Prior to its release on March 22nd, I had the opportunity to interview the director of Dragon’s Dogma 2. Hideaki Itsuno Last month, we discussed the sequel’s inspiration, challenges, and company history.
It’s been 10 years since the first Dragon’s Dogma, but have you taken any inspiration from other Capcom video games such as Monster Hunter, a similar “fight towering monster” style?
Mr. Itsuno: It’s worth noting that the original plans for Dragon’s Dogma 1 were first conceived around 2002, around the same time as the original Monster Hunter. The idea was that Monster Hunter would be a multiplayer game for up to four players, while Dragon’s Dogma would offer a single-player experience. However, because Mr. Itsuno was involved in a game called “Devil May Cry,” development of “Dragon’s Dogma” was put on hold for a while. There were many sources of inspiration for Dragon’s Dogma, but it’s interesting to note that many of the ideas came not from Monster Hunter, but from other fighting games and Devil May Cry.
Next, what lessons did you learn from your time as the director of “Devil May Cry 5” and did you apply them to “Dragon’s Dogma 2”?
Mr. Itsuno: For Devil May Cry, we were faced with the challenge of creating great-looking action while maintaining a photorealistic style. However, these two elements did not mix well. Furthermore, it was necessary to ensure a good, satisfactory and controlled response. Overcoming these challenges required a lot of research and effort, and Devil May Cry 5 was able to accomplish them.We learned a lot from this experience and were able to apply that learning to Dragon’s Dogma 2, where we were able to add photorealistic action and better response to input sensations..
The first Dragon’s Dogma. Part of the criticism was the inability to hold hands in the open world. More and more games are approaching this style these days, do you find it encouraging or justified in your own work?
Mr. Itsuno: For the first game, we came up with the unique idea of letting players do whatever they wanted without giving them any specific instructions. We wanted the game to progress automatically by giving players control over their actions. The sequel adds more content and flexibility, allowing players to do whatever they want to progress through the game. In Dragon’s Dogma 2, we focus on keeping players interested by not giving them too many specific instructions and letting them experience what they want to do as they progress through the game.
The world seems to be interacting with you in a more meaningful way. How did the team use the latest AI technology to develop interactions with pawns and other features in Dragon’s Dogma 2?
Mr. Itsuno: The AI used in the game is not the latest version like ChatGPT that analyzes big data and acts accordingly. Our AI is similar to challenges created by humans, such as setting specific goals for NPCs and giving them flexibility to accomplish those goals. For example, if the player wants to go in a certain direction, the AI is programmed to guide the player regardless of their current location. Similarly, if an NPC is leading the players, the NPC will walk in front of them. This is what we mean by AI in our games.
What challenges did you face during the development of Dragon’s Dogma 2 and how did you go about solving them?
Mr. Itsuno: As always, we had limited resources and time to work on the game, and there were a lot of things we wanted the team to try. The challenge was to bring everything together and optimize the process to minimize the number of trial and error iterations. We focused on adding as much content as possible in a compact and dense way. This was the biggest challenge of this game.
What do you want players to learn by playing Dragon’s Dogma 2?
Mr. Itsuno: The game we created has a lot of content that we think is worth sharing with other players. As you progress through the game, you will get different outcomes depending on your choices. This encourages players to discuss their experiences with others, as each may have their own story to tell. We want players to discuss the game with each other, but we don’t share spoilers. We believe that sharing your experience with others makes gaming even more fun and exciting.
Mr. Itsuno has been involved in the development of various games at Capcom for a very long time. Do you have any personal favorites?
Mr. Itsuno: (Laughs) A lot of people have said I’m lucky, and I think they’re right. For me, the latest game, Dragon’s Dogma 2, is the game where I achieved the most and was able to accomplish the most. If you had asked me a while ago, I would have said Devil May Cry 5. In that sense, I’m very lucky to say that it’s my favorite game because it fulfilled most of my visions and visions. My most accomplished game is Dragon’s Dogma 2, my newest game.