Yes, the news was already leaked an age ago because we live in a world where nothing can ever be kept secret save for the release date of 'Hollow Knight: Silksong'; a game I'm becoming more and more certain was nothing more than a case of mass delusion the more time goes on. But Dragon's Dogma 2 is more than just real now- it has itself an honest to goodness release date. It has some tangible stake to the world now, we have a thread by which to pull and maybe, one day, load this thing onto our consoles and PCs! Can you believe we made it to such a blessed time in history? Well don't believe it, because we're still a number of months out and Grand Theft Auto 6 is getting a trailer in a couple of weeks- living to that would be the greater accomplishment. Still, as a Dragon's Dogma truther I cannot believe we've made it to the other-end of the friendzone circle; the place from which nobody escapes. Except Ron Stoppable. What an example to men everywhere.
Where were we? Dragon's Dogma- Right! So after a decade of pondering how exactly one might go about continuing a perfectly circular narrative about the cycle of the Dragon that births it's slayer who then becomes the next dragon that births their slayer, I have to say I'm a little aghast that the option which was chosen was to literally throw up one's hands and call this an alternate world. I really liked the idea of slowly opening up the mythos of the world and tying the various rising dragon-threats to one another in an even larger Dogma just waiting to be uncovered- and I suppose this means that the TV show and Online game are still canonical in what is now officially the Dragon's Dogma multiverse? Gods, I'm getting sick of hearing that blasted term! Still, I guess the idea of multiple realms isn't totally new, it was always accepted that Pawns spawned from the worlds of other Arisen. (Although we were led to believe those alternate realities were just parallels of our own. Dragons Dogma 2 looks straight distinct!)
On that note, wow am I happy with the look of the game we're getting. There's a indistinguishable heart of Dragon's Dogma here that cannot be mistaken. It feels like the game we love, from the way the player moves to the bizarrely unrushed pace of the most energetic set-pieces! Watching the Arisen clamber onto their 'Colossus of Rhodes' parody and slice away at his weak points looked outwardly clunky, and I just know there's a swath of outside observers judging the pace of the game hard from such footage- but this is every bit of what made the original great. It's that very pace which expands the scale of these giant skirmishes into epic slogs, like something out of the old Jason and the Argonauts movie, cinematic and grandiose- if puppeteered and arguably a little slow. God knows how they managed to replicate that onto the RE engine, but god bless them for the attempt!
Speaking of- golly does this game look pretty! From the hilly greens to the savannah plateaus there is a touch of visual class borrowed right from the processing power of the stellar RE Remake franchise and I am giddy that tech is getting more chances to strut it's funky stuff! Dragon's Dogma looks nigh on a stunner with this fresh coat of paint, and it allows the game to feel the same but look brand new in a way that sends the nostalgia centres in my brain on a riot. This is how Dark Arisen looks inside of my delusions! Of course, this level of improved fidelity is benefitted from the starkly contrasted locales that Dragon's Dogma is going for- with the beastly desert empire opposite the human hilly duchy. My only fear is for some cringey article to come out and take the elements of this unique game and try to sum it up with a nonsensical portmanteau that establishes entirely incorrect expectations. What's that 'GamingBible'? "Skyrim meets Elden Ring"? Ugh... this is why you people are considered a third class species.
The prevailing thought I keep hear being aired about the Dragon's Dogma 2 gameplay is music in the ears of every fan. It's exactly like the first game, just better. And it's evident in the slickness of the animations, the bombast of the magic, the scale of the enemies, the responsiveness of the environments- nothing has been added that might distract from the core experience. Of course, we've yet to see the night time, so we can't yet say if this game will be quite as oppressively blinding as the first game was- to this day the only RPG where travelling at night really is as unappealing as all the NPCs insist it is! And I hope for the same level of hopelessness for the poor players stupid enough to think they can solo the game, only to wander into the very first CC effect and realise they literally can't break out of it without party assistance. And seeing as how one of the new classes looks to be a martially challenged circus dancer with an incense jar on a string- it really seems like the team are leaning into the 'fight as a team or die alone' mindset.
One entirely new aspect of the game is the idea of distinct cultures and races, which was little more than aesthetic preference in the original. Pointy ear Pawns were all over the online, but no such thing as 'Elves' exsisted. Here they're not only a defined race but they have a language, one the player will likely not be privy to unless accompanied by a Pawn with translation capabilities, not too dissimilar to the whole 'kidnap a translator to understand Russian' mechanic from MGS 5. Given that we've only seen Elves speaking a different language, and the new beast race seems staunchly olde English spouting, I can only assume there might be some other fantasy peoples that the team are keeping underwraps. Maybe Dwarfs and Gnomes, or perhaps Tieflings? I know there won't be Tieflings, but god I love a good Tiefling every now and then! (The DnD race-elitist in me is showing!)
A curious note I've heard coined once or twice is a genuine surprise about the fact that the story doesn't sound utterly boring. With a kidnapped Empress and a false Arisen with Pawns called to his service by mysterious means. (Which I'm sure have nothing to do with the glowing purple neckless around his neck.) I think many people forget that Dragons Dogma's story, about a reverent attempting to win back their heart from an unstoppable Dragon, actually sounded pretty sick on paper too. It was the execution that made it mind-numbingly boring. On the flipside, Dark Arisen's narrative about a hero corrupted by their inability to sacrifice the one thing they loved is a shockingly effective tale, told in the piece-meal style of Dark Souls to spectacular effect! There's no guessing which way this one will go until we get our hands on it. We just have to accept the team are capable of both extremes, and hope for the better.
Dragon's Dogma 2. Gods, it feels so hairbrained to be talking about this game like it's a real thing but now it is, we're already here! I expected this to be drip fed over the course of years but nope- we're in the age of quick deliver, baby! I only hope that the ten years were enough time to get everyone's eggs neatly in a row, before the hatching- at least. Oh, and pray beyond prayer that this is an actual release date and not just some drunk executives random guess about when this game might possibly come together, like I can only assume the case has been with Skull and Bones over the past eight years. (February Release date? With literally no marketing at the last Ubisoft showcase event? Only if Ubisoft is every bit as dense as we've all insisted they are.) Dragon's Dogma 2. Wow, it's going to get some time to getting used to writing those words together. Dragon's Dogma 2. Dragon's Dogma 2. I can't get enough of it!
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