Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

I got this on steam during a sale, I was not expecting to be so drawn into the game, but I fell in love with everything about it (Except maybe the follower chatter) The combat is better than most RPG's, the customization is nice, the game looks similar to Dark Souls, but it plays a lot different, and climbing around on huge monsters is a blast. The world is some cross between open and Linear, but it's plenty big and there are so many quests do to, it can become overwhelming. If you enjoy games like Skyrim or the Witcher (2 or 3) then this game is an absolute must, it deserves a sequel.

This game has a dedicated fanbase, but it really quirks me to guess why that's a thing. Dragon's Dogma is surely a really solid and consistent title, from the start to finish - and more, with its post-game content and Bitterback Isle and different modes. The game's laudated for nuanced character progression and seemingly deep companion system (pawns), but personally it seems to me that it's actually more about, dare me to say - memed to life, overly convoluted mechanics that really don't leave much to imagination and the gameplay value. The character system boils down to swapping your class for the best HP level up increases and acquiring passive abilities (again - a flat HP increase and bonus carry weight), but actually playing along one or two viable player character and party set-ups, because some classes are simply flat out better than others and things like High Anodyne are must-have. On the other hand you have a useless warrior. The pawn system is over a top, but in its core a really simple system of custom companions, again, limited by their classes they have the same pool of as the player has. You can develop only one of the pawns, the rest - you need to hire and constantly swap as you level up. There's a really tiring system of an online pawn hiring, but... it really boils down to simply hiring a top pawns at the moment, and bringing them to really dull trash combat encounters and, rarely, more engaging boss encounters that are really fun. The boss climbing and weak spots are really, really well done and engaging, as compared to terrible trash encounters where you stand and look how your pawns obliterate the enemies. The game is good and worth recommending but that's it. It certainly can drag on, the basic combat is really boring, but it's really worth a playthrough just for those boss fights. Some mechanics (like afflictions, throwing enemies) are great, too. It feels good to kill a wolf by throwing another (alive) wolf at it. Thumbs up, get it.

Removed features and I'm not sure the online actually works right. Steam seems to have a current average of 2000 players; no such information regarding GOG games but it seems to be it must be a lot less. I've never gotten my pawn hired at any point during my playthroughs, so I might as well just get myself an "offline" steam version and transfer my save, and at least be able to enjoy the photo mode. GOG.com: Same price, extra work, inferior product

I first played this game on PS3, and was utterly blown away by how well built the world is, the difficulty, combat, and game systems. I've since re-bought it on PC and there are numerous improvements from the console version. This game is critically underplayed and underappreciated! The first time I was lost out in the woods when it got dark, and I had no light source, and I realized how screwed I was......I fell in love. This game makes you learn and respect the world, and you're rewarded with interesting side quests and hidden nooks and crannies on the map. Nothing revolutionary story or gameplay wise....but everything is done very very well. The total package won't dissapoint you, and its the cost of getting a sub delivered. Check it out if you have even a slight interest.

The game was nice while it lasted. You are helped along by 'pawns', supernatural assistants that you can recruit or dismiss as needed - one of them accompanies you permanently though. This is a good scenaristic way to justify the inevitable blandness. The world of Dragon's Dogma is rather unimaginative, and the scenario - for what I have seen - does not really grab you along. However the mechanics and combat are fine, and most items you find have some use in a crafting system that is easy to manage. A nice experience while playing. You have only one saved game - no way to backtrack by loading a previous save (although within the game, if you die you have the option to backtrack to a previously-visited inn with your progress lost). This is refreshing, but ultimately a bad design decision as I discovered. After close to 24 hours play, as I launched the game it greeted me with "Failed to load saved data. Delete the corrupt data and create a new game?" Still, I know that I had carefully folllowed the game's advice not to turn off my computer while saving, so this was clearly a bug. The result: I lost everything, my character and all its progress are deleted, with only the 'option' to start back from zero. Why the game does not keep tens of saved games in backup for such an eventuality is beyond me. This may have to do with its console heritage. So stay clear of Dragon's Dogma if you value your sanity.