Summary
In the RPG space,Dragon’s Dogmais a bit of a different animal with its unconventional approach to gameplay and storytelling. This is largely whythe firstDragon’s Dogmagamenever amounted to much more than a cult classic, althoughDragon’s Dogma 2managed to break down those barriers and appeal to a wider audience. Despite its uniqueness,Dragon’s Dogmais as role-playing as they come, even down to its playable character.
WithDragon’s Dogma’s protagonist always being silent and only a limited number of choices offered for players to make throughout each game, this leaves the majority of the protagonist’s development in the player’s hands. However, despite not placing too much of an emphasis on player agency,Dragon’s Dogmahas always presented players with a major choice to make at the end of each game’s narrative, and the next game in the series would be remiss not to continue the tradition.
The Next Dragon’s Dogma Needs to Maintain the Concept of Playing as an Evil Character
The Dragon’s Dogma Series Has Always Allowed Players to Play as an Evil Character
Unlikemany modern RPGs, theDragon’s Dogmaseries has never entertained the idea of a true morality or alignment system that allows players to choose between a “good” or “evil” character by making certain choices. In fact, while there is a certain amount of player agency involved in playstyle and exploration, there is very little agency in terms of role-playing a character. There are only a handful of story-driven choices throughout the series (including which character to romance), with the most defining decisions being presented to players near the end of each game’s narrative. Specifically, eachDragon’s Dogmagame has multiple endings that can be achieved by making a major choice as their main stories come to a close, and this is whereDragon’s Dogma’s concept of players role-playing an evil character ultimately comes into play.
At the end of bothDragon’s Dogmagames, the main Dragon gives the player a choice of whether to sacrifice their “beloved” in exchange for more power. If the player chooses to sacrifice their beloved in the firstDragon’s Dogma, the Dragon, Grigori, kills their beloved, spares their life, and grants them the title of “Seneschal,” placing them in a god-like position to rule over the world. A similar choice is presented to the player inDragon’s Dogma 2, which triggers the “bad ending"if the player chooses to let the Dragon kill their beloved instead of them. The player is then granted the title of “Sovran” and becomes the ruler of Vermund.
There is a visible difference inDragon’s Dogma 2’s bad ending from the first game’s, as the concluding scene shows the player’s character riddled with guilt and their people displeased.
The Next Dragon’s Dogma Needs to Continue This Cycle of Potentially Evil Arisen
While this choice to be an evil character really only affects the outcome of each game, it’s still a very important element that the next game shouldn’t walk back on due to the way the choice plays into the series' lore. At the heart ofDragon’s Dogma’s overarching narrativeis an endless cycle involving the Dragon and the Arisen, who are both regularly awakened to oppose one another — the Dragon to destroy the world and the Arisen to defeat the Dragon. In other words, when the player sacrifices their beloved in exchange for power, it’s ultimately an acceptance of the cycle’s power dynamics. In this case, it is the Arisen rising to a position of power alongside the Dragon rather than defeating it, although that power ends up feeling hollow and unfulfilling due to the means used to obtain it.
With how important the choice to end aDragon’s Dogmagame as an evil character is to the overarching story of the series, the next game can’t afford to stop now. Instead, the nextDragon’s Dogmagame could even improve its"morality” systemby introducing more choices throughout its story than the previous two games had. This could result in even more potential endings, as well as those endings bearing more weight due to the player’s more concentrated involvement in them. At the very least, however, it’s important that the nextDragon’s Dogmagame simply carries on this cycle of allowing players to become an “evil” Arisen if they choose to be.
Dragon’s Dogma 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Set forth on your grand adventure, Arisen!Dragon’s Dogma is a single player, narrative driven action-RPG series that challenges the players to choose their own experience – from the appearance of their Arisen, their vocation, their party, how to approach different situations and more. Now, in this long-awaited sequel, the deep, explorable fantasy world of Dragon’s Dogma 2 awaits.On your journey, you’ll be joined by Pawns, mysterious otherworldly beings, in an adventure so unique you will feel as if accompanied by other players while on your own adventure.All of these elements are elevated further through physics technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and the latest in graphics, to create a truly immersive fantasy world in Dragon’s Dogma 2.
