Capcom says Dragon's Dogma 2 characters can die permanently

Goodbye forever, pal

You best be careful with your favorite Dragon’s Dogma 2 characters, as Capcom says they’ll die permanently in the RPG. The news comes from an interview with 4Gamer, where DD2 director Hideaki Itsuno and producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi said they wanted to take death seriously this time around.

NPC’s could die in the original Dragon’s Dogma, but they would magically respawn after a week of in-game time, because of course they would.

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“NPCs may die, and if they die, they will not come back to life,” Itsuno said. “Dead NPCs are transported to the morgue. Like the previous game, the resurrection item Wakestone can also be used on NPCs. For example, if you say, ``An NPC that is absolutely necessary for the progress of the quest has died,'' you can use this to bring them back to life.”

If an NPC dies for good, that means your progress in any quests attached to them halts. Whether you’ll even know what happened depends on your relationship with that character and progress in any quests that feature them, but Itsuno said Dragon’s Dogma 2’s fortune teller will let you know when death blocks a quest.

“I believe that death is an irreversible event, so there’s a heavy emphasis on whether or not a player dies in the action part of the game,” Itsuno said in a separate interview with Automaton. “The notion that ‘f you die, you can just start over’ compromises the feeling of adventure. The possibility of death is what makes you scared and what makes you careful. The effort not to die is what creates the process of trial and error.”

Wakestones were pretty rare in the original game, and since Dragon’s Dogma 2 only supports one save file, it sounds like plenty of trial, error, and reloading is in store.

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Itsuno also said the death feature is part of a broader emphasis on relationships and affinity the team wanted to implement in the sequel. Character relationships with you and other NPCs affect quests and other events in the world, and every player’s experience will differ depending on how they interact with their allies and enemies.

Dragon's Dogma 2 and its single save file launch March 22, 2024, for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. If you're keen to get a head start and make your Arisen, check out the free character creator demo, which, conveniently, lets you transfer your creations to the full game.