‘Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen’ Review Roundup

Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen is out April 23 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Here’s what the critics had to say.

Dragon’s Dogma is Capcom’s epic foray into the action RPG genre, featuring landscapes ripped straight out of fantasy lore inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien. The game puts you into the action in a behind-the-character perspective and has you hacking and slashing your way through legions of beasts using strategy and cunning.

An innovative addition to this RPG title is the introduction of “pawns”, which are NPC characters that join you on your quest. One pawn is solely from your game, while up to two others are online player assists.

Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen is more of an expansion than a sequel, but it offers new challenges to keep veterans hacking and slashing away, such as pyrosaurians (fiery lizards), Death, and the Gazer. It’s a bit of a nip-and-tuck of the original title, changing a few things, but keeping a lot of it familiar. The environments are ever so charming in the way smoking cadavers line your path as you venture into the new night-bound world. Some of the NPC item hawkers speak with English accents slightly askew, adding to the mysterious feel of this adventure.

Bitterblack Isle is always night, if that gives any indication of the mood Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen gives you from the start. The first game made night time a more difficult time to venture, but in this chapter, you have no choice. If you want daylight, play the first one. This one will throw bosses at you like confetti at a parade, so it’s suggested that you level up to at least 50 before even trying it.

Capcom gave this game a new form of travel as well. There are three fixed locations you can warp to, making for less adventuring and more getting where you want to go via portals.

If you like your action RPG titles difficult and lacking in mercy, give this one a try.

What do you think of Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen?