Prostitution was fairly prevalent in the medieval societies the game draws inspiration from, so I wasn’t terribly surprised to discover that there is, in fact, a brothel in Capcom’s newly released ARPG Dragon’s Dogma 2. It’s called the Rose Chateau Bordelrie, and for a hefty sum of 20,000 Gold per visit, it’s happy to satisfy the…appetite of anyone permitted past its doors — including you.
You’ll find the establishment in Vermund’s capital city Vernworth, in the southernmost point of its Noble Quarter. If you try to go inside towards the start of the game, the greeter will turn you away, explaining that only individuals with a special card can enter and take advantage of chateau’s services. Luckily, you can easily sneak through the building’s side doors, and you’ll eventually get the card you need for front door access by progressing the main story quest and meeting a certain character.
The estate has three floors, with different male and female courtesans available to hire on each. The first floor is where you’ll find beastren, the second has humans, and the third hosts special “exclusive courtesans” that one can only lie with if they’ve purchased a platinum card made available to frequent visitors. Spicy.
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I spent an evening at the bordelrie for, uh, science, and honestly? It’s pretty dry. You just get a short cutscene of you and your chosen partner climbing into bed in your skivvies as the scene fades to black, and when the lights come back on, you’re all armored up again and ready to get back to your adventure. Your paramour doesn’t even say goodbye to you — mine made for the door in record time, complaining that she hadn’t eaten dinner yet. Damn.
What’s hilarious, though, is that while your Pawns respectfully stay outside whenever you’re on the premises, they 100% know what you’re up to, and they do not stay silent about it when other players hire them. Throughout my ongoing 30-hour playthrough, I’ve had multiple Pawns expose their former master’s frequent visits to the chateau in idle conversation after catching them in 4K.
“The private quarters of one Arisen I served had many a visitor, and rarely the same one,” said one Mage named Hilda who sounded very excited to spill the tea. Another called out their Arisen for “preferring the company” of humans or beastren, though this might simply refer to the makeup of their party. Regardless, these lighthearted exposals have given me a good chuckle.
Dragon’s Dogma 2’s Pawns might just be my favorite thing about the game, as the fact they remember things like this as they venture around player worlds displays an impressive level of permanence that’s very rarely seen with game AI. It’s not just the funny stuff, either — show a Pawn that you can pick up goblins and throw them into deep water to kill them, for example, and they’ll start doing that themselves, then do it when someone else hires them, too. Pawns also remember treasure chest spots, hidden caves and dungeons, how to reach quest locations, and more.
The vast majority of my playthrough has been during the press early access period, but now that the game is out, I’m excited to see how thousands of players flooding into Dragon’s Dogma 2 will affect what its Pawns are capable of. Only time will tell, of course, though one thing I’m sure of is that they’ll continue to blab about the Rose Chateau’s return customers. Perhaps my unoriginally named Fighter beastren Lionel is telling folks I slept with someone there as I write this.
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.
