Dragon's Dogma Review
Dragon's Dogma Review
Guys...I've put 200+ hours into the console version. It's one of the best games ever, no joke. You need to play it. And now we're getting a PC version with unlimited framerate and no microtransactions and convenience additions.
Why is it so good? Please let me just quote my (long) review. Skip to sections you care about and no spoilers of course. I hope you will give the game a chance because it is truly a once-in-a-generation kind of game, no exaggeration.
Intro
Dragon’s Dogma Dark Arisen is one of the most immersive, complete action RPG experiences ever made. The game exudes quality, clearing being a labor of love from the developers to the players. And much to love there is with 200 hours of top-tier content. Let’s try to go piece by piece.
World
First, there’s a big, beautiful open-world to explore with hundreds of interesting landmarks, nooks, and hidden stashes. The entire open-world is freely accessible from the start, although you are wise to follow the main story path for safety. On a technical note, the engine renders the world beautifully with amazing draw distances and grand distances.
Story
The story seems generic at first, but please trust that it quickly turns into a thought-provoking tale of fate, destiny, and existence. I dare not say more because it is easily spoiled. Please just know the first five hours are a bit slow with typical fantasy quests, but keep going to be rewarded with a truly unique story you will not soon forget!
Combat
The combat system itself is sublime with precise actions and animations, responsive controls, and countless ways to fight. Then there are the large monsters which can all be clung to, climbed, and killed in the most vicious ways. It is no exaggeration to say Dark Arisen has the greatest combat system of any RPG, ever.
Character & Class Systems
Being an RPG, you level up as you play with a tremendous level cap of 200. Leveling is quite quick, with very little grinding since there's so many quests, side activities, and events to award much XP.
There’s the versatile class system allowing 9 total variants of the 3 major archetypes (fighter, archer, mage). The skill system is based on your class but you can mix and match Augments from any class, incentivizing you to play and master all 9 classes.
Gear & Equipment
[FONT="]What about the gear and weapon system? The game features over 400 pieces of equipment, each with a physical unique appearance. You can have up to 6 pieces of armor, 2 rings, and 2 weapons equipped. The 6 armor pieces are of special note since there are literally hundreds of combinations and they all fit your character based on your character build choices.
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Upgrades & Dragonforging
Then there’s the weapon and armor upgrade system. Each item can be upgraded three times using gold and materials. The materials are harvested from enemies, mining, scavenging, and so on. Better gear requires more rare materials naturally. It is a great system that once again adds more incentive to go kill tons of monsters and scour the land for “aught of use” as your pawns would say.
[FONT="]As if the base item upgrading system wasn’t enough, Dogma features one of the most brilliant gear upgrade systems ever: Dragonforging. Every time you kill a dragon, there is a small chance your currently equipped gear will become Dragonforged, which fits so well into the lore and is just such a cool idea. Warning: insanely addicting!
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Loot
About loot, the game features a great semi-random system where most chests have a list of maybe 3-10 items you might find with different rarities. This is great because it encourages replaying areas, and makes it possible to find new stuff even after going through a dungeon or location for the tenth time.
Throwing Goblins off Cliffs = Winning
[FONT="]Did I mention you can pick up smaller enemies and throw them? See, this is something most games wouldn’t bother with because it’s not really necessary. Sure I could just kill the poor goblin, but how delightful to stun him, go pick him up, run to the cliff, throw him over, watch him flail as he falls screaming, then hear a delightful splat. [/FONT][FONT="]
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[FONT="]Pawns - Your Friendly Helpers
[/FONT] Then there’s the pawns, another totally glorious idea unique to Dogma. You get one main pawn who learns about monsters and quests as you experience them. You can hire up to two other pawns to help you. So much more could be said, but you’ll want to experience the joy of “owning” pawns on your own.
[FONT="]Art Design[/FONT]
Let’s talk about artistic design in general. Dogma has immaculate art. The creature design, the NPCs, the gear, the buildings, and so on all feature detailed meshes and stylized textures. The animations are also world class. It adds so much to the immersion when you can realistically climb a monster and see that monster realistically come falling down as you strike at it. Artistically, the game is a pure triumph.
[FONT="]Voice-Acting, Sound, Music[/FONT]
How about voice acting? It is incredibly good. The whole cast is great, with some very famous and respected voice talents. Your pawns specifically have wonderfully calm voices, which is good since they talk so much (can be muted on PC version).
What about sound effects? The environmental sounds like waterfalls, insects, birds, and so on are top notch. The enemy and player sounds are impactful and fitting. Weapon and skill sounds are distinct and varied, so as to give audio cues exactly when needed. In short, the sound design is top-notch.
Special mention should go to the music. Certain key songs and motifs (bits of melody) are used throughout the game in expert fashion. It should come as no surprise that the music ranges from great to amazing since people like Inon Zur worked on the game. The title track, credits track, victory fanfare, and Bitterblack music are all standouts.
Complaints - Difficulty
[FONT="]Let me address one complaint before continuing: difficulty. Dogma uses a static leveling system for enemies. This means some areas are simply too hard for low level players. The game repeatedly tells you some areas may be too hard at the moment. Your pawns will also tell you when a dangerous enemy is nearby. Follow this tip religiously: if you see a large monster, immediately save your game. [/FONT]
Complaints - Too Many Quests
[FONT="]Some will complain that there are too many Notice Board quests. There is a constant stream of “Kill X monsters” and “Collect X item” and “Escort X NPC” quests, which can definitely clutter your quest log. The completionist may get overwhelmed, but all the quests do offer decent rewards and are entirely optional. Again, you do not ever have to do notice board quests![/FONT]
Complaints - Missable Quests
Another issue is several side-quests are very missable. OCD players may get angry when a quest gets “Canceled” because too much main story progress was made. However, what needs to be understood is Dogma is a game meant to be replayed at least 2 times (New Game Plus) for story reasons.
Complaints - Constant Slowdowns!
The console versions suffer from extreme slowdown, which is unfortunate. However, this is fixed on PC, so who cares about those peasant box problems?!
Addendum - So Much Awesome Content!
Did I mention that game has a very large end-game dungeon you can play as much as you'd like? It features some crazy bosses that will test your mettle and rewarding you greatly.
Just in case that isn’t enough, Dogma has a “hidden” boss (he’s easy to find) you can fight solo or online for unique rewards. The online version is one of these meta-games were the boss’s health is shared between countless players so you chip away at him solo and yet actually are fighting him as a unseen group. There’s some very good gear rewarded for being the lucky final hit on him, but even the basic offline mode gives nice rewards.
Addendum - The Dark Arisen Expansion
Then there’s the Dark Arisen expansion content bundled with the base game: Bitterblack Isle, an uber-dungeon featuring the hardest encounters in the game, intense dungeon delving, a mysterious story to unravel, Dark Souls-esque tactical combat, and an addictive semi-random loot system.The PC version also features new Bitterblack Isle achievements, adding even more incentive to play for another 80 hours!
Oh, and there’s a guy called Death in Bitterblack Isle who stalks you, making you freak out and run away like a baby. But if you prove your will is strong and don’t give up, soon enough you’ll stalk him. Warning: if Bitterblack Isle slaughters you, go elsewhere until you are worthy of the challenge!
Conclusion - Once in a Generation Game
Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen is the complete package. It is a triumph or art, technology, and game design. There's hundreds of hours of fantastic questing, best-in-class combat, and open-world questing.
Do you even slightly like third-person action combat, interesting stories, open-world exploration, dungeon-delving, hunting monsters, and crafting epic gear? Of course you do, and you owe it to yourself to play this masterpiece!