The highly-anticipated Dragon's Dogma 2 is said to be targeting 'just' 30FPS on PS5 and Xbox Series.
11.01.2024 - 22:07 / ign.com / Hideaki Itsuno
One of the most striking shots in the Dragon’s Dogma 2 release date trailer is a shot of a giant, eerily grinning feathered monster with fiery red eyes, ominously approaching the Arisen. To me, it stuck out as a uniquely non-confrontational encounter with a giant and imposing monster, which is not something you see very often in the world of Dragon’s Dogma.
Turns out, this monster is Capcom’s take on the legendary Sphinx, a monster that didn’t appear in the first game, but does in fact make an appearance in Dragon’s Dogma Online, a game that never made it to Western shores. But even if you did face off against the Sphinx in Dragon’s Dogma Online, don’t expect the encounter to go exactly the same way, because the Sphinx has a very special role in Dragon’s Dogma 2, assuming you’re able to find it in the first place.
The Sphinx is a monster that’s well-hidden in the world of Dragon’s Dogma 2 and lives in isolation. Game Director Hideaki Itsuno himself believes that many players will beat the game without ever even encountering it. For those that do discover the Sphinx’s hideout however, they’ll find an encounter that’s very different from your standard boss fight.
Behind the Sphinx are five treasure chests, each one tied to a particular riddle that you must solve before being able to claim the contents of it. In my demo, I only got a chance to attempt to solve one: The Riddle of Eyes. Of course, these are not just simple question and answer response-type riddles. As Itsuno-san puts it, this is an action game, so the riddles need to be solved through action as well.
The Riddle of Eyes was simple: “Our eyes are our allies, yet oft do they betray, for eyes tell lies, so I advise, and thence do lead astray.” You’re then told to venture forth into a cave and bring back the item which is of greatest value. As you explore the dangerous cave, filled with goblins, trap doors, and even a lumbering ogre awaiting you if you fall into one of those trap doors, you’ll find many treasure chests – some well-hidden, others in plain sight – all with items of various worth. Your goal is to find the item that satisfies the conditions of the riddle, and bring it back to the Sphinx.
The big catch is that you only get one shot at each riddle. If you bring back an item to the Sphinx and it's not the one she’s looking for, you will lock yourself out of that riddle’s reward. So you need to really make sure that you’re not being fooled by the tricky words of the Sphinx.
Of course, if you’re not one for riddles, there is another – more straightforward – way to deal with the Sphinx. You could simply choose violence. That said, the Sphinx isn’t exactly the kind of monster that you’ll beat just by haphazardly attacking it.
“Saying too much
The highly-anticipated Dragon's Dogma 2 is said to be targeting 'just' 30FPS on PS5 and Xbox Series.
Dragon's Dogma 2 is fast approaching with everything that made the original game a cult classic, including swanky fantasy abilities, janky ragdoll physics, and small-person-climbs-big-monster combat. But to fit all those towering foes into one game, the sequel also introduces a hugely expanded map.
In March, Capcom will release Dragon’s Dogma 2, the long-awaited sequel to its inventive 2012 action RPG. It’ll be the first mainline release in the open-world fantasy series in 12 years, and fans are eager to see what Capcom will bring to the table after a decade-plus of advancement in technical innovation and open-world game design.
Dragon’s Dogma 2’s director Hideaki Itsuno is not a fan of fast travel in open-world games. In an interview over at IGN, Itsuno affirmed his commitment to making traveling the world of Dragon’s Dogma 2 something players look forward to.
Dragon's Dogma 2's director thinks less fast travel in a game can be a good thing, and if traveling by foot is boring, that's the game's fault.
Ahhh, fast travel: the opinion generator. Speaking to IGN, Dragon's Dogma 2 director Hideaki Itsuno threw his own hat into the ring, saying that he's keen to avoid fast travel in DD2 and would prefer that "players travel normally and experience the world around them". If you're someone who argues all games should let you teleport to the objective, then Itsuno thinks you're wrong. Hey, he doesn't mess about, and I don't disagree with him, as long as the game isn't actually wasting my time.
Dragon's Dogma 2 director Hideaki Itsuno has weighed in on fast travel in video games. His thoughts? Travelling the traditional, 'long' way itself isn't boring. It's more about whether the game you are playing is interesting enough to keep you entertained while you travel.
The director of Dragon’s Dogma 2 has said he wants players to properly travel through the game’s world instead of using fast travel.
Hideaki Itsuno, director of Dragon's Dogma 2, has shared some thoughts about the use of fast travel in video games.
In a new interview with IGN, director Hideaki Itsuno has revealed details about the various methods of fast travel that will be available in Dragon’s Dogma 2. Much like its predecessor, Dragon’s Dogma 2 will offer limited forms of fast travel, with players instead being expected to make more trips across the game’s open world by themselves.
Dragon's Dogma 2's director, Hideaki Itsuno, has explained why the studio has once again chosen to forego a traditional open-world fast travel system for the sequel. A dozen years after the release of the original, which became a beloved cult classic fantasy RPG, Capcom is set to finally release its long awaited sequel, Dragon's Dogma 2, in just a couple of months.
Fast travel is a contentious issue within open world games. Make it too easy, and you risk trivializing the world; make it too hard, and players may find travel tedious. Weighing in on the debate, Dragon’s Dogma 2 director Hideaki Itsuno explained why he is keen to avoid the former, preferring that players travel normally and experience the world around them.