Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen Reviews
Despite borrowing so much from so many different games Capcom's Western style role-player is still very much its own game – with plenty of interesting ideas of its own.
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen for the PC delivers a compelling RPG experience with great combat mechanics and a varied world to explore. It can be quite tough if you're trying to speed through the main quest, but patient players who complete side quests and gear up their character, as well as their Pawns, will find plenty of things to enjoy in Capcom's RPG.
Character customization, combat, and the weird story and brilliant end-game all make this one of my favorite action-RPG's of all time. Meanwhile, the Dark Arisen changes make the game somewhat more traversable and streamlined, turning a fun but frustrating game into something far more enjoyable. There's nothing really new here, but it's great to finally have the game on PC.
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen mixes the well-worn and overplayed clichés of the genre with just enough new stuff to keep things mostly fresh. Its story may be completely disposable, but the world itself is fascinating. It also has the honour of being one of the best-executed ports I have ever played.
Dragon's Dogma is a great action RPG, especially as a first entry in the franchise. CAPCOM successfully married the Western open world RPG with an awesome combat system and a bit of Japanese flavor; if you haven't played it until now, the PC version offers enhanced graphics and frame rate. I, for one, hope to learn about a sequel very soon.
There are also a handful of other neat features that raise it in my estimation. It's a PC port of a three year old console game, which means system requirements are very light. The gameplay is a healthy challenge. It's good value for money. All in all it's such a charming and engaging piece of work that as soon as I've wrapped this review up I'll be straight back on it. So farewell.
Dragon's Dogma nails combat and adventure, though it misses the mark somewhat with its story elements. If you overlook the game's rougher edges, you're in for great over-the-top action and high adventure.
Dragon's Dogma is about killing monsters and not really caring about the reason why.
Dragon's Dogma has a lot of flaws, but the gameplay, sound, and exploration (especially in the endgame and optional dungeon) are simply so good. If you're into action RPGs and think you can handle the obvious flaws, you owe it to yourself to experience just how good this distinctively Japanese twist on class based ARPG combat can really be.
I'd recommend this game on any platform, but the PC version is overall the best in my experience. Well worth adding to your RPG library.
As it stands, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen for the PC is a fun romp with fantastic combat mechanics and an interesting pawn system. Granted it pales in comparison to contemporary role-playing games in terms of lore and environments, but the reasonable price and slew of additions for PC games ensure there's little cause for complaint. If you've already played the game on a console, you might not be interested as there is no new content, but if you missed it the last time around, then it's not a bad buy.
The strength of Dragon's Dogma lies in its combat and its combatants.
Still one of the most charming, innovative RPGs of last generation, despite the rough edges.
Despite a tendency to force the player to work through a number of repetitive activities Dragon's Dogma delivers innovative, action-packed boss fights and the occasional twist in the story to keep things interesting. Graphically Dragon's Dogma isn't doing anything special, but for a game originally developed on the previous generation of consoles it delivers a satisfying gameplay experience on the PC.
There is nothing quite like Dragon's Dogma, even four years later revisiting it, I feel it made strides other games have still yet to imitate. For those that already made the journey though, this PC port feels more like a gesture of good faith, than a reason to return to Gransys. Still for those that have forgotten the glory, or never gave it a chance, this is the version to own.
Too many role-playing games are let down by average or mediocre combat - Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen isn't one of them.
Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen is just as solid of an entry from Capcom as it was back upon the PS3 and the Xbox 360. With lots of landscapes to explore, character classes to try out, and help to summon, there's no shortage of adventuring to be done, and once you're hooked on simply existing in the world, this is one that will last you for many dozens of hours.
Dragon's Dogma on PC is the best version of the game. It's charming and fun as the day it came out but this time at a higher resolution and better frame rate. The game engine shows its age but it's not enough to make this game less of a masterpiece.
If anything, Dark Arisen reminds me just how much I missed my time with Dragon's Dogma, and how I'd love to see another one in the works. Here's hoping Gransys has more adventures for us in future!
Overall, if you can get over the "janky"-ness of the visuals, then you will definitely find an engrossing action RPG with some great systems. The story is a bit bland, but can be made up for with strong combat, excellent controls, an interesting class system, and a wide variety of interesting enemies.