Highlights

  • The Dragon's Dogma 2 director reveals improvements to the NPC system, making interactions and the world more authentic. Fans can expect a more immersive gameplay experience.
  • Detailed NPCs in the game can now have relationships not only with the player but also with other NPCs, creating a dynamic and realistic world.
  • Improved character creation tools allow players to spend more time customizing their player character and pawns, resulting in highly detailed and unique NPCs.

Dragon's Dogma 2 director Hideki Itsuno shared how the NPC system for the game has been upgraded. Dragon's Dogma 2 is one of the most highly anticipated games of 2024, and now the developers have revealed more of what fans can expect.

The first Dragon's Dogma had a pawn system, which allowed the player to customize their own NPC assistant to take with them on their adventures. Pawns would follow the player, fight, and even assist them with side quests. With Pawns returning for the sequel, Itsuno shares how they have been improved to make the interactions and world feel more authentic.

Dragon's Dogma 2 group
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In an interview with IGN, Itsuno states that since Capcom has made a lot of technological improvements over the years, the team is able to create the detailed NPCs they wanted in Dragon's Dogma 2. The developers are working on systems that will have these NPCs capable of having a relationship with not only the player, but with other NPCs as well. He gives one example, where if a player hits one NPC who was a part of a pair, they will both get angry at the player. Another example is that if a player does something nice for a child, then their parent will also like the player more as well.

Dragon's Dogma 2 NPCs Steam screenshot

Itsuno also notes that this relationship can be further enhanced by allied NPCs being able to get into fights with one another. "A character who grows close to you might come over to your house to play, but if they meet another character there who's done the same thing, a fight might break out," Itsuno explains. "Personally, we just made the system because we wanted to be able to say, 'Stop, don't fight over me!' It might be best if your readers play through the game while trying to avoid that kind of outcome." While Itsuno also says the team is still finalizing this feature, this is a huge improvement to the pawn system for Dragon's Dogma 2.

A character who grows close to you might come over to your house to play, but if they meet another character there who's done the same thing, a fight might break out. Personally, we just made the system because we wanted to be able to say, 'Stop, don't fight over me!' It might be best if your readers play through the game while trying to avoid that kind of outcome.

With NPCs being changed in this way, the team also wanted to improve upon the character creation tools for Dragon's Dogma 2. According to Itsuno, incredibly detailed NPCs can be made thanks to improved hardware. With this in mind, players can possibly spend a lot of time creating their player character and pawns.