Dragon’s Dogma, for lack of more descriptive words, is truly a vibe. There’s nothing quite like the gamey joy it exudes. You see a monster and you can just climb it. You’re small enough and you’ll slither through its legs. You’re taller so you run faster. And then the entire localisation was so dedicated to its particular style of English.
RELATED:Best Open-World JRPGs
With the sequel finally a real thing that has actual gameplay, it’s interesting to see what the developers at Capcom have decided from the foundations of Dragon’s Dogma, and what needed to be expanded. There are plenty of little details in the trailer both hidden and in plain sight that you might have missed that give plenty of indications.
10French In The Opening
In the original Dragon’s Dogma, it was clear to see the real-world inspirations, England and France core among them. So unabashed were these inspirations that actual French from a real French poet is included in the opening. It says"le plaisir délicieux… d’une occupation inutile",a quote from Henri de Régnier.
So how shocking that Dragon’s Dogma 2’s first-ever trailer also opens with a real French quote. “La conviction est la volonté humaine arrivée à sa plus grande puissance"by Honoré de Balzac. The dedication to putting French consistently in the opening is something to be admired.
9The Bluemoon Tower
The world of the original Dragon’s Dogma was admittedly small, though packed with detail. A good thing since fast travel was a rare commodity within the game and all you had were your own two feet. There are many iconic locations throughout the game, the Bluemoon Tower being one of the most well-known.
In the original, you hunt a Griffon here, as well as other cursed beings. It feels fitting then that right after the shot of the Griffon in the Dragon’s Dogma 2 trailer, the camera pans out to give us a long shot, featuring a building that looks strikingly similar to, if not actually is, the Bluemoon Tower.
8Returning Vocations
Many people would describe Dragon’s Dogma as being a DnD-like game. You build a fantasy party of custom characters and set out on your adventure doing things in a way very unrestrained by the rules of the game itself. Much of this freedom came in the vocations.
RELATED:Every Class In Dragon’s Dogma, Ranked
Dragon’s Dogma featured a wide class system of nine vocations, all viable in their own right. Even in just this brief first look, we can see plenty of returning vocations, including the more unique hybrid vocations such as the Magick Archer.
7Environmental Destruction And Creation
The first Dragon’s Dogma knew that size couldn’t be its drawing point, and made its unique features one of its main aspects instead. Climbing on creatures, watching trees topple and enemies decay into a pile of bones. Even strong winds could blow you away if you were too light.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 looks set to capitalize on those very same aspects, letting you meddle with the world in fundamental ways. In the trailer we see large monstersdestroying wooden bridges, but also the player themselves creating new platforms from magick.
6Ye Olde Ænglisċ
Many games and pieces of media from Japan tend to undergo a more dramatic localisation process since so many people seem to struggle with subtitles. While many will give their games an admittedly generic dub, Dragon’s Dogma was dedicated to researching a style of Old English to fit the game’s setting and voice direction.
RELATED:Best Characters In Dragon’s Dogma
Though much of the dialogue shown in the trailer is quite dramatic and bombastic, it doesn’t yet show more of the quieter intricacies of the language like the original. With the official subtitles, however, you can see they are still using more archaic forms of words. A welcome sign indeed.
5New And Old Monsters
Of the many pieces that somehow formed to create Dragon’s Dogma, enemy design is one of the foundations of much of the game. Each and every monster felt unique, with your own character fighting differently based on both class and physical traits.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 has already introduced us to plenty of its returning beasts, fromlittle goblinsto terrifying griffons. However, there were a handful of new fellows in there as well, such as a gigantic chimaera with the body of a woman and a Medusa-esque creature.
4An Expanded Gransys
The setting of the original Dragon’s Dogma is a nation known as Gransys. It is a small area, though is self-acknowledged as only one of many other nations in the world, such as the one that the knight Mercedes comes from. The capital of the state of Gransys is Gran Soren.
The trailer for Dragon’s Dogma 2 shows plenty of familiar locations, undeniably setting the game once again in Gransys. However, many other locations seem entirely new, like deserts with cacti. As such, the sequel may feature an expanded Gransys, or perhaps even incorporate new countries entirely.
3A Return To Its Roots
Oft left unmentioned due to its short lifespan and Japan-only release is Dragon’s Dogma Online, Capcom’s first-ever MMO. It lasted only a short few years before its servers were shut down, but it presented a very different version of the world, featuring multiple dragons and an entirely new world.
RELATED:Dragon’s Dogma: Pro Tips
In that regard, Dragon’s Dogma 2 looks set to take much more from the original. Entirely single-player and in a world seemingly featuring only one major dragon (who greatly resembles Grigori), the sequel looks set to build upon the original rather than change it entirely.
2Dynamic Character/Pawn Swapping
A key feature that Dragon’s Dogma had over many other party systems is that they were entirely player-created. In many ways, this might make them seem less endearing than custom characters, but the detailed character-creator and growing knowledge base of the Pawns themselves made them as loveable as many pre-written characters.
Though Pawns aren’t given many highlights in the trailer, there is a scene of two characters walking in opposite directions while clapping each other’s hands. Is this perhaps a way for you to shift out pawns on the fly, or even be able to swap the main character themself?
1Characters Riding A Griffon
In Dragon’s Dogma, your own characteristics were central to how you moved through the world. A heavier character could carry more, a tall one could run farther, and a thin one could fit through small gaps. This played into combat as well, with the smallest characters capable of being picked up by enemies and dragged into the sky. You could even use this as transport if you were smart enough.
Though we see plenty of monsters being climbed on throughout the trailer, a smaller detail occurs right at the beginning. In the final frames of the opening, you can see two characters resting atop the back of the Griffon itself. Does this give the indication that larger animals may be mountable and used to navigate across the world? Who knows, but it’s a tantalising idea.
