Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen is coming later this year, and before that, Capcom is releasing updates to address player complaints. But that doesn't mean modders are waiting for things to quiet down again before working on ambitious user-made expansions.

SonicaKP is a player who's been working on some interesting mods that seek to expand the open-world action RPG beyond its mechanical limits. Last month, they uploaded RiftSpeak to Nexus Mods, a PC modification that "gives your Dragon's Dogma 2 main pawn natural AI conversation and the will to act on it". Now, they're working on a familiar homesteading modification that seems to bring a lot of Fallout 4 & 76 into the world of Dragon's Dogma.

As seen in the gameplay demo shared above, the mod is still a work in progress, but the player can be seen building a house in the countryside from scratch after collecting some resources. It also shows plenty of pieces of furniture that can be acquired for the right amount of gold. While other customisation mods feel more like cheats and shortcuts to get cool stuff into the game, the vision behind this one seems more natural and adjusted to the vanilla game's rhythm and many systems.

SonicaKP isn't willing to share a tentative release date yet, but has teased it's part "of a much bigger expansion" that aims to include features like creature taming, new mounts (including griffins), actual homesteading mechanics, gardening, and more. Skyrim fans will think of the Hearthfire DLC as well, and I personally believe it was the main inspiration behind this mod.

Ahead of Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen's 9th October launch, we know Capcom and the game's core development team seek to "win back the trust" of RPG fans. Original DD1: Dark Arisen director Kenta Kinoshita has been tasked with leading the expansion-sized DLC, and he's confident he has "what it takes to continue the series' legacy".