Dragon’s Dogma 2 is getting an expansion later this year, and in the lead-up, Capcom is implementing a number of changes to the base game. Some of those changes I could do without, like the nerfs to Dragonsplague. But others, like the improvements to customization, are pretty neat. Even if they may have come about in a somewhat silly way.
I was reading an interview over at Restart.run with game director Kento Kinoshita and producer Naoto Oyama about the upcoming Dark Arisen expansion, canvasing the various changes we should expect to see. In it, Kinoshita talks about how some of the changes, such as the addition of more Ferrystones, were in direct response to player feedback. Restart.run then asks if there was any feedback that had surprised them, and Kinoshita has a surprising response. He somehow didn’t know that players really like dressing up their characters and making them look cool:
At first I was assuming that most of the players were just focusing on enjoying the realistic adventure they can enjoy in the game. But we received feedback that they [players] kind of enjoy dressing up more than choosing the best equipment in terms of design or how strong it is, like how the defense or the strength stat is high.
We just assumed people were more focused on the realistic adventure, but there were many people who asked for more fashionable items and more ways to dress up in the game. So that’s something that surprised me.
But I want to ask you if you have that thought process, where you want to choose more, I don’t know, fancy equipment or things like that. (Laughs)
Dragon’s Dogma 2 has loads of different outfits available, some of them with customizable colors and patterns, and some of which do look very cool. The trouble is, that armor not only changes the appearance of whoever wears it (the player or their Pawns), but it also has stats attached. And of course, many of the best-looking outfits have awful stats. Meanwhile, you’re often stuck wearing something that makes you look like a traveling clown or a village fool, simply because it has good stats. For instance, early in the game, there aren’t a lot of good armor options and you don’t have a lot of money to buy improvements with, so you’re often stuck with whatever you can find while adventuring. As a result, a lot of us ended up wandering around Vermund with our asses hanging out.
Character customization has grown to be wildly popular in all games that offer it, with some players spending hours in the most detailed of character creators making a perfect guy to pilot around a world. So I’m a little surprised that no one on the Dragon’s Dogma 2 team thought that maybe people would be annoyed at their Arisen displaying their cheeks for the whole world to see while on an ostensibly serious quest. I assumed they had done it on purpose, as a joke.
Dark Arisen will introduce new armors, which will hopefully be statistically balanced and also look cool, as well as new customization options such as 21 new hairstyles. You’ll probably still need to wear the leather butt exposers or whatever for a bit if you’re just starting the game for the first time, though.