Dragon’s Dogma 2 Has The Best-Looking Video Game Food Ever

You ever look at video game food and immediately start salivating because it looks so delicious? Yeah, me neither. Or at least I hadn’t, until I saw some steaks getting chef’d up on an open flame in Dragon’s Dogma 2, the meat glistening and marbling in such a lifelike way that I was sure it was expertly crafted CGI. But no, it turns out that Ithe meat we’ve been seeing in the upcoming high-fantasy action-RPG is very real, director Hideaki Itsuno has confirmed.

Read More: Dragon’s Dogma 2 Is Heavily Inspired By GTA V, Says Director

Itsuno recently spoke to the Japanese gaming outlet 4Gamer about Dragon’s Dogma 2 and the design principles that went into the sequel. During the conversation, 4Gamer asked Itsuno about the “realistic” meat you can grill up while camping in the game, with the interviewer commenting, “just looking at it made me hungry.” Well, Itsuno revealed, there’s a good reason for that.”We could have used CG to depict the meat,” he said, “but we decided to spend the money on buying good meat instead. That’s how it came to its current form. Each type of meat obtained in the game has different visuals when grilled.”

If you haven’t had a chance to see the game’s mouthwatering cuts of meat for yourself, let me point you to exhibit A from TheGamer:

The above video comes from a September 2023 preview and features footage from TheGamer’s hands-on time with Dragon’s Dogma 2. At around the 3:30 mark, the player grills a cut of meat and the camera lovingly pans over a weirdly real-looking bone-in steak sizzling in what looks like a cast-iron skillet. I mean, these “graphics” are stunning! Like, I’d really want the GameScent for this part just so I can smell the aromas of meat getting charred atop an open flame. Well, the “graphics” are stunning here because that’s a real piece of steak really getting grilled on a real fire. And now, I want steak for dinner. Thanks a lot, Capcom.

Read More: Dragon’s Dogma 2 Could Be 2024’s Breakout RPG

All jokes aside, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is really shaping up to be 2024’s big RPG. I played the game for about three hours during a recent preview event and walked away stoked about the Mystic Spearhand, a new class that basically gives you Force powers. It launches on March 22 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S, which unfortunately is the same day the game I can’t stop thinking about, Rise of the Ronin, comes out. Too many games, too little time.