Summary
- Dragon's Dogma 2's map size is four times larger than the original, surpassing the development team's initial goal of 1.5 to 2 times bigger.
- The team drew inspiration from real-world high-altitude landmarks and mountain climbing trips to create a sense of danger and realism in the game's environmental design and climbing mechanics.
- The developers placed items and landmarks strategically on the map to guide players' attention and prevent them from getting lost or bored in the vast open world.
Dragon's Dogma 2's creator and director, Hideaki Itsuno, shared some of the inspirations behind the upcoming game's vast open-world map. A sequel to one of Capcom's most acclaimed titles, Dragon's Dogma 2 is one of the most highly anticipated games of 2024, with it aiming to be an experience that surpasses the first game. This can be seen with things like the size of its open world, which is going to be much bigger than the original.
In a past video showcase by Capcom, it was stated that Dragon's Dogma 2's map size is four times larger when compared to the first game. This map size was a struggle according to Itsuno, as he and the development team originally aimed for a map that was 1.5 to 2 times bigger instead. Some of the inspirations for its size and nature of adventuring in it were taken from the real world.
In an interview with IGN, Itsuno recalled how the team wanted to give players a real sense of "danger" of being in a high place while exploring in Dragon's Dogma 2 through environmental design, as opposed to simple in-game messages. In order to do so, the developers did a lot of location scouting, visiting famous high-altitude landmarks like the Osaka Castle and Abeno Harukas skyscraper, along with taking mountain climbing trips.
Another thing that Itsuno wanted to portray was the realistic feeling of climbing a mountain in Dragon's Dogma 2, instead of having the player be able to simply scale its slope. This was inspired by their mountain climbing trips, finding that although the fastest route to the summit of a mountain was often a straight line, that path was rarely taken. Instead, people climbing usually take paths that circle around the mountains, with Itsuno's team translating that feeling into offering players a semblance of choice that was balanced with its danger. "Instead of creating a map that lets you go anywhere you want, placing areas that players won't want to visit on it will let us decide where we want to focus on while not making the map feel any less free, because users will avoid those other places, just like the mountain we were climbing," says Itsuno.
Instead of creating a map that lets you go anywhere you want, placing areas that players won't want to visit on it will let us decide where we want to focus on while not making the map feel any less free, because users will avoid those other places, just like the mountain we were climbing.
With the Dragon's Dogma 2's map being quadruple the original's size, Itsuno shared some of the struggles he and the team faced in order to keep the player engaged. One of the ways the developers approached this was by placing items on the map in order to guide their eyes or having a landmark that was sometimes out of sight instead of being always fully viewable at a distance. Despite this being a basic feature in games, he wanted to make sure players wouldn't get lost or bored while they were in Dragon's Dogma 2's vast open world.
Dragon's Dogma 2
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 87 /100 Critics Rec: 91%
WHERE TO PLAY
Set forth on your grand adventure, Arisen!
Dragon’s Dogma is a single player, narrative driven action-RPG series that challenges the players to choose their own experience – from the appearance of their Arisen, their vocation, their party, how to approach different situations and more. Now, in this long-awaited sequel, the deep, explorable fantasy world of Dragon’s Dogma 2 awaits.
On your journey, you’ll be joined by Pawns, mysterious otherworldly beings, in an adventure so unique you will feel as if accompanied by other players while on your own adventure.
All of these elements are elevated further through physics technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and the latest in graphics, to create a truly immersive fantasy world in Dragon’s Dogma 2.
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
