Today’s dev blog comes to us from Kento Kinoshita, one of the key designers of  Dragon’s Dogma.  Kinoshita-san has previously contributed his expertise to the  Monster Hunter  series as a main planner and designer. He has worked with the  Dogma  team to create a robust AI system and fun, dynamic action. 

Kinoshita-san will also be appearing on our livestream on Friday, March 16th, 1-3pm PT. Don’t miss it!

In the world of Dragon’s Dogma the player takes on the role of one character, but is able to create their very own “main pawn”. One of the fun parts of Dragon’s Dogma is being able to put your own likes and particularities into your main pawn during the creation phase. 

The main pawn will be traveling with the player on this long journey and you will select everything, including appearance, job, equipment, and skills, among other things. For example, here is my main pawn that I made. I couldn’t help myself and I ended up making my main pawn a cute girl to my liking.

In this game, the player does not just singlehandedly decide if the main pawn does this or that. The main pawn learns from the way the player’s moves, will, and the decisions the player makes.

 • When faced against a group of enemies, does the player take down the stronger enemies or the weaker enemies first?
• Does the player hesitate or go right into battle? Does the player flee?
• About how much damage will the player take before they heal themselves?
• At what time does the player give orders and what do they want?

Every time the player does something, this will have an effect on the pawn’s thoughts and movements. To sum it up, the main pawn will not just look how the player wants them to, but the main pawn will also know the player’s likes and habits better than anyone else.

Also, by using particular places in the cities and villages known as “armrests”, the player will be able to educate their main pawn. Through a simple exchange of conversation with the main pawn, the player will be able to decide on what characteristics and attributes will be increased.

You can also change the words that the pawn uses during the teaching process. This will not have a major impact on the game, but some lines spoken by the pawns will change and that too becomes one of the pawn’s characteristics that the player can enjoy.

The main pawns are beings comprised of each player’s unique feelings. This is a major source of the game’s fun. Why is that? Because in the world of Dragon’s Dogma, main pawns are made by players all over the world, brought into the game, and can be made a part of your team.

Please look forward to going on adventures with the pawns made by those close to you, those around the world, and even famous people.