Since it’s launch last week, more and more players have continued to dive into Capcom’s open world ARPG Dragon’s Dogma 2 — and that means more and more of them are discovering one of its gnarliest mechanics: Dragonsplague. This unique in-game illness exclusively infects Pawn companions and eventually transforms them into shadowy dragons, resulting in devastating calamities capable of wiping out entire towns and cities.
There are ways to spot and deal with the disease — check out my full Dragonsplague guide for what you need to know — but its symptoms are fairly subtle, and since its “nukes” trigger when you sleep in an inn or a house, Dragon’s Dogma 2’s one-save system prevents you from save scumming to avoid the consequences. Luckily, NPCs that run shops or have ties to main story quests reportedly respawn about a week after calamity strikes in most cases, though you may have to use Wakestone revival consumables on less important characters.
Unsurprisingly, a mechanic that’s this understated, yet also this ridiculously destructive has players feeling conflicted, with some arguing that it’s too harsh and poorly explained and others praising developer Capcom for adding a sickness that forces you to pay attention to your Pawns and not being afraid to punish players that don’t. In general, there’s also something of a panic about Dragonsplague going on right now in the game’s community — a panic that Capcom’s social media manager is now poking fun at.
Nice town you got there…#DragonsDogma2 #DD2 pic.twitter.com/twxzfAcx5kMarch 26, 2024
Late Tuesday morning, the official Dragon’s Dogma account on X (Twitter) shared a GIF of the start of a Dragonsplague transformation, followed by an ominous “Nice town you got there…” caption. And given how much players are freaking out about the affliction right now, it’s no surprise that a few of the folks replying to the post are a bit…upset.
“You’re laughing, you’re ruining people’s playthroughs (and not allowing them to start new ones) and you’re laughing,” wrote one, criticizing both Dragonsplague itself and Dragon’s Dogma 2’s lack of a new game option (something that’s being rectified in future updates). Another, asking “Are you serious Capcom games?” in disbelief, shared a clip of a Dragonsplague disaster and the havoc it wreaked.
Then, on the flip side, you’ve got fans of the mechanic having a good laugh at the tease and expressing their love of the concept. “Doubling down on one of the most ballsy mechanics in a game ever. Actually bravo,” said one user, followed by another fan amusedly calling out the social media person behind the post for having absolutely zero chill: “Nah this is wild, you did not need to tweet this.” Some have also expressed that while they enjoy the idea of Dragonsplague, they wish it had clearer symptoms, or that it led to miniboss fights against Pawns lost to the sickness instead of the fantasy equivalent of nuclear annihilation.
Ultimately, I tend to agree with that last camp, as I feel the warning signs are a bit too subtle to pick up on for anyone who doesn’t keep up with online discussion about Dragon’s Dogma 2 and know what to look for. I do love Dragonsplague conceptually, though, and it’s a good example of how the series’ friction-forward design philosophies have led to some unique gameplay experiences.
Some want Capcom to rebalance or rework Dragonsplague in upcoming patches, though I doubt it actually will. If you’re not a fan of it and you happen to be playing on PC, though, keep your eye on the Dragon’s Dogma 2 Nexus Mods page — someone might publish a mod that makes identifying and/or dealing with an infection easier in the near future (there’s already a sweet one for 99 cheap appearance change items).
Dragon’s Dogma 2 is available now, and it’s one of the best Xbox games and best PC games you can play in 2024 if you love action RPGs with deep, varied combat and rich fantasy worlds. Capcom’s new title is playable on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PS5 for $69.99.
