It's been ten years since the release of the original Dragon's Dogma. Capcom's open-world action RPG was praised by fans, who thought the game's side quests were fun, the inclusion of Pawns and variety of combat was enjoyable, and the uniqueness of some of the title's features really helped to set it apart. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, the enhanced version of the base game, was released in 2013 and subsequently ported to PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch later, giving players plenty of Dragon's Dogma goodness to play through over the years.
An animated Netflix series was even released in 2020, but Dragon's Dogma fans were really holding out for news of a sequel. That finally came this month, with a surprise announcement from Capcom that after so many years, Dragon's Dogma 2 was finally on the way. Even though this was great news for players, some fans were feeling a little hard done by that after such a long wait, the announcement for Dragon's Dogma 2 was more than a little lackluster.
The (Not So) Big Announcement
With a decade passing since the game was first released, it made sense that Capcom would want to honor this milestone in some way. June isn't over yet, but it's already been a pretty big month for gaming announcements, even in the absence of E3. Capcom clearly wanted to piggyback off of this season of gaming content and development updates, and integrate it with its own celebration of the original Dragon's Dogma at the same time. A ten-year anniversary video was released with the original Dragon's Dogma's game director Hideaki Itsuno providing insights into the game's development and design process.
This was undoubtedly interesting for fans of the original title, as it gave glimpses at the decisions the team had made when it came to monster design and other intricate elements that went into the game's development. However, while it served as a lovely way to remember the original Dragon's Dogma and the work that went into it, it didn't necessarily seem like the best place to drop the news that the highly-anticipated Dragon's Dogma 2 was actually in development.
Why It Was So Disappointing
Many fans thought it was odd that Capcom didn't make the announcement during its own showcase that happened earlier in the month, but this was monopolized by all things Resident Evil instead. It could make sense to keep the Dragon's Dogma 2 announcement separate in order to make sure it wasn't overshadowed by other games, but the way the upcoming title was announced was so underwhelming that it hardly justified its lack of presence in the Capcom showcase. After a look back at the original Dragon's Dogma, Hideaki Itsuno and two other members of the development team revealed that they were wearing Dragon's Dogma 2 t-shirts and they confirmed that work on the sequel was underway.
It's quite a cute way to do the reveal, but it makes it seem like an afterthought at the end of a video dedicated to the first game. There were no other details revealed of Dragon's Dogma 2 – no concept art, no trailer, no release date. Players were left feeling a bit let down by the announcement, especially considering the success of the first game and its dedicated fan following. Dragon's Dogma 2 definitely deserved a more prominent and extensive announcement, even if there's not that much of the next title to show off yet.
Regardless, Dragon's Dogma was a great game full of slightly weird and wonderful quirks, and hopefully Dragon's Dogma 2 can live up to its predecessor and build on the promise of the first game as well.
Dragon's Dogma 2 is currently in development.