The director of Capcom's upcoming RPG, Dragon's Dogma 2, provides some insight behind the decision to limit fast travel.
Hideaki Itsuno has expressed his opinion on fast travelling in video games. His thoughts? Traveling the traditional, 'long' way isn't necessarily boring. It more depends on whether the game you're playing is interesting enough to keep you entertained during the journey.
"Is travel boring? That's not true. It's only a problem because game is boring. Just make the travel fun," Itsuno told IGN when asked about the fast travel mechanics.
"Is fast travel boring? That's not true. It's only a problem because your game is boring. You just have to make the travel fun," Itsuno said when asked about the fast travel mechanics.
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“That's why you put things in the right locations for players to discover, or you create enemy spawning methods that create different experiences every time, or you force players into blind situations where they don't know whether it's safe or not ten meters in front of them.
The Dragon's Dogma 2 team designed a game where players can "run into someone and something will happen," Itsuno explained. "So while it's fine if there's fast travel, we decided to design the type of map where players would make the decision on their own to travel by bike or on foot to enjoy the journey."
Like the first game in the Dragon's Dogma series, developer Capcom has included expensive Ferrystones in the sequel, which will allow players to quickly travel to designated areas with Port Crystals. Additionally, this time the developer has also added Oxcarts as a way to move around the map.
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These carts will allow players to travel along a specific path, but with potential attacks along the way. Itsuno said the team didn't want to create a "simple means of safe transportation" in Dragon's Dogma 2, but rather use these Oxcarts as a way to enhance the player's experience within the world.
"While traveling in one, you may find the road blocked by goblins and have no choice but to disembark and join the fight. As you do, a griffin may attack and destroy the entire cart in one hit, forcing you to walk the rest of the way cursing its name," Itsuno explained.
“But none of that is pre-determined by us. Instead, the griffins have a natural inclination to attack cows that they discover as they move, and those pieces just work together to naturally create the situation. So, yes, a cart ride in this world may be cheap, but a lot can happen as a result of that cheapness. I think we managed to create exactly that kind of world.”
Dragon's Dogma 2 will retail for $70 on PC (via Steam), PlayStation 5 , and Xbox Series X/S when it launches in March. This will mark the first time Capcom has sold the base version of a new game at this higher price.
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As for the game itself, Ian has already played the upcoming release for us. “Dragon's Dogma 2 feels very similar to the original, for better and worse,” he wrote in his Dragon's Dogma 2 preview at Eurogamer.
“Overall, the game felt sloppy and confusing at times, but also familiar and very enjoyable. It was like planting a bomb under a beautifully arranged stack of dominoes, where your carefully laid plans can explode in utter chaos,” he said. “I really liked how unpredictable each encounter was and how the game kept its basic 'go here, kill these monsters' missions feeling fresh and full of laughs and surprises.”
Source of information: eurogamer.net
