Dragon's Dogma 2 is heading into its Dark Arisen expansion with a wave of changes, and two in particular are dominating the conversation: a major overhaul to fast travel, and — perhaps more excitingly for longtime fans — the ability to high-five your Pawn on command. Fast Travel Gets Easier, But It's Optional Dragon's Dogma 2's traversal systems have always been divisive. Some players love the friction of the game's original approach to travel; others find it tedious. A recent free update, arriving ahead of the paid Dark Arisen expansion, introduces a more convenient fast travel option. Director Kenta Kinoshita and producer Naoto Oyama have been quick to stress that this new system is additive rather than mandatory — the goal, they say, is giving players more choice, not steering everyone toward the same playstyle. Bigger Expansion Details Beyond travel, Dark Arisen is shaping up to be a substantial content drop. The expansion adds a new northern region aimed at high-level characters, featuring fresh story content and a repeatable, randomized loot chase. The base game will also receive 12 new "Last Rites" dungeons, designed to help lower-level characters catch up to expansion-appropriate power quickly. The Real Star: Pawn Interactions For many fans, though, the headline feature isn't the new region or the loot — it's the promise of deeper Pawn interactivity. Kinoshita has described Pawn companionship as core to the series' identity, and Dark Arisen leans into that with new cooperative actions: Pawns blocking attacks on the Arisen's behalf, pulling the player up while climbing, and — in Title Update 3.2, arriving at the end of August — commands for exploration and, yes, high-fives. It's a small addition in the grand scheme of an expansion built around new regions and dungeons, but for players who've spent hundreds of hours bonding with their AI companions, finally being able to celebrate a hard-won victory together might be the update that matters most. Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen launches on Steam on October 8.
