Dragon's Dogma
Encyclopedia
is an upcoming action-adventure game
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...

 that is being developed by Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...

 for the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...

 and Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...

. The game has an open world
Open world
An open world is a type of video game level design where a player can roam freely through a virtual world and is given considerable freedom in choosing how to approach objectives...

 fantasy setting and is planned to be released in North America on March 27, 2012, May 1, 2012 in Europe, and sometime in early 2012 for Japan.

Gameplay

The player will be able to select between various types of characters, of which three have been revealed so far: the attack-focused fighter, the magic-focused mage, and the speedy strider. Gender choice and appearance settings will also be available.

While the player's party is exploring the world, the three party members who accompany the main character will be controlled by artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...

, but the player can issue orders like "Go", "Help" and "Come to them". One of the party members is a non-playable character (NPC) and belongs to the main character's world. The other two party members are NPCs borrowed from other players by connecting online, but the game will not require an internet connection. However, the player can only borrow the NPCs from other players, not their main character. The party members will talk, seek out the main character's help, and will even provide information about enemies. The player will need to work on strengthening not only the main character but the party members also.

The game will feature a "grab" action, where the main character can grab on or cling to enemies. The player can use this feature for more advanced attack means. For example, the main character can either grab on to a giant griffon's legs and attack it directly, or climb up to reach the top of its head for a more lethal blow. "In a lot of action games, with big enemies the tendency is just to have you hacking away at the shins. You don't get the full effect of fighting a giant boss," Itsuno, the director of Dragon's Dogma says. "With this game you can climb all over it. If it has a body part, you can attack it." The ability to climb enemies has drawn comparisons to Shadow of the Colossus
Shadow of the Colossus
Shadow of the Colossus, released in Japan as , is an action-adventure game published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. The game was released in North America and Japan in October 2005 and PAL territories in February 2006...

.

In addition to the large open world, Dragon's Dogma will also feature a large main city environment with over 200 NPCs who will move about according to their own time schedules. The player will be able to communicate with the residents in full voice.

The game is being designed to be playable even by those who aren't too skilled at action games. These types of players can recruit strong NPCs and let them do the fighting during combat as they watch over the battlefield.

Players can look forward to anywhere between 30 and 100 hours of game time from Dragon's Dogma, with the former figure for normal play with the latter figure for those who wish to dig in to the game.

Plot

During its raid on the fishing village of Casadeis, a dragon approaches the hero of the story, telling him/her that he/she is the “chosen one” and proceeds to tear out his/her heart. With his/her heart ripped out, the hero’s death is inevitable. However, through some unknown miracles, the hero is saved from certain death. Now revived as an “enlightened one”, he/she is destined to find and kill the dragon that stole his/her heart.

Development

During the press conference at Capcom's Captivate event in 2011, director Hideaki Itsuno said that Dragon's Dogma is a game he had been dreaming about making since his school days. He was able to realize it now due to advancing technology, and has been directing a staff of around 150 people at Capcom Japan for the past two years development time (three years including conceptual phases). As of April of 2011, the game's development status is at 50 percent.
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