Dragon’s Dogma 2has received a 15 minute stream that revealed both its release date and a little more information about the July 31, 2025 RPG. There’s a lot to enjoy here, especially if you’re a long-time DD fan like myself. Besides the impressive graphics, larger-than-life monster encounters, and the intriguing parallel universe storyline, Dragon’s Dogma 2 looks to be taking all of the things that made the original awesome, and buffing and shining them.
But one thing I’m curious about is how the game will handle its romance system.
Dragon’s Dogma Dark Arisen Romance System
Dragon’s DogmaDark Arisen surprised me back in 2012 for having a romance system. Not only that, but it was an inclusive experience, allowing your Arisen to romance practically anyone regardless of gender.
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The problem with the romance system, though, was two-fold: 1. It was a guessing game. 2. you may end up with someone completely different from what you expected.
Early on, when I first played the game, my friend and I had to use fan-created romance guides to attempt to get through the janky system. Of all the NPCs in the game, I had a soft spot for the wayward merchant you meet along the road very early on in the game named Reynard. You come across him being beaten up by a group of goblins and have to time your attacks well enough that he doesn’t die. He has quite a lively voice and gives you an animal skin cape for your problems. I wore it throughout the game as a silly reminder of him.
Along the way, you meet him at various times, and in order to get into his good favor, you’ll have to give him gifts, buy stuff from him, and make sure to do his escort quest, which is quite the pain. It’s a long way into a dangerous area, and over the course of the journey, he can die. I personally waited until I received in-game portals, and Ferrystones (for fast traveling) and whooshed my way there.
He will also help you with some of the game’s story quests, including giving you the option to buy forged documents that can help you turn a criminal case into your desired outcome. When he gains your trust, he reveals that he’s looking for certain tablets that are related to his father. And of course I had to look for those too. The way I’ve written my interactions with Reynard may sound only minorly annoying but quite intriguing, I’m aware. But mind you, after reading several different online guides, I had to reload saves several times and ensure I didn’t get much affection from other people.
That’s the thing — the one who becomes your romance is the one who has the highest affection for you. For a distraught friend I was playing with, his romantic scene included Fornival, a sniveling, unattractive man who he had zero interest in. But he didn’t know any better. All he knew was that he wanted some of the best items in the game, and that meant doing Fournival’s quests. I remember laughing at him for like thirty minutes but also having empathy for him. It had ruined the immersion for him. His Arisen was a character that mirrored his own personality and looks.
In order to get my desired romance, I had to continuously pull out and sheath my weapon to make the NPCs who loved me like me less. (It sounds strange outside of the game, but was a non-confrontational way to make nearby NPCs dislike you.) And in a few impossible situations, I straight punched them in the face or killed them if I wasn’t sure about their affection meter.
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How Can Dragon’s Dogma 2 Improve Its Romance System?
Dragon’s Dogma 2 is looking much more polished than the first release in so many ways. And while the romance system hasn’t been officially announced, it’s hard to believe that such a system wouldn’t come back. It was quite the feat gathering the Arisen’s Bond ring, which was meant to solidify your relationship with the NPC you’d give it to (but ultimately still had players end up in strange romances like Fournival regardless of giving the ring to someone else.) It was also quite clever how they involved your most beloved character as a bartering tool with the final conflict with the dragon Grigori. For me, watching poor Reynard dance against the Grigori’s fire like a toy as he waxed poetics about heroes and choices made me want to beat that dragon down even more.
In Dragon’s Dogma 2’s parallel world, the Arisen’s Bond ring can make an appearance as well. But this time, the game needs to stick with the choice. There shouldn’t be any doubt about who loves us if we went through all the trouble to get the ring and save the one we love, and who we want waiting for us in our house when we return home.
I think an affection system similar to the Xenoblade Chronicles series would work. In short, when you meet someone, they’re put into this social network. From the menu, you can look for their name, see where they stand with you and work from there. I would also like a warning of some sort. For instance, if Fournival was indeed getting the hots for my character, let me know, and give me the option to deny him my company.
Love Wins!
I’m sure that the developers are mindful of the mess that was the original romance system. Within the remastered version there were some tweaks, such as the aforementioned ring having more weight on who was your chosen partner, but the overall problem wasn’t fixed. I’m looking forward to playing Dragon’s Dogma 2 with more meaningful and romantic relationships.
