Dragon's Creed 2 was first confirmed for development in 2022, and the first promotional video was first announced in May this year. This work will retain the feeling that "Dragon's Creed" is a single-player game but can enjoy "the fun of adventure with others", and then use CAPCOM to create an action experience to enjoy the western fantasy world created by the RE engine.
A9VG Live Demo Video:
ON THE EVENING OF SEPTEMBER 22, THE CAPCOM ONLINEPROGRAM ANNOUNCED THE NEW CLASSES THAT WILL APPEAR IN THIS GAME, THE MAGIC ARCHER AND THE MAGIC SWORDSMAN, BOTH OF WHICH ARE ADVANCED CLASSES IN THE GAME. In addition, in addition to the human kingdom Wilmond in the TGS experience version, there will also be a country where orcs and humans coexist "Badal" this time. This time, we experienced "Dragon's Creed 2" live at TGS, and interviewed director Hideaki Izuno and producer Naoto Oyama. Based on the newly announced news and demo experience, many questions were asked about the title.
The following titles are omitted:
——CAPCOM ONLINE PROGRAM ANNOUNCED TWO HIGH-LEVEL CLASSES "MAGIC ARCHER" AND "MAGIC SWORDSMAN" THAT WILL APPEAR IN THIS GAME, CAN YOU PLEASE TELL US MORE ABOUT THESE TWO CLASSES?
Izuno: The Demon Archer also appeared in the previous game, and it is an exclusive class for the Awakened. During the development of Gen 2, we not only received a lot of calls from the original players for the Magic Archer to appear in Gen 2, but there was also a lot of similar feedback within CAPCOM, so it was difficult not to add this class. So on the basis of the first generation, we added new moves and added the magic archer to the second generation.
As for the Demon Swordsman, this is also a profession reserved for the Awakened. When we revisit all classes (including unannounced ones), we further arrange and combine the characteristics of the classes in Dragon's Creed 2. So while we painfully deleted some professions, others were also strengthened. For example, in the previous game, the Ranger class can not only wield a dagger, but also use a bow and arrow to fight, but this class will not appear this time. Instead, it was divided into two distinct classes, Rogue, which enhanced hand-to-hand combat and climbing, and Archer, which enhanced ranged attacks and increased bow and arrow skills. Referring to the previous classification, compared to the ranger who has both melee and ranged attack methods, the magic swordsman is a class that strengthens both melee combat and ranged at the same time. In close combat, you can pick up the Demon Double Sword in your right hand to attack, which is a long-handled weapon with a blade on both heads; You can use magic to attack at a distance, such as using magic to control the miscellaneous soldiers and then levitate and throw them at other enemies, or use magic to fix the enemy and then use the magic double sword to attack. It is a skill that combines control magic with powerful sword skills, and it is a profession that requires high skills. So for those players who don't care about the trouble of action operation, they can further enjoy the fun from the game.
——In "Dragon's Creed Online", there are some classes that are very handsome, and you can see online classes such as Hunter, Priest, and Element Archer appear from the PV. Can you talk about your approach to choosing which classes to join your game?
Izuno: Dragon's Creed Online is a player-to-player team-up online game, so the class that appeared in that game was added on this premise. Dragon's Creed 2 is a single-player game, and many of them can only be played solo. For example, after the player is caught by the enemy, it will be more difficult to deal with in the online game, but in the single-player game, there is no need to consider the factors of other players, and it will be well coordinated. In addition, there will be many parts of the terrain that use the terrain in Dragon's Creed, and we have added many elements to it with physics operations. So in order to make the game the best possible experience when playing single-player, we revisited all the classes that appeared in the game. So instead of adding the classes we did in Dragon's Creed Online to Dragon's Creed 2, it's about overturning everything we already have from scratch. There may be some moves that will be similar to those in Online, but this is what we chose after overturning everything, rather than copying it as it was.
——The running map efficiency of the previous game is very low, and seeing the part with a carriage in PV1 means that many means of movement are provided in this work?
Izuno: There are regular ox carts between larger strongholds, and you can ride them for a small fee, but you don't guarantee safety. In addition to the ox cart, if you look closely at the main visual map, you can see the cable car as a means of movement in the lower left corner.
Oyama: After getting in the ox cart, you can choose to close your eyes and reach your destination as soon as you open them. It is a variant of fast teleportation.
- So it is.
Izuno: After riding in the ox cart, you can also choose to look at the scenery along the road without closing your eyes, and when you open your eyes, sometimes you may reach your destination, and sometimes you may fight because the enemy is coming.
- If I could use an ox cart to travel freely between towns for a small fee, would I be able to go to towns I haven't reached yet?
Izuno: Yes!
Oyama: We pushed a lot of limitations during development, so presumably everyone will have a very different experience when playing.
- Speaking of vehicles, perhaps an illusion, PV1 begins with a flying griffin, so can the awakened ride a griffin?
Izuno: Yes! However, it is not ridden like a vehicle, and you can stand on it after climbing and riding on it.
- I'm still fantasizing about being able to raise griffins.
Izuno: It's okay to ride normally, but you can't domesticate it as a pet.
——You can see the part of the game PV where orc companions appear, does this mean that you can customize the orcs? If so, can you customize orcs such as dogs, bears, lizards, etc.?
Izuno: Yes! However, orcs only have cats, and there are cats, leopards, lions and tigers to choose from.
Oyama: In this character customization system, you cannot select various beasts, but after selecting orcs, you can customize the feline. After all, if you can choose a bull's head, you will become a Minotaur.
——The reason why it is a feline family has something to do with the plot?
