Highlights
- Fast travel in Valhalla made the beautiful journey feel like a tedious task. Director Itsuno aims to make travel fun in Dragon’s Dogma 2.
- The lack of fast travel in Dragon’s Dogma 2 will force players to savor the journey over obsessing about the destination, enhancing the gameplay experience.
- Despite including fast travel sparingly, Dragon’s Dogma 2 will prioritize strategic travel and dynamic enemy encounters for an immersive RPG experience.
I’ve been attempting to motivate myself to replay Assassin’s Creed Valhalla for nearly two years now. Initially, I completed and enjoyed it when I reviewed it for RPGamer during the pandemic. Despite its considerable length and occasional bloated moments, the well-crafted story kept me engaged.
Now, with the added content — and there’s a lot — I find myself overwhelmed. Paradoxically, the convenience of fast travel in Valhalla has turned the once-charming journey through beautiful landscapes into a tedious task. It’s peculiar to say, but Valhalla is, in fact, too convenient for my liking.
Interestingly, director Hideaki Itsuno seems to have heard my sentiments. In the final previews of Dragon’s Dogma 2, covered by IGN, he confirmed that fast travel won’t be overtly convenient in the upcoming game. As a fan of the previous installment, I’m not surprised and am quite thrilled about the lack of fast travel.
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Turning The Clock Back To 2012
Dragon’s Dogma was released during a period in life when I was between jobs and adjusting to life after college. My initial impression was that it looked rough and might be dull. Thankfully, I was proven wrong. While the game had its quirks, such as the stamina system being clunky for mages, the positives overshadowed the negatives. I cherished how traversing the world felt like a genuine journey.
I vividly recall stepping into the vast open world of Gransys for the first time. After the game unfolded upon reaching the main city, the path was mine to choose. Unprepared for an extended journey, my team and I set out at midday, encountering ruins and bandits. Despite low supplies and a lantern running out of oil, I pressed on.
Night fell, turning the game into a survival horror experience. Whispers echoed as we faced undead and specters. My lantern flickered and faded, and I fell in battle, losing hours of progress. It was a thrilling, intense journey-based experience.
Fast Travel Doesn’t Always Feel Right
Last fall, replaying Valhalla felt off. Story moments excited me, but the in-between periods felt monotonous. I had to force myself to open the map, spending what felt like hours riding around on my rainbow unicorn. Seeking fast travel points became a chore, disrupting immersion.
Despite wanting to fully complete the game, the hunt for fast travel points made me aware I was just playing a game, detracting from the immersive experience. I’m still struggling to finish it, questioning if I’ll ever complete it.
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A “Dogma” Against Fast Travel
Thinking back to these experiences, Hideaki Itsuno’s comments on fast travel points in Dragon’s Dogma 2 struck a chord. His strong words emphasized that travel isn’t boring; it’s an issue when the game is. His advice focused on making travel fun by placing discoveries strategically and creating dynamic enemy encounters.
“Travel is boring? That’s not true. It’s only an issue because your game is boring. All you have to do is make travel fun […] That’s why you place things in the right location for players to discover, or come up with enemy appearance methods that create different experiences each time, or force players into blind situations where they don’t know whether it’s safe or not ten meters in front of them.”
Recalling my encounter with the specters and my lantern running out, it was a deliberate lesson to slow down. Dragon’s Dogma taught me the value of meditating on the journey rather than obsessing over the destination.
Forced to decelerate, the game didn’t become boring; it became more enjoyable. I eagerly refined my travel approach, preparing curatives, upgrading gear, ensuring lantern supplies, and setting out at dawn. Itsuno’s lesson was valuable: there’s worth in savoring the journey over fixating on the destination.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 will include fast travel, like Dark Arisen, but sparingly and with some requiring expensive ferrystones. I welcome this and anticipate exploring the vast world of Dragon’s Dogma 2.
