Twelve years since the release of the widely lauded first Dragon’s Dogma game, comes its long-awaited sequel–Dragon’s Dogma 2. With a long interval like that, both new and old fans of the series are wondering if a playthrough of the original game is necessary for understanding the backstory and lore in advance of the upcoming release of the next game.
Dragon’s Dogma 2: Do You Need To Play Dragon’s Dogma 1?
No, you don’t need to play it at all. According to Hideaki Itsuno, the director of Dragon’s Dogma 2, playing the first game has been made unnecessary by way of the classic “amnesia” trope.
Itsuno made the statement in an interview with GamesRadar+ in January 2024:
“The game starts off with a main character who has lost their memory…”
Hideaki Istuno,
Dragon’s Dogma 2 Director
Instead, the game will lean on the AI companions or ‘Pawns’ that will journey alongside the player, to nudge things along, presumably through conversation and lore-telling.
While this contradicts what we learned earlier about the game being set on an alternate plane of the same universe, it could simply mean that much of what transpired in the earlier game still holds true in this realm, at least as far as lore and major plot points are concerned.
With the player character being somewhat of a tabula rasa, new players as well as previous fans with fond but fading memories of the first game can both enjoy a fresh start in the strange world of Gransys.
Having said that, the question could be phrased differently and garner a different answer. Continued below.
Dragon’s Dogma 2: Should You Play Dragon’s Dogma 1?
Yes, you absolutely should. Dragon’s Dogma was a major commercial and critical success for Capcom at the time of its release in 2012. The first game reached combined sales figures of eight million copies as of this year, between both the original release on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and the enhanced version subtitled “Dark Arisen” that was later released for Steam PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.
But aside from marketing and sales mumbo-jumbo, the game itself is a highly innovative action RPG, with some very unique AI companion mechanics. The world is persistent with hundreds of NPCs milling about, pursuing their own goals and objectives.
Familiarity with the first Dragon’s Dogma game’s mechanics and terminology may help smoothen the player experience with Dragon’s Dogma 2 as well, instead of being tossed into the deep end headfirst.
The original release has long been out of circulation on digital storefronts. Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen is the full, proper title of the enhanced version presently available for purchase on all digital storefronts where the game is listed. It is essentially the original game with DLC packed in, and can be considered akin to a ‘Complete Edition’ or ‘Game Of The Year’ edition of other titles. The game is currently on sale for Steam PC, which should be your go to platform, especially for the tweaking and modding aspects that will bring the game up to par with modern standards.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 releases on March 22, 2024 for Steam PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5, giving you plenty of time to enjoy the first game to its fullest extent.
Horizon Forbidden West PC Release Date Confirms Dragon’s Dogma 2 as Game of the Year Frontrunner
That’s everything there is to know about whether you should play Dragon’s Dogma 1 before Dragon’s Dogma 2.
