At the gamescom 2026, MeinMMO was able to speak with the Game Director and the Producer behind the upcoming Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen. The interview covered topics such as the big dragon, the Hardmode, and whether Capcom has ever considered adding a multiplayer feature.
Who did MeinMMO speak with in the interview?
- Kento Kinoshita is the Game Director behind Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen and previously worked as Lead Game Designer on the main game. In addition, he was the Director for the DLC of the first Dragon’s Dogma and for the DLC of Resident Evil: Village.
- The Producer of the game, Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, was also present during the interview. He has worked as a producer on many titles from Capcom, including Ōkami, Resident Evil 4 (Remake), and most recently, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess.
- As an interpreter, Patrick Shields was present, translating from Japanese to English.
The interview has been editorially edited and slightly shortened for readability. We have also divided the conversation into sections. An overview of the individual topics can be found here:
MeinMMO: Hello and thank you very much for this opportunity. […] Are there aspects in “Dragon’s Dogma 2” that you’re not entirely satisfied with and want to improve in “Dark Arisen”?
Kento Kinoshita: Although we did look at player feedback on “Dragon’s Dogma 2”, one of the main things we wanted to improve was the number of weapon skills that can be equipped at the same time.
While many players said they really enjoyed the action combat of the game, they felt limited by only four weapon skills. Therefore, I have set myself the focus to make sure to increase this number, and now you can set six weapon skills at the same time. This means you have many more options to combine both existing skills and new ones that you find in “Dark Arisen” to build your own “toolkit” and enjoy a strategically deeper action experience. By the way, you won’t have to wait for the DLC for this. It will be included in the free update coming, September 2nd, so you can enjoy the six weapon skills very soon in the base game.
Another point I wanted to remove some frustration about was the “Eternal Ferrystone”. While I think a part of the “Dragon’s Dogma” experience is about moving on foot or with the ox cart and taking various risks on the adventure – maybe the cart will be attacked
. I know that some players felt that they just wanted to fast travel more easily for efficiency reasons in some play sessions or that they simply [have too little] time to play today. We added the “Eternal Ferrystone” to give players the choice. If you want the classic “Dragon’s Dogma” experience, where you have to run and things happen along the way, you can still choose to do so – but you can just as easily choose to fast travel as often as you want.
The new area and the new dragon
MeinMMO: One of the biggest additions in “Dark Arisen” is Norgan, the new location. Was that planned during the development of the main game, or did the idea come to mind after the release of “Dragon’s Dogma 2”?
Kento Kinoshita: It is the latter. That was an idea we had when we began development of the expansion itself. After the original game was released, we continued to update it with free title updates for about six months and evaluated player feedback on the original game. After this period of about six months, we found that many players were saying, “We love the game, but we want more – we want to return to the world of Dragon’s Dogma and experience more adventures.” So we decided back then: Let’s develop our expansion – and that’s how the idea of creating the new frozen wasteland emerged.
MeinMMO: Yes, we’re just talking about the frozen wasteland
. How will the cold weather affect gameplay and perhaps also the movement in the world?
Kento Kinoshita: It’s not just a pretty visual effect. The cold weather has huge effects on gameplay. For instance, your character starts freezing under particularly cold weather conditions. Maximum stamina will start to reduce, and you have to find a way to deal with the cold.
But visibility is also reduced during snowstorms, and there are additional design elements like avalanches triggered by snow and icicles on the map. These are things that can be dangerous but can also be used to your advantage to defeat enemies with these environmental elements. And things like wind direction – whether it helps or hinders you on your journey – show that the weather in Norgan is a crucial factor.
MeinMMO: Another big eye-catcher in “Dark Arisen” is the Fallen Dragon. I love the design, and even more, I loved fighting against it. What ideas and inspirations were behind its design, as well as its moves and attacks?
Kento Kinoshita: The starting concept for this character was really the idea of a zombie dragon or an undead dragon. In the world of “Dragon’s Dogma”, the hearts of dragons are a really important concept. So the idea [was] that there could be this heartless dragon with a hole in its chest that seems undying, which could be seen in the gameplay: Even when you cut off its body parts, they regenerate and grow back. “How can such a thing even exist in this world? How are we supposed to defeat it?” From both a visual and gameplay standpoint, I thought that was a really fun direction to grow.
MeinMMO: And can you tell us more about the new female character and her connection to the dragon?
Kento Kinoshita: This mysterious woman Eir appears just when you are at the seemingly lowest point of your battle against the fallen dragon – and […] she comes to support you. What exactly her relationship is to this almost impossible undead dragon and how she is going to help you is something that we are keeping a secret so that players can unravel the story when they finally play the game on October 9th to find out who she is and why she is chasing this dragon. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you right now, but look forward to it. I think once you do, you will understand why we have chosen the name “Dark Arisen” again. The implications of this title for the storyline will become clear.
Innovations and Hardmode
MeinMMO: Since several new enemies were seen in the trailers. Could you tell us more about these new enemy types and how they fit into the world and the new location? For me, I loved this giant Bigfoot thing with the tusks and the wooden weapon.
Kento Kinoshita: Thank you for saying you enjoyed the new designs. My concept was that the new region, Norgan, should be a rather challenging area and that the enemies should be designed to represent a step up from the areas of the base game. I think you have already seen in the first areas that many of the enemy designs are based on this icy theme – so things that remind a bit of Bigfoot or an abominable snowman. However, we have really only shown these early sections and the icy-themed enemies in the marketing so far. As you progress, there will be more enemy types that lead into the darkness […]. I don’t want to give away too much at this stage, but let’s just say that there are not only ice-themed enemies and that there are more interesting mysteries to look forward to.
