In a tweet ushering in the new year, Capcom producer Hideaki Itsuno revealed that Dragon’s Dogma 2 was progressing well.
This was Itsuno’s full message, shared with a picture of himself and the Dragon’s Dogma 2 logo:
“Happy New Year. Development of Dragon’s Dogma 2 is progressing well. It’s becoming an interesting game. Stay tuned for more news.
楽しいゲームが出来てきてます！
#DragonsDogma #ドラゴンズドグマ”
Released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 all the way back in 2012, Dragon’s Dogma is a somewhat forgotten cul-de-sac in the early history of CG action games. Arriving a year after FromSoft’s Dark Souls, it was clear that creator Hideaki Itsuno had conceptualized very similar ideas for an action game with a medieval setting.
However, Itsuno’s ideas swung in a significantly different enough direction that it can be clearly said that it was not just a Dark Souls copycat. Dragon’s Dogma’s use of Pawns in particular, NPCs that help the player fight and can be customized and shared online, would ultimately not catch on, in contrast to Dark Souls’ online features.
Perhaps more significantly, the game suffered from technical issues, that were not sufficiently remedied for its original release. Now, Itsuno had proved his mettle in Capcom’s early years, in games like Rival Schools, Devil May Cry 2, and Capcom vs SNK 2: Mark of the Millenium 2001. He also made hits after Dragon’s Dogma, with Devil May Cry 5 being his biggest achievement since.
However, Dragon’s Dogma had always swung around his neck, as he shared that the staff were only able to accomplish 60 to 70 % of what they wanted to do with the game.
Dragon’s Dogma would eventually see more critical and sales success with the release of Dragon’s Dogma Dark Arisen in 2013. This is considered the complete version of the game by Capcom staffers, and today it is playable for Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and even the Nintendo Switch.
Capcom revealed Dragon’s Dogma 2 in the 10th anniversary livestream commemorating the original game. Little is known about this sequel for now, but Capcom did reveal that they would be using the same engine used for Devil May Cry 5.
Lacking more details, we can’t ascertain for now if Dragon’s Dogma 2 will be coming this year, or even for current generation platforms. But if Devil May Cry 5 and the recent Resident Evil games are any indication, Capcom is more likely to realize their vision for Dragon’s Dogma this time.
Source: Twitter via Tech4Gamers
