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Virtually a yr since Dragon’s Dogma 2 was formally introduced, we’ve lastly received to see some gameplay footage of the title proven off at Sony’s State of Play. After 11 lengthy years, Hideaki Itsuno and his workforce at Capcom lastly have an opportunity to revisit the dormant franchise. 

Dragon’s Dogma is a sport filled with bizarre, wild, and great idiosyncrasies. Although it by no means made an enormous splash throughout its preliminary launch, it will definitely garnered a cult following, and for good motive, too. 

Dragon’s Dogma’s preliminary ideas had been initially dreamed up by Hideaki Itsuno on the flip of the millennium. Although the event of the sport was to kick off eight lengthy years later, as Capcom was trying to develop its very personal open-world RPG. Capcom within the late 2000s was an odd place to be, with Western initiatives from the US peppering its output. Notorious video games like Darkish Void, Bionic Commando, and extra had been all laser-targeted to a US viewers. However, for its personal open-world fantasy RPG, Itsuno was lastly given the chance to comprehend the RPG idea residing in his head for years. 

The issue? It was simply too formidable.

In a GDC panel from 2013, Itsuno opens up on the event of the title, which was to primarily evoke the identical emotions as being on a BBS within the late 90s. Paperwork from improvement even have the sport’s codename “BBS RPG” plastered on them. Although, the workforce at Capcom confronted an uphill battle. 

Specifically, Itsuno speaks about Dragon’s Dogma’s open world, noting that the event workforce “struggled” and had by no means developed an RPG earlier than. This trial-and-error course of meant that extra advanced design concepts had been shelved. 

One scrapped concept was an unlockable hand-glider that might permit you to soar by means of the air, very similar to you do in Breath of the Wild, however dreamed up years earlier than Hyperlink’s open-world hijinks. Throughout improvement, Dragon’s Dogma was twice as massive in breadth and scope because the eventual completed product. Itsuno claims “There was no technique to create this sport inside the price range”. After seeing a number of the advanced mission constructions and maps, it’s clear to see why. 

Hideaki Itsuno finally by no means had the time or price range to comprehend the total scope of the ambition of Dragon’s Dogma. The sport’s business launch got here and went alongside an enlargement pack, with a number of ports and rereleases over time. This all got here to a head in 2022 when Dragon’s Dogma 2 was formally introduced. 

With a gameplay trailer for the brand new title lastly in our fingers a yr later, we expect that the event workforce is heading again to these older design paperwork in an effort to absolutely understand the potential of the franchise, with Itsuno again on the helm, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is brimming with promise and intrigue. 

We predict that Dragon’s Dogma 2 is not a romp in distant, unfamiliar lands, however as an alternative a retread by means of Gransys and past. The plot of Dragon’s Dogma is predicated on cyclical rebirth. Consider the methods by which tales like Neon Genesis Evangelion, or Devilman work. Dragon’s Dogma homes the identical parts, too. Although, there’s a sure finality to the unique sport’s ending that offers credence to the thought of Dragon’s Dogma 2 being a prequel.

Proper now, not a lot is understood in regards to the plot of the sport itself, exterior of a handful of years-old leaks. However, our speculation appears to be right when one essential screenshot launched by Capcom. 

On this shot, you may see a beautiful vista, flanked by an imposing tower on the left, and a bountiful metropolis, with the foothills of a rocky biome to the suitable. Within the center, we see a lush woodland, with a small pool of water seen. To Dragon’s Dogma fanatics, the tower to the left shall be instantly recognizable as Bluemoon Tower within the authentic sport.

We had been capable of recreate a facsimile of the shot within the authentic sport, although getting there required utilizing a freecam hack of the unique title’s digicam. To test this out for your self, use the freecam instrument on the Therapeutic Spring close to Conquest Street. 

Moreover, there are additionally some key modifications. Dragon’s Dogma 2’s model of Bluemoon Tower is rather more imposing, and the town is rather more ornate and enormous than the unique’s Gran Soren. There are additionally some modifications to the geometry, permitting for a extra intricate topography. 

The bigger metropolis dimension, going by this concept, might probably be defined by the ruins on the foot of Gran Soren within the authentic sport. The identical may very well be mentioned for the ruined Bluemoon Tower within the authentic sport. Might we, in truth, be traversing by means of the identical world, however in a completely completely different time interval? 

Just one clue is left for us within the trailer, the “Sovran of Vermund”. Sovran is presumably the title of a duchy, or kingdom. Whereas Vermund can be its location, the “new” Gran Soren we see within the trailer. It is exclaimed loud by a black character in a fantasy sport; one thing Naoki Yoshida of Last Fantasy fame merely can’t start to grasp. 

We’ll start veering extraordinarily laborious into spoiler territory from right here, so for those who’ve by no means performed Dragon’s Dogma earlier than, give it a shot and attain the sport’s True Ending, and are available again. 

The shot of the cart in Dragon’s Dogma 2 may be in truth taken from what we all know as Northface Forest, which lies on the foothills of Hillfigure Knoll. Within the authentic sport, Hillfigure Knoll is especially used as a late-game space that your character visits in an effort to go to a peculiar face, the Dragonforged. 

The Dragonforged is an Arisen, very similar to your participant character. He makes allusions to the Arisen being a “new-forged hyperlink within the grand chain”. The Dragonforged additional states that it has in truth been “a thousand years” since his coronary heart was stolen by the Grigori, our titular Dragon. Might we be visiting the Dragonforged once more in Dragon’s Dogma 2?

An extra attention-grabbing wrinkle is one more Arisen from the unique title, Savan. You play because the stalwart Savan within the opening moments of Dragon’s Dogma. He ultimately defeats the Dragon who stole his coronary heart and ascends to grow to be the Seneschal, a godlike deity within the Dragon’s Dogma lore. Whereas this would possibly admittedly simply be an easter egg, his character design additionally seems within the trailer for Dragon’s Dogma 2. Although, it will be rather more attention-grabbing if we play as an Arisen, alongside one other historic figurehead within the currently-established lore.  

Contemplating the parallel universes that the unique sport is predicated on, it is also potential that that is only a “remixed” model of the lands we see within the authentic sport. However regardless of the way you have a look at it, it is clear that Dragon’s Dogma 2 is not a reinvention of the franchise. As an alternative, it seems to be dutifully taking parts from the unique sport to pepper itself with. We simply hope that a few of these scrapped parts from the unique sport that had been deemed too formidable make it into the ultimate product this time round.