Dragon’s Dogma 2 hands-on: How Capcom brings new life to the RPG sequel

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It’s been 11 years since the release of Capcom’s fantasy action-role playing game Dragon’s Dogma, with fans readily anticipating the March 22 release of its long-awaited sequel, Dragon’s Dogma 2.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 takes everything that made the original a cult classic and builds upon that foundation. There are new vocations, more monsters to take on, more ways to defeat them, more places to venture to, and above all, more life in the world of the Arisen.

I got the chance to go hands-on with Dragon’s Dogma 2 and speak with its director, Hideaki Itsuno. Here’s some of the standout features from my experience with Dragon’s Dogma 2, along with some quotes provided by the director.

The first thing I noticed on my adventure in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is how real the world feels. Thanks to the PlayStation 5 SSD, there were no loading times when traveling from land to land, making the adventure feel that much more captivating. I went straight from the starting village to monster-filled outskirts without even noticing how far I traveled due to the world’s interconnected feel.

This interconnection applies to the monsters as well. After a losing battle with a dragon and attempting to escape, I was horrified to see the scaly fiend still chasing me as I made my way back to what I thought was the safety of the village.

Of course, Itsuno was delighted to hear about my reaction to this, as it was one of his main goals to make the game feel that much more lively on current-gen hardware.

“Back on the PlayStation 3 with the original we were limited and thus, creatures would eventually load out after you got far away enough. We wanted to use the innovations to make these creatures feel alive, so now when you try to run away you’ll look back and see it won’t be as easy as before.”

I didn’t run from every battle, however. Once I was accustomed to the enemies of this world I realized the additions to the battle system and new vocations take Dragon’s Dogma 2 to new heights.

One vocation that