Capcom is set to release Dragon’s Dogma 2 almost a decade after the first one, and the director took this opportunity to share a few snippets from the title. In the interview with IGN, Hideaki Itsuno, the director of the upcoming open-world game shared his dislike towards the fast travel feature in games. According to him, titles that have boring worlds and uneventful travel systems are the only ones to use this feature.
Fast travel features for open-world games became popular as it reduces the time taken to travel from one point of the map to another. With most modern RPGs fielding massive maps, this was a welcome feature for players who just wanted in on the action. However, there are a few who prefer immersion and choose to cover the distance in the traditional way.
Why do some people like complicating things for no reason? Make fast travel like everyone else and let’s move on.
— DarkSirius (@The_Darksirius) January 24, 2024
Although fans of Dragon’s Dogma didn’t approve of the director’s thoughts, the view shared by Hideaki Itsuno cannot be disregarded as there are some games like Starfield that have boring travel systems. Furthermore, the only travel possible in the space RPG is through an overly complex interface, which offers no immersion.
On the other hand, No Man’s Sky terminates this tediousness by making space travel seamless. Although the game does have a fast travel option, it provides players the experience of zooming through space on a lighting fast spaceship, which surely adds to the immersion.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 Director Hideaki Itsuno says he doesn’t want his game to rely on FastTravel
“Fast Travel is boring? That’s not true. It’s only an issue because your game is Boring”
He isn’t against easy travel but favors an immersive approach for Dragons Dogma 2.
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— HazzadorGamin, Dragon of Dojima (@HazzadorGamin) January 23, 2024
Another fine example of immersive world-building is Red Dead Redemption 2. While even this game has a fast travel option, players rarely use it as galloping through the Wild West is much more satisfying. Moreover, the title also rewards players who choose to travel traditionally by having them experience random events in the thoroughly detailed and lived-in world.
Keeping all these positives in mind, the director of Dragon’s Dogma 2, Hideaki Itsuno, chose to keep the title immersive and said the following about fast travel:
We’ve put a lot of work into designing a game where you can stumble across someone and something will happen, so while it’s fine if it does have fast travel, we decided to design the kind of map where players will make the decision for themselves to travel by bike or on foot in order to enjoy the journey.
Does Fast Travel take away from immersion and how does Dragon’s Dogma 2 fix the issues surrounding it?
Fast Traveling is a handy feature for open-world games as it curbs the time taken for traveling, leaving players with more time to focus on the action. However, yes, fast travel does kill the immersion to some extent.
The quote is: “Travel is boring? That’s not true. It’s only an issue because your game is boring. All you have to do is make travel fun”
It’s not about fast travel but about travel – having to go from point A to B that he thinks should be fun.
— The BOAT (@ThePalacePlayer) January 24, 2024
Red Dead Redemption 2 and Cyberpunk 2077 are excellent examples of immersive worlds that make players forget about fast traveling. On the other hand, Starfield only used fast travel as a means of traversal which indeed made it boring.
FastTravel is intentionally limited, pushing players to engage more deeply with world through traditional methods
A new form fast travel will be added called ferrystone, akin to Skyrim wagons, but with exciting twists and random encounter, getting attacked by Beasts etc
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— HazzadorGamin, Dragon of Dojima (@HazzadorGamin) January 23, 2024
Dragon’s Dogma 2 aims to give an experience that makes its open-world interactive and not boring. The developers wish to deliver a game experience that is not full of loading screens, allowing players to focus on the story and narrative. Nevertheless, the upcoming open-world will indeed have a fast travel option, though it will be kept limited.
