fans. The real reason? Well, Dragon’s Dogma was a true open-world RPG with a very impressive combat system, a wide variety of classes and abilities, and a much more inspiring narrative than its in-game management would suggest. These qualities are so noticeable that they partially hide the obvious flaws of the “vanilla” version.
And the flaws were indeed there: a ‘discovery The fast travel and lack of mounts created a somewhat too rushed world to support the boring side quests (the worst ever) and the “great fantasy adventure” Itsuno and his gang had in mind. Perhaps precisely for this reason, with the expansion called Dark Arisen, the team decided to set aside the open nature of the concept to focus on the most successful aspects, to challenge a massive dungeon based on spectacular boss fights and tougher encounters. .beginning.
Final result? A game so far loved by speedrunners and lovers of class minimization and spectacular combat, it has taught many of the genre’s masters a fair lesson in several respects and introduced concepts that are nothing short of interesting like Pawns and climbing. monsters in battle. If the Japanese house had not had all these problems at the time, we would probably have found a masterpiece in our hands.
But today’s Capcom is a very different reality and, given recent developments, it seems increasingly closer to its former glory. Now, of course, more time and resources are available, and we have a project led by some of the most famous names out there with countless ideas at stake (Itsuno is said to be considering a sequel to Dragon’s Dogma long before the development of Devil May Cry 5). The potential is therefore huge and it is worth seriously analyzing the possible evolutions that can be applied in this chapter.
What to expect from the following
The first system to be considered is undoubtedly pawns. These customizable minions represented the game’s “asynchronous multiplayer” feature, as it was possible to download those of other players, and an important help overall, as well as giving advice on what to do during quests and exploration (they were there). a learning system linked to these factors).
But at the same time, the Pawns were a good idea that wasn’t used to the max like so many others in the game: it was impossible to control them for a while.collaborative experiencenor interacting with them in certain ways, except through the use of a certain “chair” in which their behavioral dispositions can be regulated in some way. That’s why we’d like to see a coop connected with them in a sequel: After all, what better to help your friend than a maid created and easily downloaded online? Then, if you take some of the leaks that surfaced on the internet a while ago (after the game appeared on the famous “GeForce listing”) for real, it looks like there’s going to be a possibility this time around. definitely the sacrifice Cursing one of your pawns and him for great advantages (apparently this warrants a very powerful weapon), but at the same time, doing so makes a constant enemy ready to attack you whenever you make the mistake of summoning other minions. It’s hard to say how real this sounds, but it would undoubtedly be a twist on the innovative formula, and we want to understand how it can be creatively tied into the narrative or used during progression. Finally, a more attentive and detailed managementartificial intelligence We wouldn’t mind any of our friends, even though the base game is already noticeably more advanced than the average for the genre.
Another element to improve? Navigation and map complexity. First of all, more exploration rewards and not just combat with changing enemies. The presence of mounts would be a boon as well as a smarter use of fast travel. In Dragon’s Dogma, this second aspect is partially solved by Dark Arisen’s larger number of teleport crystals and a special reusable gem, but it would be nice to see some more bizarre and unique action here. Going back to the rumors all the time, it seems that in Dragon’s Dogma 2 the “stations” for fast travel will be more useful and numerous, but these will be real journeys and possible ambushes with a map visible from above. Once again, it’s an interesting choice that will show a certain focus on combat as you navigate the map, and will be well handled without being annoying quickly.
Here, of course, in addition to what we would like to see added, there is one more thing that should be lost: escort duties. They were boring and too numerous in the original (although mostly optional) and were never a good gimmick. More detailed and interesting quests than the secondary quests seen in the predecessor are practically a must.
There are numerous evolutions for the rest of the possible evolutions: class system It would be a boon if it was less “forced” in stats and still equipped with a lot of variety, and we would also like to see changes in atmospheric conditions while exploring, more emphasis is placed on camps, dungeons and settlements. and perhaps a revival of the Dark Arisen build calculated as content game over. Working on these elements can completely remove past structural flaws and shape a downtime action RPG powered by exceptional combat.
Speaking of combat here, we want to see our fair share. climbing mechanics exploited to take out enemies even bigger than the old bosses: massive clashes against opponents as big as mountains where climbing is essential (rarely, so as not to ruin the magnificence of the whole with excessive repetition).
Basically, they look good enough for a sequel that can beat the base game in every way, but given the names involved, we don’t think Capcom needs any special advice. Anyone who played the first Dragon’s Dogma knows how great a well-made and well-supported sequel can be.
It is a serious matter of trust and patience.
Source: Multiplayer
