Should You Play the First Game Before Dragon’s Dogma 2?

If you’re an up-and-coming RPG player who suddenly found themselves interested in Dragon’s Dogma 2, we don’t blame you. However, during your research, you must have also discovered another Dragon’s Dogma before this upcoming one. Are you now sweating that you have approximately three days to finish a 60+ hour RPG before Dragon’s Dogma 2? So, if you’re wondering if you should play the first game before Dragon’s Dogma 2, keep reading as I answer that exact question.

Now, the first thought any player worth their salt would have is whether it’s worth playing the first game at all. Dragon’s Dogma is a great action RPG. The game also has a long, overarching storyline in which you play as an Arisen, out to kill the dragon that has stolen their heart.

That would also mean that a game with intense lore would have a story that connects to Dragon’s Dogma 2. So, when you have such a vast RPG predecessor, you’d think you’ll need to play Dragon’s Dogma before Dragon’s Dogma 2. However, this isn’t the case. In an interview with GamesRadar, Capcom Dev 1 member and series director Hideaki Itsuno says that players don’t need to play the first game before Dragon’s Dogma 2.

There is also an explanation for this. In the same interview, Itsuno also mentioned that the main character in Dragon’s Dogma 2 will have amnesia. While this is a commonly used trope, it also means you don’t need to know anything about the first game to play Dragon’s Dogma 2. Nonetheless, if the player wishes, they will have characters to get them up to speed with the lore and the world. So feel free to go ahead and play Dragon’s Dogma 2 before the first one.

At this point, we don’t exactly know how Dragon’s Dogma 2’s story ties into the first game. The trailers, while cool, didn’t give any indications. But if we go by the ending of the first Dragon’s Dogma, the game should likely be following its own story in its contained world, which means no reference to the past game.

We will know how much of this is true when Dragon’s Dogma 2 launches on March 22 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. Unfortunately, Dragon’s Dogma 2 will not be coming to Xbox Game Pass.

Are you relieved to hear you don’t need to play the previous Dragon’s Dogma? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!