Thanks to the passion of both its players and developers, Dragon's Dogma 2 is on its way. It won't arrive for a while, as the director Hideaki Itsuno saw fit to announce it during the Dragon's Dogma 10th anniversary celebration. Still, that means the community has time to pull up the original for a new playthrough or two before Dragon’s Dogma 2. Meant as a spiritual successor to Capcom's classic Dungeons & Dragons beat-'em-ups with shades of Monster Hunter thrown in, Dragon's Dogma proved to be a sleeper hit on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Now equipped with modern ports and an anime, it's continuing to draw interest from those looking for an epic fantasy adventure.
It's fortunate that there's so much meat on the original's bones, not to mention the vastly different classes and AI Pawn party setups driving replay value. Dragon's Dogma 2 is a long way off, and whatever information is planned for 2023 likely won’t include a release date. The community has plenty of time to speculate on what new additions the game might bring, like adding on to Dragon's Dogma's roster of mythological beasts. It's also expected to enhance aspects of the original game like the Pawn system, but some players would also like to see Pawns' simulated co-op give way to real multiplayer questing.
Why Dragon’s Dogma 2 Should Have Co-op
Adding multiplayer to Dragon's Dogma 2 may sound heretical to hardcore fans of the first installment. The entire point of Pawns is to provide a dynamic party for the player, simulating the act of playing a tabletop RPG in a group. Players were given a lot more control over Pawns in Dragon's Dogma than they often realized, and could prepare them to fill a variety of roles and learn many helpful details about enemies. They also technically were the multiplayer system, as players could share them online and gain benefits from their Pawn seeing use. Real co-op could devalue this mechanic.
Fortunately, there is now an example of something like Dragon's Dogma 2 with both Pawns and co-op working in tandem. Elden Ring, FromSoftware’s experiment in applying its Dark Souls formula to an open world game, employs both NPC and player helpers in ways that past Souls games did not. In addition to NPC summon signs and summoned players who could explore part of the open world, there were also Elden Ring's new Spirit Ashes. These are highly varied summons that can be brought into tough locations and boss fights, enabling players to pick whether they want a particular team or the strength of another player. Dragon's Dogma 2's co-op and Pawns could be balanced like this.
Co-op Enhances One of Dragon’s Dogma’s Greatest Aspects
The best reason to summon another player in Elden Ring could be the same in Dragon's Dogma 2, and that is going on an adventure together. Players could form a party and embark on quests together, slaying monsters while taking advantage of each player's abilities and knowledge. Dragon's Dogma 2 could surpass Elden Ring in this respect, as it would ideally allow players to stay in each other's game worlds for as long as they wish. Strange multiplayer restrictions in Elden Ring have made mods that improve the online experience popular, which Dragon's Dogma 2 should take as the go-ahead.
Ultimately, cooperative play would help Dragon's Dogma 2 become the game that the original could have been without hardware and time restrictions. A group of friends could spend time role-playing, hiking, fighting, and having fun together in its detailed fantasy world. Meanwhile, the Pawn system would still be in place with its own gameplay and narrative benefits, serving those who would prefer to travel solo with a party tailored to them. The popularity of multiplayer mods for Elder Scrolls games, FromSoftware’s Souls-likes, and countless other RPGs are evident, with even the defunct Dragon's Dogma Online touting multiplayer as a core feature. It would be to Dragon's Dogma 2's benefit to meet this demand.
Dragon's Dogma 2 is now in development.