MeinMMO: You’ve implemented new skills for the vocations. Was there one that you particularly loved when developing “Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen”?
Kento Kinoshita: I usually play as the fighter vocation, so there are many skills I enjoyed in the DLC. But if I had to pick one, it would be one that you can access relatively early in it. […] It’s a spinning attack, and you can spin up to six times in total. So it is a really great way to do some serious damage quite early on in Dark Arisen.
MeinMMO: Another aspect is the “Lost Rites”. Are they more of an endgame experience for players who have invested a lot of hours into the game, or are they more of a mix of easier sections and hardcore sections for experienced players?
Kento Kinoshita: The difficulty is not just about how tough the enemies are. Each dungeon also has its own unique concept. So there might be a dungeon that is so deep that the distance you have to travel is so far that it gets harder and harder. Or the design of another dungeon might actually require using ranged attacks rather than melee attacks. Each of them presents a challenge considering how difficult it is to defeat it – not just in terms of difficulty.
MeinMMO: Were there any concerns regarding the balance of “Dark Arisen”, considering that there are players who may have already played for 500 hours and others who have only played for 50 hours?
Kento Kinoshita: It’s difficult to balance that, as you said, there are players who have maxed out the stat caps and are at level 999. So considering that, we always take into account the range of the player base with each new content and enemy. While we recommend being around level 40 to start in the Norgan area, it’s entirely up to the players whether they want to go there earlier or later.
If you are a very high-level player who has played a lot of hours and has a very high-level character and want to increase the challenge even more, we recommend trying the Hardmode. We will add this for free with the title update on October 9th, so it applies to both the base game and the DLC. Activate Hardmode, and it will simply be much harder – so see if you have what it takes.
MeinMMO: Can you give us some details about Hardmode?
Kento Kinoshita: The Hardmode will be accessible via both a new save slot and existing save slots. Even if you have already started a game, you can activate Hardmode – but be warned: Once you activate it, it will stay activated until you finish the game, so you can’t just turn it on and off at will. Make sure you are ready for the challenge.
Regarding the content: It’s not just about increasing the stats of the enemies, but there are also adjustments to the placement and behavior of the enemies as well as the AI, creating an overall more challenging experience to meet the needs of hardcore players who feel they have become too overpowered. […]
Pawns and Multiplayer
MeinMMO: And what were the changes to the companions or the Pawns in the game? Did you only make some fine-tuning, or were there larger changes? Perhaps regarding the AI, their movements, or their positioning in battles?
Kento Kinoshita: We made a whole range of updates and improvements to the Pawns, including new abilities that they can use to assist you, as well as new commands that you can give them. Many of these will actually be added in the free title update coming on September 2nd, so you won’t have to wait for the DLC to try out the improved version of the Pawns from the DLC. However, there are, of course, further additions: The Pawns will be able to assist you in your adventures in the new Norgan area, along with some new Pawn specializations that will also be added in “Dark Arisen”.
MeinMMO: Compared to “Dragon’s Dogma 1: Dark Arisen”, which was somewhat different since it was another version after the release: What was different this time in the approach to the new “Dark Arisen” compared to its predecessor?
Kento Kinoshita: Since I was the director for both the original and the current “Dark Arisen” DLC, there are certain overlaps in my approach. In both cases, I want to take the base game and provide a new player experience while considering the vision of the original developers.
In both cases, I essentially went for a loot-based cycle. In the first “Dark Arisen”, it was more of a dungeon crawler where a single new location was added – the Bitterblack Isle – and you delved deeper and deeper into this dungeon each time to see what loot you could gather. However, with the DLC of the sequels, I felt, “Well, if you are a fan of “Dragon’s Dogma”, you have already played “Dark Arisen””. I don’t want to do exactly the same thing again. Therefore, while much of the concept – concerning the relic expedition cycle and the gathering of loot – is similar, I thought this time that adding a completely new open map area would present an interesting change in the hack-and-slash loot genre.
MeinMMO: I believe that when you look at “Dragon’s Dogma” from the outside, it seems like a pretty typical Western RPG. But it does some things differently, so it stands apart from others. What, in your opinion, makes this game particularly unique compared to other games in this genre?
Kento Kinoshita: I think the one massive difference compared to other fantasy open-world RPGs is the Pawns themselves. This is one of the unique features of “Dragons Dogma” that you won’t find in any other game series. This feeling that you are playing a single-player game but almost as if you are part of a group with other adventurers who support each other and push forward in exploration together. I think that’s something you don’t really find anywhere else.
And regarding the action itself, I believe we bring a certain depth to a Capcom game that has such strong action DNA. Each of the vocations has its own unique concept, and the variety of abilities we offer, as well as the freedom we give players to decide which abilities they use and how they strategically approach each encounter to successfully defeat the enemies – this action depth is also a unique selling point.
MeinMMO: Did you ever, at any time in the development of Dark Arisen or the base game, did you ever thought about adding multiplayer, or are the Pawns the main focus?
Yoshiaki Hirabayashi: As you said, we consider the pawns to be the feature that essentially makes it feel as close to a multiplayer experience as possible while still maintaining what makes a single-player RPG fun. So we have never considered adding that in, and I think the identity of this series is really inseparable from that feeling of a single-player adventure with a party.
MeinMMO: Thank you very much.
Are you looking forward to Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen and which aspect of it the most? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. At gamescom 2026, MeinMMO was able to conduct several interviews, including with the mind behind the upcoming Cinder City: He created legendary MMORPGs, now he is making a sci-fi shooter: We spoke with the head of Cinder City about the upcoming coop title
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