As part of its Tokyo Game Showcase, Capcom has shared nine minutes of new Dragon’s Dogma 2 gameplay footage, this time focusing on vocations – basically the series’ version of classes – as well as offering a little look at some of the major locations in its world.
At the game’s outset, Dragon’s Dogma provides a choice between four vocations – fighter, mage, thief, and archer – each determining a player’s style of play, but more will become available as events progress – and vocations can be changed by visiting Vocation Guilds, should you want to mix things up.
The fighter, for instance, specialises in one-handed sword and shield combat for short-range attacks and defensive manoeuvring. The archer, meanwhile, is better suited to taking down enemies – which are said to be behave organically out the world – from a distance using their bow and arrow, which can support the likes of exploding and blighting arrows.
As for the mage, they excels at long-range at magical attacks, as well as healing and support spells that bolster allies during battle. Capcom notes that the more powerful the magic, the longer the incantation required to perform it will be. And finally for the starting vocations, there’s the thief – armed with striking daggers and a fight style built around agility and quick attacks. The thief’s “swift step” enables them to quickly move away from enemies after an attack, and they can deal with large monsters by clambering onto their backs to deal damage.
Capcom also offered a quick look at some of Dragon’s Dogma 2’s advanced vocations, unlocked later in the game. The mystic spearhead, for instance, is an all-rounder capable of combining long-range magic attacks and close-range weapon-based physical attacks, who can also use magic to block enemy movements and throw multiple items at once. The magick archer, meanwhile, offers further specialises in long-range, arrow-based magical attacks, including healing and support. They can also learn a powerful attack that unleashes damage over a wide area at the expense of their HP.
And in addition to specialist skills, Capcom notes players will also want to use the environment around them to gain the upper hand during combat. One example we see is a player lobbing an exploding barrel at a leaking wall of rock, causing the rubble to clear and unleashing a ceaseless torrent of water that sweeps and attacking ogre away.
All this time place across Dragon’s Dogma 2’s two distinct locations; there’s the lush Vermund – where the humans reside, ruled over by the dragon-slaying Arisen who stayed the dragon – which is said to be “ripe for exploration”, and the rugged canyon nation of Battahl, home to the beastren, which features its own diverse environments and different monsters.
As players journey across both lands, they’ll encounter other inhabitants who might offer them quests, and if any of the three pawns in their party have relevant knowledge, they might be able to guide players in the right location. Capcom also notes players can ride in the back of ox carts to reach major locations, but doing so might draw the attention of an attacking monster.
For even faster, travel, it’s possible to close your eyes to quickly arrive at your location, but time is always passing and the environment changes constantly depending on the time of day. As in the original Dragon’s Dogma, nighttime is especially dangerous – players will have to deal with pitch-black surrounding and nighttime-specific monsters – but it’s possible to hunker down and sleep through the night if you have a camping kit while out in the wild, which will also help you recover your health.
And that’s pretty much everything shown off today. Capcom says it’ll have more to show in the future ahead of Dragon’s Dogma 2’s PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC release next year.