Summary
Avalanche Software’sHogwarts Legacy 2is still likely years away, but the developer is undoubtedly already taking notes for its next great open-worldHarry Potteradventure. However, whileHogwarts Legacy 2is still on the drawing board, it might consider looking at Capcom’sDragon’s Dogma 2for some cues on how to craft its open world.
Dragon’s Dogmaset a precedent for the open-world genre, and it appearsDragon’s Dogma 2is aiming to do the same. As such, there is one particular feature ofDragon’s Dogma 2thatHogwarts Legacy 2could learn from to improve upon its predecessor and give fans the open-world experience they desired from the beginning.
How Dragon’s Dogma 2’s Approach to Fast Travel Can Benefit Hogwarts Legacy 2
Dragon’s Dogma 2’s Fast Travel Has Restrictions
Despite having a significantly larger world than its predecessor,Dragon’s Dogma 2places restrictions on fast travel by requiring players touse valuable Ferrystones to teleport.Dragon’s Dogmafans may recognize this mechanic, as it was also used in the first game. While this has proven to be a divisive feature among fans who prefer to reach their destinations swiftly, Capcom implemented it for a rather noble reason.
Dragon’s Dogma 2’s director, Hideaki Itsuno, emphasized the importance of fast travel restrictions in games during an interview with IGN when he said that they chose to “design the map in a way that the journey [itself] could be enjoyed.” In other words, Itsuno and Capcom wanted to ensure players would experienceDragon’s Dogma 2’s open world rather than miss it due to fast travel, and they accomplished this by refusing to allow unrestricted fast travel.
Dragon’s Dogma 2and its predecessor aren’t the first games to implement fast travel restrictions. For example,Horizon Forbidden Westrequires players to use valuable Fast Travel Packsto travel from anywhere at any time. If players wish to fast travel for free, they first have to reach a campfire and then depart from there. However, Ferrystones aren’t the only method of fast travel inDragon’s Dogma 2.
Players can also make use of Oxcarts inDragon’s Dogma 2, which function similarly toRed Dead Redemption 2’s stagecoaches. Unfortunately, despite the appeal that traveling via Oxcart may have, they bring with them the possibility of being ambushed along the way.
These limitations may feel unnecessary or burdensome to some, but they add value toDragon’s Dogma 2’s open world, and they could do the same forHogwarts Legacy 2.
Restrictions on Hogwarts Legacy 2’s Fast Travel Could Benefit Its Open World
Like many open-world games that allow fast travel, players could perform the action from anywhere for free inHogwarts Legacy. Fortunately, in doing so, players wouldn’t miss much ofHogwarts Legacy’s world, as many fans and critics found theHarry Potteradventure’s open world to be rather empty and lifeless at the end of the day. However, implementing fast travel restrictions such as those inDragon’s Dogma 2could allowHogwarts Legacy 2to avoid that same criticism.
The notion of fast travel restrictions opensHogwarts Legacy 2up to some incredible opportunities. If Avalanche Software aimed to place restrictions on fast travel inHogwarts Legacy 2, it would simultaneously give a reason to make its open world more interesting.
After all, heavy encouragement from the game’s mechanics to explore its open world would simultaneously require that world to be worth exploring. In makingthe open world ofHogwarts Legacy 2more interesting, players would then be more behooved to explore on foot or broom, which should arguably be a goal in any open-world adventure. At the very least, what Capcom has chosen to do withDragon’s Dogma 2should serve as an example for all open-world developers to follow.