Izuno: It has nothing to do with the cat family, it has to do with whether it is an orc or not
Oyama: If the player chooses the Orc Awakener, the plot will be slightly different.
——Artificial intelligence is a hot topic in recent times, can you please elaborate on the application of AI in this work?
Izuno: There are three points in the general direction, which are followers, NPCs in the town, and enemies. Regarding followers, we want players to feel the changes in follower growth. Even if the same situation is the same for the same profession, we will try to make different followers react differently. Whether or not this follower has the knowledge to have fought this enemy will cause the follower to act completely differently. To reflect the differences that can be seen between different followers, we used AI technology. For example, when a follower has a clue about the task you intend to perform, he will prompt you in the right place. This feeling is like when you go to a friend's house to play a game, and the friend knows the game very well, such as telling you that this prop will be of great use to pick up, and the risk of this road will be relatively small. But if everything shakes you, the game will become boring, so this friend will keep you entertained while giving you minimal hints.
The second point is NPCs, in this world NPCs have a purpose of survival, and they will cycle between work and home 24 hours a day. Each of these NPCs has someone they like and someone they hate, just like if there is a couple of NPCs, if you mess with one of them, the other party will also be angry together.
Oyama: I would add that generative AI like ChatGPT is not included in the game. In order to enhance the realism of this overhead world, we use AI as a tool for further assistance.
- In addition to accompanying their followers all the time, players can also borrow two followers from other players through the online mode. Can I download followers shared by specific players through online mode? For example, followers shared by some well-known streamers.
Izuno: If you add a friend, you can add your friend's followers to your world. And each follower has a special ID, as long as the sharer publishes the follower's ID, he can retrieve and download the follower through the ID.
——Is the numerical growth of the attributes of this work still cultivated by different classes with different growth rates? In the early days, I sometimes chose a class I didn't like to play for the growth rate of my attribute value.
Izuno: As a conclusion, as in the previous game, each class feels a different growth rate. But we've changed the way we limit your growth level, so it's okay if you want to raise a certain stat to a certain value. It's just that if you choose the same profession all the time, the gap between different attributes will always exist.
Oyama: If you put in enough time to play, you can eventually increase your stats very close to the upper limit. We put special thought into this part of the change, and in theory it is possible to complete the value.
INTERVIEWER Is the story of "Dragon's Creed 2" related to the previous game? According to the information that has been released so far, there are many similarities with the setting of the generation story.
Izuno: The worldview of this game is the same, and the followers are from other parallel worlds. The Red Dragon also appears in all parallel worlds, takes the hearts of all Awakened ones, and challenges the dragon to reclaim its own. So far, this part of the worldview is the same, only this time it tells the story of a different world.
- Another parallel world?
Izuno: Yes, it's the story of one of the worlds that appears between many parallel worlds.
——The previous game had a certain degree of complexity in managing the weight of items, and there were even tricks that could pinch a fat person to increase the maximum weight of carrying. How has this part been adjusted in the second generation?
Izuno: Basically, there is no change, but when we give weight to items, we consider the necessity of things in the game. Dispensable items are much heavier than very important items, such as camping equipment.
- Yes, I remember this one weighed 7kg, right?
Izuno: Yes, yes, but do you have to need camping equipment? It's also possible to go home and sleep without camping, right? And it will be destroyed when attacked by the enemy, so it is safer to have two, but if you really want to carry two camping equipment to go out, it is really called a sink. We adjust the weight of items in a similar way, which is also to hope that players can think through it when playing.
——Speaking of this, I tried camping when I just experienced it, and I made meat dishes to eat, and it looked quite delicious!
Izuno: Right!
——Whether it's Monster Hunt or this time "Dragon's Creed 2", it always looks delicious when cooking. How many cooking animations are there in this game?
Izuno: Each type of meat has a different anime, and bacon and animal meat are different. So please watch all the cooking animations for everyone!
INTERVIEWER What will happen to the function of creating characters in this game compared to the previous game?
Oyama: This time the character creation feature allows you to customize very detailed details, which we will cover in more detail later.
Izuno: All the characters we appear in the game are created using this system, and in theory the player can pinch out characters that are at the same level as the characters in the game.
——I felt that the frame rate was a little unstable when I was just experiencing it, is this because the trial version has not been optimized?
Izuno: Yes, we haven't optimized yet.
Oyama: This is only a demo version for the show, and does not represent the final quality.
How is the balance between the various professions adjusted?
Oyama: The Rangers mentioned earlier are a good example, where we will emphasize the characteristics of each character, and if there are too many of them, the characteristics will be diluted. Through free movements and unique actions, the class that appears in this game is designed on this basis.
——In the experience, we feel that there are some actions that are reminiscent of "Monster Hunter", is there a cooperation in this part?
Izuno: Oh?? Is it?? I don't know much about weird hunting.
Oyama: Although Monster Hunter and Dragon's Creed are games from the same company, there are two different development teams, and we didn't refer to Monster Hunter.
Izuno: But the origins of the two are indeed the same, and when I mentioned the plan to make a hit game during the PS2 period, the project proposed at that time was the prototype of "Monster Hunter" and "Dragon's Creed". It's just that "Monster Hunter" was made directly after that, and the RPG I always wanted to do has never been realized, and I myself have been doing Devil May Cry. So these two works are indeed the same as twins, they come from the same origin.
INTERVIEWER Please have a word for Chinese players.
Izuno: I think this is the best Dragon's Creed I can make so far, so please look forward to it!
Oyama: Maybe a lot of people are looking at the open world, but this game is also an ARPG. The action elements added to this are also very solid, and even if you play it as an action game, please look forward to it.