Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

plays great. had to tackle before taking on DD2. Glad i did. decent story. fun combat. lots to explore.

very good game

Super game

buy it

It truly is a masterpiece, my favourite game of all time. The combat is exquisite and satisfying, challenging but not frustrating, with the kind of difficulty progression where you can look back on your progress and realize how much you have mastered the game mechanics; bosses early in the game become everyday encounters later on, with latter enemies and bosses scaling in difficulty accordingly. Enemies are varied, and the mechanic to jump on ogres, griphons and the dragons, specifically, is fantastic and gives you a sense of scale I have never experienced in a game before. The game has RPG elements, but high-level gear does not make up for sloppy combat; player skill remains central all throughout. I played as a fighter, sword and shield, and it's the best melee combat I have experienced. The satisfaction you get from timing a shield block correctly on a gryphon and stunning the beast, along with the sound effects that go with it, has been nailed down to perfection. All of this alone already makes for a great game. And yet the plot is the cherry on the cake. The plot twist at the end and the philosophical dimension to it is a masterpiece. The whole game leads to that moment, and it is paced and executed just right to deliver the message effectively. Finishing this game for me was like finishing a good book, it had an intense effect on me. Very few games get combat mechanics right like this one does. Very few games have an interesting story to tell. This games does it all.