Dragon’s Dogma II will be among the key attractions during the Capcom Showcase event, next week. The publisher updated its official website, detailing what to expect from its annual presentation, which also includes the team-based shooter Exoprimal and Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, the puzzle-solving mystery title from Shu Takumi, best known for the Ace Attorney series. The event is scheduled for June 12 at 3pm PT in the US/ June 13 at 3:30am IST in India. The news comes ahead of Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest, which listed Capcom among its partner lineup, last month. It will be live-streamed on Capcom’s official YouTube and Twitch channels.
The PlayStation Showcase event, while largely unsatisfactory, included an action-heavy trailer for Dragon’s Dogma 2. For now, there aren’t too many details on the plot, but a hymn from the official website reveals that the story follows an Arisen — the chosen one — who is destined to slay the Dragon residing in an underground gaol and claim the throne. However, the reptile is not only seen as a mere mythical creature but also as the ‘symbol of the world’s destruction,’ with a certain population revering it as a god. We aren’t alone on the journey — a group of ‘Pawns,’ mysterious otherworldly beings devoted to serving the Arisen, join in. These are AI-driven, of course.
One of the characters in the Dragon’s Dogma II trailer, who resembles the sorceress Yennefer from The Witcher 3, seems to be doubtful of the player’s abilities, questioning where the true Arisen might be. The title’s description notes that players can “choose their own experience” in approaching different situations, which suggests that she could be convinced otherwise, through dialogue options. There was also some HUD-less gameplay presented in the footage, including some bow-and-arrow combat, where it looked as if the arrows were imbued with lightning magic — effective against rock-type enemies. Playing as a sorcerer appears to have the most potential, letting you create bridges out of water, hail fiery meteors, and even cast a small artificial sun to illuminate the dark corners of the forest.
Combat looks similar to that of Final Fantasy XVI in many ways, though not as flashy, as you take on gryphons, orcs, and a Medusa-like enemy sporting venomous snakes in place of hair. It’s an epic fantasy adventure, through and through. For now, it’s unclear whether it will bear a steep difficulty like the original 2012 game. Dragon’s Dogma also isn’t Capcom’s biggest IP, but it earned itself a dedicated fanbase for its memorable boss battles, which are now expanded to a cinematic scale. The upcoming Dragon’s Dogma 2 also introduces the Beastren, a beast-like race into the franchise. It will be out on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X.
Capcom has promised new information on upcoming releases during the 36-minute-long show, which also happens to mark its 40th anniversary. There’s an ongoing sale on Steam as well, if you’re interested, offering discounts of up to 87 percent off on select games from the publisher. It also won’t be far-fetched to expect some more details about the upcoming Resident Evil 4’s free VR mode, coming to the PS VR2.