Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

About

The critically acclaimed action-RPG Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen combines exhilarating and deep combat with the freedom to explore the huge open world of Gransys in 1080p HD graphics. Choose between nine different classes and embark on your own adventure along with three AI companions, known as Pawns. Use the deep combat system to wield devastating skills and magicks to take on fabled monsters or c…

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

94%

Audience ScoreBased on 100 reviews

gameplay6 positive mentions

story7 negative mentions

The game features a smooth gameplay experience with improved graphics and performance on the PS4 compared to the PS3 version.
The pawn system is innovative and adds depth to the gameplay, allowing players to create and share companions with unique abilities.
Dragon's Dogma offers a vast open world with engaging combat mechanics, making it a highly addictive RPG experience.

The story and quest design are often criticized for being lackluster, repetitive, and not engaging enough to hold players' interest.
The game suffers from a convoluted menu and upgrade system, which can be frustrating for players trying to navigate their progress.
There are limitations with save files and fast travel, which can hinder the overall experience and lead to player frustration.

story
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
67%
21%
The story in the game is generally considered weak, with many reviewers noting its lack of depth and coherence, often feeling hollow or generic. While the main plot has potential, it is overshadowed by repetitive quests and mediocre voice acting, leading to frustration when side quests become unavailable due to story progression. Despite these shortcomings, players appreciate the engaging combat and extensive gameplay, which can overshadow the narrative flaws.
- “The storyline doesn’t have much of a life-changing experience a book would give you, but it’s highly addictive if you’re the type of gamer that likes grinding your character's levels, exploring maps, finding new and better gear, or just straight-up bashing on monsters.”
- “This game has many upsides being that it is open world, has many foes, is well balanced, and even has a pretty good story with many hours of playtime.”
- “A story about a person who encountered a dragon that stole their heart and is destined to fight a great evil.”
- “The main story arc feels very hollow and empty and has huge gaps that really don't make any sense.”
- “The voice acting is mediocre to downright poor and the vast majority of quests are escorts or 'kill x of y' (both of which I despise and pretty much didn't do).”
- “To wrap up, the combat is fun and engaging but the game gets bogged down with a poor storyline, acting, and repetitiveness.”
gameplay
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
18%
27%
The gameplay is widely praised for its smoothness and enjoyable mechanics, particularly in combat, making it one of the best RPG experiences available. However, some players note that the game can be complex and indirect, with a repetitive open world and flawed systems like crafting and NPC interactions that detract from the overall experience. Despite these issues, the character creator and engaging gameplay keep players invested for hours.
- “The character creator is great, and the gameplay is very enjoyable.”
- “But the best thing about this game is the smoothness of the gameplay.”
- “I spent hours on this game because it has one of the best fighting mechanics for an RPG to date.”
- “The flaws are that the game is complex and often indirect in story and several mechanics, as well as having a very simple combat system that becomes complex after obtaining new abilities that are tough to pull off.”
- “The game is bogged down by a lifeless, repetitive open world that does not reward exploration, and some generally obtuse mechanics (a terrible crafting system and suspect NPC interactions immediately come to mind) that bring the whole experience down a bit.”
- “It's so friggin' good I had to buy it again for the PS4 even though almost nothing's been changed from a gameplay standpoint.”
graphics
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
33%
33%
The graphics of the game, while somewhat dated, still hold up reasonably well, especially in the remastered version which showcases improvements that make it comparable to PS4 titles. However, some players feel that the graphical upgrades are minimal and could have benefited from more polish, with a general consensus that the visuals are not the game's standout feature. Overall, the graphics contribute to a smooth gaming experience, but expectations for a visual masterpiece should be tempered.
- “For an older game, the graphics still hold up fairly well, albeit a little dated, of course.”
- “Graphics are beautiful on the remaster and look as if it belonged on the PS4.”
- “The graphics are an improvement and it seems like the character leveling goes much faster too.”
- “Great game, but I feel like they should have put more effort into polishing up the graphics a bit.”
- “Glad to get the eternal warpstone in this version, but just adding a graphic patch isn't going to win any kind of respect or awards; it's a cheap patch job.”
- “Nothing overwhelming as far as graphic upgrades, but the game runs very smooth with little to no lag.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game highly enjoyable and addictive, often spending extensive hours exploring, leveling up, and engaging in combat rather than focusing on the storyline. The game is praised for allowing players to immerse themselves in endless combat and exploration without the distraction of tedious narratives.
- “I think I've put over 200 hours into the game so far, and just recently started stage 4 of 6. Instead of progressing the story, I keep goofing around, exploring, and fighting... grinding simply for the enjoyment of grinding.”
- “The storyline doesn’t have much of a life-changing experience that a book would give you, but it’s highly addictive if you’re the type of gamer that likes grinding your character's levels, exploring maps, finding new and better gear, or just straight up bashing on monsters.”
- “Make it a dungeon crawler where folks can enjoy endless combat without having to wade through tedious scripts and ridiculous story plots.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players highlight the strong replayability of the game, noting that the inclusion of all DLC enhances the experience significantly. The addition of a New Game Plus mode further contributes to its longevity, likening it to a 3D Diablo experience filled with fun and engaging content.
- “All of the DLC comes included, so that gives it a lot of replay value.”
- “Great game and, to me anyway, great replay value.”
- “Plus, there's tons of fun replay value with NG+ that makes this game much like a 3D Diablo game.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music in the game is generally praised for enhancing the overall experience, contributing to the interactivity and atmosphere. However, some users express strong dislike for the music played on the splash screen, indicating a mixed reception in that specific area.
- “I'm having so much fun with it, and I'm very early in the game. I might start over because I failed a couple of quests already by progressing the story (oops, lol), but I agree with everyone else here. I just can't say enough about the interactivity of the game itself, the sound, the graphics, and the music.”
- “I do hate the god awful music on the splash screen.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is noted for its clean visuals and smooth performance on the PS5, indicating effective optimization for the platform.
- “This version is cleaner looking and runs smoothly on my PS5.”