Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen Reviews

This game has been one of my favorites for a long time. Even to this day I come back and play it. This and DD2. Right now I am trying to get my trophy in the playstation. Since the playstation network is down I may start a new game here on Steam. :)

Sure, the story might be questionable at times but it IS straightforward and understandable (has rare moments of peak writing). The gameplay is EXTREMELY addictive, the pawns can be smart if you discover what each inclination does (and also properly building them up.) which I did not expect from such a old game, overall 8.5/10, Gameplay wise it is a straight 9.5

great game, build up your character and take on mighty bosses, annihilate minions and advance to new heights as you uncover more powerful skills. pick your battles wisely, and destroy those pesky monsters.

DDDA has the best RPG level-progression mechanics I have ever experienced. The reason I feel that way is that in this specific game, my choice of vocation truly mattered in the short, medium, and long term. In the beginning, I couldn't fight my way out of a paper bag. As I progressed, I began to start getting meaningful stat increases and meaningful weapon and armor upgrades. These increases affected my party composition, my fighting strategy, and my exploration strategy. Over time, I was forced to adapt to different methods for different challenges. Eventually, I gained enough power to survive even the most brutal challenge. My choices were meaningful, and I could not change vocations without impact down the road. I had to pay close attention to my stats and party formation to augment those stats. While the progression mechanics and item stats were outstanding, there are areas of the game that are very weak. One area is the overall plot which, once you reach the end, has some really glaring holes. Another area is the side quests, which almost all tend to be fetch quests, escort or kill quests. Even quests where there is a theme usually plays out by fetching, killing, and/or escorting. This is standard for RPGs, but at some point boredom set in, which is probably due to the same things spawning the same places each and every time. Overall, I really enjoyed the game until close to the end, when I just wanted to complete it and move on.

Although I give this game a thumbs up, my recommendation is limited to the first 20-30 hours and does not extend past the free-form exploration aspect. [b]+ Magic and class systems:[/b] Aside from you character level, you can also level up your class by killing enemies and completing quests. The more you level your class, the more skills you can unlock. During the playthrough you are encouraged to try out multiple classes, though the progression towards the class level cap is a bit grindy. Aside from this, the mage archetype has some of the most fun spells I've seen in any game. However, I suggest starting out as a warrior for some of its permanent buffs early on. [b]+ Level and world design:[/b] Open swaths of land that let you see landmarks in the distance which you will eventually get to visit. The atmosphere is almost often breathtaking. I found myself spending a good amount of time admiring a stormy see from the foot of the capital's walls, or wandering withered woods surrounding a hidden cloister. The human settlements are indicative of a decaying civilization, not unlike Dark Souls. The day-night cycle impacts gameplay, with enemies becoming more aggressive after dusk. [b]± Pawn system:[/b] You can essentially enlist up to three mercenaries to help you. While one of them is created by you alongside your character, the remaining ones can either be randomly generated or other players' creation. In this regard, the game is quite innovative in that it allows your pawn to be summoned by other players and while you're not playing, gain experience and quest knowledge. However, their voice lines quickly get repetitive and the lack of banter that we've come to expect from Dragon Age 1 & 2 companions is sorely missed. It is [i]very[/i] annoying how little control you have over your pawns. You can't force them to utilize consumables in any way or tell them to focus a specific target. In certain situations, you may be playing a melee character and need to destroy a floating object to defeat an enemy. However, all of your ranged pawns will focus the (invulnerable) enemy itself, leaving you with no recourse. [b]- Graphics:[/b] Already very dated by any conceivable standards. Even from a technical standpoint, the game is lacking. The render distance for enemies is significantly lower than that of the environment. It is uncanny to be looking down at a valley and be able to identify the relief but not the 6 meter giant playing in the river. To make matters worse, the game has severe pop-in issues with objects spawning from nowhere or LoD textures changing at very close distances. [b]- Bad PC port:[/b] Feels like no effort was put into this endeavor. Each menu is a pain to navigate. There is no "quit to desktop" option, taking 10-15 seconds to properly exit the game without Alt+F4-ing it. There are no keybinds for elementary windows such as the map or the quest log, each having to be accessed from the options menu (Esc). Similarly, there are different windows for inventory and equipment, for no obvious reason. Although I can eventually put up with bad UI / UX design, the one thing I can't tolerate are the crashes when Alt-Tab-ing. [b]- Combat scaling:[/b] There is an artificial level threshold that you need to clear when fighting monsters. If that is not met, your damage output becomes effectively 0. However, this does not seem to affect the AI companions that were the same level. [b]- Story:[/b] From the first scene in the game, the goal of slaying the dragon is established as your soul purpose. However, after defeating the dragon, a fight which is longer but essentially scripted and easier than the last mini-boss that you encounter prior to challenging it, there is an epilogue. In this epilogue, you are forced to grind a certain consumable for 3-4 hours only for the game to end with a ridiculously easy encounter. Aside from this needless overarching plot line, everything that you do in terms of main story quests between the first 3-4 hours and the battle with the dragon can be categorized as busywork. Moreover, the characters have no real personality for the most part and are not developed in any real sense. To make things worse, it is very easy to miss side quests that could potentially help with this problem. What little dialogue there is in the cut scenes is cringe inducing and shallow and would have been better left unsaid.

Game is fun but incredibly jank. After 8 or so hours encountered a game breaking bug where it suddenly stopped letting me hire new pawns. Pawns in the overworld simply stopped having an enlist button, and any time I went into the rift to get them I would be hit with repeated connection failure messages. Not an issue with my internet as far as I can tell, everything else works fine and game was fine until that point.

Oh, Dragon's Dogma, what a gem you could've been. - Game is still fun to play, even a decade after release. - Probably one of the best combat system in genre with lots of skills, classes (vocations), armor, weapons and tools to use. - Very different playstyles depending not only on your class, but quite literally on the character you've created (from bulky warrior throwing golblins off cliffs to a powerful archmage showering enemies with meteors). - Create your perfect party (or play as a solo assassin, if you dare). - Little to no hand-holding, one save file for playthrough. - Beautiful music. - Story...is there, but it's definitely not on the strong side. This game is for you if you love action rpg's and challenging gameplay.

Great game! In my opinion, it's like an easygoing, less serious version of a Dark Souls game. The Bitterblack Isle content definitely ramps up the difficulty and makes it a lot more like a true Souls game, but it was a welcome change of pace that made Dragon's Dogma very balanced overall.

Fun combat and still looks good after all these years. The pawn system is unique and interesting.

A classic modern action RPG, with elements from Monster Hunter and Shadow of the Colossus. Plays well on Steam Deck