Dragon’s Dogma 2 comes out later this month, and when it does, countless first-time players are set to run face-first into the strict approach it takes toward fast travel. As with the original Dragon’s Dogma, the sequel will limit players to using expensive ferrystones to truly warp between places, but the game’s director and producer say they’ve packed so much fun into the map that you’ll be excited to step off on each new adventure.
First off, Dragon’s Dogma 2 takes place on a map that’s at least four times the size of the original RPG game‘s play area. Trips from one side to the other will take quite a bit of time, but you will have a few options. If you’re wondering whether there’s fast travel in Dragon’s Dogma 2, the answer is “yes, but only sort of.”
Instead of unlimited fast travel like you have in Elden Ring, Dragon’s Dogma 2 only allows fast travel back to a landmark called a portstone. Every time you make the trip, you have to spend a ferrystone – and these things can be prohibitively expensive for a starting adventurer.
The other option is to take an ox cart, although these are vulnerable to ambush while you’re making your way through goblin-infested mountain passes, for example.
In a recent interview with Automaton, Dragon’s Dogma 2 producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi explained that his team’s approach has been to make travel as much a focus as the destination.
“I think in games that employ fast travel without restrictions, the emphasis is on the content in between traveling, but in Dragon’s Dogma 2, the emphasis is also on the experience of travel itself,” he said.
For similar reasons, mounts like horses won’t be available either.
“I think the reason why users want horses is not so much because they want to experience horse riding, but because they feel bored on the road if they’re not riding,” explains director Hideaki Itsuno. “Our goal was to prepare a path so enjoyable that players would not feel the need for a horse… our development policy was to make it so that it would actually be a shame to ride a horse.”
The Dragon’s Dogma 2 release date is set for March 22, but in the meantime, you can read up on more of the best open-world games to play in 2024.
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