Highlights

  • Dragon's Dogma 2 introduces live-action cooking scenes, adding immersion to the game's food mechanic.
  • Monster Hunter should consider adopting Dragon's Dogma 2's cooking presentation for a fresh take.
  • The financial decision to use live-action cooking scenes in Dragon's Dogma 2 sets a new standard of fidelity for Capcom.

After nearly 12 years since the first game, Capcom's Dragon's Dogma 2 has finally been released. While Dragon's Dogma 2 could be considered more of a remake than a sequel due to its unwillingness to compromise on the dated mechanics of its predecessor, it still boasts plenty of new features that set it apart, like new vocations, a larger open world, and an updated version of the franchise's iconic Pawn system. Apart from the sequel's more significant additions to the series, there is one other rather peculiar feature that should be implemented into another hit Capcom franchise, beginning with its next mainline installment.

Monster Hunter is known for its challenging monster fights, unique crafting and customization system, diverse and immersive worlds, and engaging cooperative gameplay. However, one feature that is almost necessarily included in every Monster Hunter title is cooking, which can provide players with various notable gameplay benefits, like health and stamina boosts, or bonuses to certain stats. Every Monster Hunter title has a unique take on how to present the cooking process, but Dragon's Dogma 2's unprecedented cooking presentation should be Monster Hunter's new standard.

Dragon's Dogma 2 characters looking out at Vernwerth
Related
Dragon's Dogma 2's Passage of Time Mechanic Explained

Passage of Time is an ever-present behind-the-scenes mechanic in Dragon's Dogma 2 that affects everything from quests to NPCs to certain items.

Monster Hunter Should Adopt Dragon's Dogma 2's Cooking Scenes

Dragon's Dogma 2 Features Live-Action Cooking Scenes

While out exploring the vast open world of Dragon's Dogma 2, players will occasionally stumble upon campsites where they can rest to recover lost health. While the ability to recover health alone is enough reason to camp, players can also take advantage of the campfire and any meat they may have collected from the game's various animals and some of its monsters. Just as in Monster Hunter, Dragon's Dogma 2 players can cook this meat at the campsite to gain various stat bonuses. Once a recipe is selected, a mouthwatering cooking scene ensues.

While this food mechanic is not unheard of for a Capcom game , it's the way that Dragon's Dogma 2 presents its cooking scenes that ultimately distinguishes it.

When cooking in any Monster Hunter game, players will experience what is often a chaotic mess of a scene in which a chef conjures up some miraculous dish based on the ingredients chosen. However, Dragon's Dogma 2's cooking scenes maintain a more serious tone by being entirely live-action, showcasing just a few seconds of the meat sizzling on a wok. What's more interesting is that the game's visuals will take into account what type of meat the player chooses, even if it happens to be spoiled meat, resulting in a sometimes disgustingly accurate depiction of that particular meat being cooked.

Capcom previously disclosed that its decision to feature live-action cooking scenes in Dragon's Dogma 2 was strictly financial — either it could spend money on live-action cooking scenes or spend money on CGI cooking scenes that wouldn't look as good. Now, the developer has a chance to keep up this trend in its Monster Hunter series.

Monster Hunter Should Also Feature Live-Action Cooking Scenes

Since cooking is one of Monster Hunter's best and most creative features, it deserves the same love given to Dragon's Dogma 2's cooking. While there is a certain amount of charm in the way the series has presented cooking before, live-action cooking scenes could add to each game's immersion while simultaneously maintaining what could and arguably should become a new staple for Capcom.

Monster Hunter's Canteen meals are often presented with much more whimsy, though, and would be far more difficult to pull off given the creatures that prepare them. Regardless, with the announcement that Monster Hunter Wilds is now in development, Capcom has a chance to leave an indelible mark on the franchise and cement Wilds' position as an innovative take on the Monster Hunter formula, even with something as simple as live-action cooking scenes.