While never quite as popular as The Witcher or Dragon Age series, Dragon’s Dogma earned its fair share of diehard fans after the release of the original fantasy game in 2012 on PS3 and Xbox 360. Although some of the earliest ideas for the game were conceived of as far back as 2000, production on the game didn’t begin in earnest until 2008, when director Hideaki Itsuno moved on from directing Devil May Cry 3 and 4 and shifted his focus onto this brand-new IP. As a fully customizable player-character known as the Arisen, the player can take advantage of unique abilities across nine classes (or vocations) as well as their Pawn party members to fight giant creatures and stop the world-ending dragon known as Grigori. Despite releasing to positive reviews and selling well internationally, the game struggled to find an audience in western markets. While fellow Capcom properties Resident Evil and Monster Hunter ramped up in popularity during the following console generation, the fanbase was left wondering if their adventures in Gransys would be a one-time thing.
Dark Arisen and Dragon’s Dogma’s Slow Rise in Popularity
In 2013, an expanded version of Dragon’s Dogma was released with the subtitleDark Arisen, which added a new dungeon alongside more weapons and armor to discover. This rendition ultimately got brought to PC in 2016, followed by PS4 and Xbox One in 2017 and Switch in 2019, expanding the audience and helping the game steadily increase its sales over the years. Capcom even teamed with Netflix to produce an anime adaptation of the fantasy series in 2020, but it wasn’t until 2022 that the developer finally confirmed that work had begun on a proper sequel. After a decade on a wider variety of platforms, Dragon’s Dogma has finally earned its spot as a key Capcom franchise, with nearly eight million copies being sold as of September 2023. With Itsuno once again leading the development team as director, the time had come for the series to take advantage of new technology that wasn’t available back when the first game was being created.
Building on what fans enjoyed in the original game, Dragon’s Dogma II will once again take on the role of the Arisen who is now attempting to create peace between two conflicting kingdoms. Pawns will make their return with more in-depth customization and a wider variety of voice lines, while still being able to be shared for other players to use as part of their party. Vocations can also be assigned to the Arisen and their Pawns, but while both can utilize basic and advanced classes, only the player-character can try out the new hybrid vocation that brings extra flair to familiar builds.
Some of the new classes that have been shown off so far include the Mystic Spearhand, a twist on the Mystic Knight that grants players access to the duospear weapon and unique magical abilities to paralyze enemies or throw objects at them. Another, the Trickster, can confuse opponents into fighting their comrades or debuff them while also strengthening your own pawns. Fortunately, if a particular vocation isn’t suiting your playstyle, both the Arisen and their Pawns can swap to a different class at any time.
As a current-gen console and PC exclusive, Dragon’s Dogma 2 will feature a massive seamless open world that is four times larger than the one found in the original game. As mentioned earlier, players will primarily spend their time in one of two kingdoms, Vermund and Battahl, where they can stop to gather quests, buy new equipment or take some much-needed rest. Once you’re outside the safety of these civilized spaces, players will need to keep an eye out for dangerous creatures, which can now appear as part of emergent events and will be affected by the day-night cycle and their environment.
In addition to returning favorites, new beasts will also be roaming the open lands, including the fearsome Medusa. With over a decade of technological advancements at their disposal, Capcom is looking to capitalize on the untapped potential of the first game as well as the eager fanbase that has slowly accumulated over the years. For more on Dragon’s Dogma II ahead of its launch on March 22 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC, be sure to check out our recent preview that dives deeper into the starting vocations and combat with monsters.
Dragon’s Dogma 2: A Sneak Peek into Classes, Monster Encounters, and Revolutionary Combat
Excitement is building in the gaming community as January 2024 promises an abundance of information, news, and reveals.
