Dragon's Dogma 2 director says the RPG sequel has been made safe for new players thanks to one classic narrative trick

Dragon's Dogma 2 director Hideaki Itsuno says that newcomers to the series won't be missing out by not playing the original game, all thanks to a staple narrative tool: Amnesia.

Speaking to GamesRadar+ as part of our Big in 2024 series, Itsuno noted that while Dragon's Dogma 2 is pulling from ideas that were present in the first game - most notably its setting and the AI 'Pawns' that accompany you on your journey - familiarity with the original is only "useful," not a necessary feat to enjoy the sequel.

"The game starts off with a main character who has lost their memory," Itsuno says. That means that the developers were able "to have characters around you explain things to get you up to speed. So even if this is your first time playing Dragon's Dogma, you can safely dive in."

Amnesia might not be the most original of storytelling tropes, but it certainly seems like it's a handy tool to rely on when creating a sequel to a cult classic from 12 years ago. I'd suggest that there's a lot more interest in Dragon's Dogma 2 than I've seen for the original game in the intervening decade, and while that's not to say that Dragon's Dogma doesn't deserve its flowers, it does mean that plenty of newcomers are likely arriving in its world for the first time. With that in mind, something of a narrative blank slate seems pretty useful.

One of Dragon's Dogma 2's most fascinating bosses is so well hidden that the RPG's director thinks many will beat the game without finding it.

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for news, shaping the news strategy across the team. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.