Why is Dragon's Dogma 2's character creator so good? Its director says the RPG's team scanned "nearly 80 faces for base head variations" for starters
That's how you get Geralt and Lae'zel in the same game
Dragon's Dogma 2's character creator is so detailed and vast because its developers scanned "nearly 80 faces for base head variations."
That's according to Dragon's Dogma 2 game director Hideaki Itsuno, as relayed through the tweet from the game's official Twitter account just below. The RPG sequel's character creator is vastly improved over the original game's, primarily due to the huge number of heads Capcom scanned into the game to support the base variations for characters.
“We greatly increased the options in our character creator and wanted to make it simple to create an appealing character. We scanned nearly 80 faces for base head variations. Like with the first game, height and weight affect how they play.” - Hideaki Itsuno#DD2DevNotes pic.twitter.com/uEtalllNPOMarch 19, 2024
If you think character creation purely affects your character's cosmetic features, you'd be mistaken. Adding to the statement above, Itsuno reveals that, just like with the original Dragon's Dogma, height and weight will affect how your character plays in Dragon's Dogma 2. Think carefully before you make a broad beefcake or a two-foot-tall warrior.
I feel like the benchmark for how impressive a game's character creator is is measured by the nightmare fuel that players produce from it. Case in point: Someone's already made Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's creepy Moogles in Dragon's Dogma 2's character creator, and it's bad enough to give you nightmares for weeks.
We've also seen other wild characters recreated in Dragon's Dogma 2's character creator, including stand-ins from The Witcher 3, Chainsaw Man, Elden Ring, and Baldur's Gate 3. What's really brilliant is that these characters aren't just recognizable—they actually look downright great in their own right. Lae'zel looks like she's been plucked from Faerun and deposited in Capcom's sequel.
After 12 long years of waiting, Dragon's Dogma 2 is right around the corner from launching, and it'll be here on Friday, March 22, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. Keep an eye on our Dragon's Dogma 2 release time guide for a look at when exactly the huge RPG goes live in your region.
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Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.