Dragon’s Dogma 2 gameplay deep dive at TGS 2023 left me excited to battle Griffins again

At TGS 2023, Capcom released a nine-minute deep dive into the gameplay of Dragon’s Dogma 2. Immediately I remembered the feelings I had when playing the original Dragon’s Dogma over a decade ago. I remember exploring the huge open world and scaling colossal beasts for the first time in an attempt to spam attack their head and drop them quickly. For the most part, Dragon’s Dogma 2 looks like an enhanced modern version of Dragon’s Dogma. And to be honest, that’s exactly what I want. Here’s the full nine-minute deep dive in its entirety:

A Tale of an Arisen and its Pawns

In the video, we get a look at several of the vocations—essentially classes—in Dragon’s Dogma 2. Fighter, Archer, Thief, and Mage are all choosable vocations for both your Arisen and your Pawn. Magick Archer and Mystic Spearhand however are only available for for your player-controller Arisen. Of course, each vocation has its strengths and weaknesses, and part of the strategy in Dragon’s Dogma 2 will be bringing the proper Pawns to ensure you can face any battle efficiently.

The adventure in Dragon’s Dogma 2 features two different nations, Vermund, the kingdom of humanoids, and Battahl, the kingdom of beastmen. Like its predecessor, DD2 will feature vast open-world areas in which you encounter settlements, travelers, and merchants. While Vermund appears to be a sunny lush area of green grass and foliage, Battahl is an arid land of canyons and rocky formations.

In the earlier part of the video we see the Arisen and its pawns take on an ogre, a formidable beast you encounter very early in the original game. The video does a great job showing off how player creativity and strategy give you several ways of taking on an encounter effectively.

The video ends showing off the two announced Arisen-specific vocations as they battled a Griffin. The majestic beast returns from the original game, half lion and half eagle. Just like in the original, it looks like Griffin’s will be a challenging beast to take on. Also, it looks like scaling the beast is still as important as before, where you can focus on specific parts.

As I said, I’m hoping Dragon’s Dogma 2 is just an improved version of the original from over a decade ago. And, based on this deep dive, it looks like we’re getting that and so much more!