Dragon’s Dogma 2 will be released on Steam, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on March 22, 2024. The sequel to the popular role-playing game from 2013 names a very specific game as a model for freedom in the open world: GTA 5.
What game is it about? Dragon’s Dogma is a fantasy role-playing game from Capcom from 2013. Accordingly, it is already eleven years old. Fans of the game have been waiting for a sequel for years. Over time, Dragon’s Dogma became a real fan favorite.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 already looks like a worthy sequel in the trailers. The game again offers a wide open world and the pawn system, which is unique to the game. You recruit AI-controlled group members, which you can then share with other players online. In itself, Dragon’s Dogma is and remains a single-player game.
Another feature of the series are the breathtaking battles against towering bosses that you can climb. And the character editor in the second part also seems to be anything but modest.
The game director Hideaki Itsuno, who was already responsible for the first part, spoke to GamesRadar+ about the design philosophy of the open world and the freedom of play. He named a surprising role model: GTA 5.
Dragon’s Dogma has shown off its dynamic combat system in a new trailer:
Dragon’s Dogma 2 shows action-packed battles with a new class in the new trailer
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Why was GTA 5 an inspiration? The fifth part of the GTA series, like Dragon’s Dogma, was released in 2013. Looking back, game director Hideaki Itsuno is impressed by the way Rockstar Games designs their world.
Itsuno found it particularly inspiring how GTA 5 linked different gameplay systems together to create a satisfying gaming experience. As a player you feel completely free at all times. You have the feeling that you can do whatever you want.
GTA 5 is very flexible and allows multiple events to overlap. As an example, Itsuno cites the chaos that GTA is famous for. You can do something that gets out of control. Great chaos arises and the game world reacts to it.
The game manages that. It doesn’t crash, it doesn’t throw you out of one thing and put you in another, it just lets everything come together in a way that is, of course, sometimes chaotic, but always feels like it is she intends.
Hideaki Itsuno via gamesradar.com
For example in the chases with the police, which rarely go as expected. The mixing of gameplay and the open world was achieved in an impressive way in GTA 5. The environment adapts to the chaos – that sums up the genius of a GTA well and should happen in a similar way in Dragon’s Dogma 2.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 does away with fast travel: According to Itsuno, the team aims to create an open world that is so exciting that players will never want to use fast travel. To counteract this urge, the game even foregoes the otherwise popular feature.
According to the company’s own information, the open world will be around four times larger than in the first part of the role-playing game. By the release on March 22nd, we will know to what extent the inspiration from GTA has had a noticeable impact on the game. MeinMMO author Max Handwerk has already played the game and written down his thoughts.