The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim was undoubtedly one of the most influential open world RPGs at the time of its release. Its critical acclaim and subsequent massive rise in popularity makes it one of the most recognizable games of all time. While its first installment wasn't as popular as Skyrim, Dragon's Dogma 2 has the opportunity to do something similar.
After a decade of waiting, Dragon's Dogma 2 has been confirmed as in the works by Capcom. What seemed to be a forgotten franchise is finally making its return to the open world RPG scene. However, the sequel's potential is greater than many may realize.
The Legacy and Future of Dragon's Dogma
At a first glance, Dragon's Dogma and Skyrim aren't too dissimilar of games. They both involve a silent protagonist who has a close encounter with a dragon, later learning that their destiny is to eliminate said dragon. However, these games differ in their approach to plot and gameplay. Skyrim is a first-person experience, making it much more immersive. It also has the advantage of having a pre-established lore and a large variety of quests. Dragon's Dogma is a third-person experience, but it chooses to immerse the players in other ways. Two of the most notable methods of doing so are Dragon's Dogma's pawn system and combat mechanics.
While not completely lackluster, Skyrim's combat was not known for its complexity. Its follower system followed suit; both systems were relatively bare bones in terms of how they could be approached and how large of an impact they had on gameplay. However, the original Dragon's Dogma took these two systems to the extreme, encouraging fluid and creative mindsets. Players could grapple onto large enemies to attack their weak spots and pick from a variety of classes called vocations in search of their preferred play style. They could also tailor their companions to fit into their preferred team composition, often making up for what the player lacks. Dragon's Dogma 2 can improve upon the original game and further refine these systems to create an even more open-ended game.
Dragon's Dogma has a few places where its own systems fell short. One of those places is its crafting, which the original game doesn't introduce to the player very well. Dragon's Dogma 2 will likely improve on this system, while also working on ones that both it and Skyrim lacked. One such example could be the inclusion of co-op in Dragon's Dogma 2. With the Dragon's Dogma Online MMO no longer available, players could get their multiplayer fix through co-op gameplay in a mainline game. With hardware limitations being less of an issue, this is more possible now than ever. This is something The Elder Scrolls games have always lacked due to their distinct game design philosophy.
While it's possible that Dragon's Dogma 2 doesn't change too much as a sequel, Capcom will likely look to other games to see what exactly makes an open world RPG successful in the modern industry. One of those games will likely be Skyrim, and for good reason. Dragon's Dogma 2 would do well to look at Skyrim's systems and improve upon them in their own way. Skyrim's easy-to-pick-up crafting systems were much more digestible and easily understood than Dragon's Dogma's. Capcom could look to that and expand upon it in its own way, infusing it with the classic Dragon's Dogma formula.
With the director of Dragon's Dogma 2 telling fans to 'stay tuned,' the future of the franchise has never been more bright. While fans are probably still a few years away from receiving their copy, hopefully it takes everything that made its previous iteration so popular and improves upon it in a way fans will enjoy.
Dragon's Dogma 2 is in development.