Dragon's Dogma 2 Developers Say New Updates Don't Remove Friction, Just Add Options

Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen is a new gameplay expansion coming later this year, but developer Capcom is preceding that new content with some major free updates for the base game. At launch, many (including Game Informer, as you can see in our review) praised the game for its fun combat and friction-focused world, but it was also met with its fair share of criticism. Some were frustrated that fast travel was limited (though I personally loved it), largely locked behind a rare resource that you could also purchase with real-world money, and others lamented the game's choppy performance, particularly on PC. After speaking with Dark Arisen game director Kento Kinoshita and producer Naoto Oyama, it sounds like Capcom heard the complaints and is aiming to address them.

Prior to the DLC, Capcom released a major title update for the game, and has another planned for August. The most recent update adds an Eternal Ferrystone item to the game, allowing players to fast travel at will, but Oyama says the developers don't intend for it to compromise the game's original design. "The Eternal Ferrystone [provides] an option for players to play the game more casually," he says through a translator. "So [we're] really focused on not trying to compromise the core enjoyment of the original game."

Regarding balancing friction and accessibility, Kinoshita adds, "Rather than having a certain [balance] between those two, it's more that we added an option to enjoy the game more [...] Exploring on foot – that is still an enjoyable option. But doing that multiple times, maybe some people might get fatigued, and they'll be like, 'Hey, I want to just do fast travel,' and then we have that Ferrystone. So, it's just as an option. But if you find traveling on foot is enjoyable, then [you] can continue traveling by foot"

Kinoshita also says Capcom's adjustments to the Dragonsplague system, which will come in the August update, doesn't ease the negatives of the disease (note: they did that a few weeks after the game launched), but it makes the benefits more apparent. "We're not easing the penalty here," he says. "Dragonsplague will happen at the same rate." Later on, he adds, "We made that Dragonsplague system more clear. Even in the base game, before the title updates, the afflicted pawn got stronger, but it wasn't clear that they got stronger. But by the title updates, it will be more clearly reflected to the stats, so people will able to notice that the Dragonsplague is making their pawns stronger. So they can enjoy the risk/reward dynamics there in a clearer way."

For context, Capcom is technically correct that it's not easing any penalties, but it's certainly making those penalties easier to avoid. The details for the August update, which are already publicly available, includes the note that Dragonsplague will be curable with a new item, and includes a list of buffs that afflicted pawns will receive, like staggering large enemies and fighting small ones without losing stamina.

Dragon's Dogma 2's first update dropped June 10, and the next, which adjusts the Dragonsplague system, adds more weapon skill slots, and includes more robust performance improvements, will come in late August. The new Dark Arisen expansion launches October 9, and will also bring the game to Switch 2.

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