Dragon's Dogma 2 director argues against fast travel: 'All you have to do is make travel fun'

Dragon's Dogma 2 game director wants to see more devs commit to engaging travel mechanics in RPGs.

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Fast travel is one of the most convenient features in gaming, but what if you didn't have it? The game would have to be pretty compelling to keep your attention as you traveled through its world in real-time. The lack of fast travel something that Capcom's fantasy RPG series Dragon's Dogma is known for, and the game provides a unique experience as a result.

As Dragon's Dogma 2 director Hideaki Itsuno notes, RPGs could do a better job with how they approach traversal across the world. Just look at the robust discovery and engagement enjoyed in the modern Zelda duology and in Elden Ring as prime examples. If the worlds were more interesting, perhaps players may not even want to use fast travel.

"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," Itsuno said in a recent interview with IGN.

"That's why you place things in the right location for players to discover, or come up with enemy appearance methods that create different experiences each time, or force players into blind situations where they don't know whether it's safe or not ten meters in front of them."

"We've put a lot of work into designing a game where you can stumble across someone and something will happen."

Itsuno isn't completely against fast travel, and admits that the feature saves time.

Dragon's Dogma 2 releases on March 22, 2024 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.