Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

Capcom announced yesterday that the enhanced version of Dragon's Dogma, Dark Arisen will becoming to Switch on April 23rd.

I've not played DD, all I know it's an Action-RPG in a fantasy setting but that's about it, so I'm not sure to be excited or not.

Trailer:



I did see this cause a bit of stir of my twitter timeline yesterday, and I've not played it either but from what I remember it seemed to have a mixed reactions where some loved it and other didn't.

Anyone here played it and is it any good?

Yeah same on mine, I saw some go yet another port the Switch is 2 years old now and successful then some go can't way to play it on the go etc

I meant back when it first came out it seemed to have a mixed reception.

It's an interested concept let down by really inconsistent and janky gameplay and terrible signposting leading to many sudden deaths at the hands of enemies that happen to be mad levels higher than you. I'd pass...

I'm actually tempted by this - I've heard there's a mixed response to this, but what's got me tempted is that those that like the game absolutely love it. It's been a fair while since I've played an action RPG in this vein, so I might end up giving this a look. It looks pretty janky visually, but the cult acclaim that it has garnered does have me tempted.

Is it the good kind of janky or the pretty bad janky though? As when I started Witcher 3 recently I was quite shocked at some of the janky-ness that game has which is something you never see anyone mention when they talk about it but I was able to look past it and love the game now.

So, knowing that sort of stuff that Andy mentions beforehand could make me go easier on it........BUT doubt I'll be looking for another big action-rpg anytime soon so I'll probably wait to see what the reviews are like.

Pretty much everyone whose gaming opinion I respect loves this game. I never got around to it on PS3 so I am dead keen.

And Jas you should definitely check it out, it shares loads of DNA with Monster Hunter.

I know very little of this game but the buzz I've seen for its announcement has been very encouraging so I'll give it a shot.

Never played it but always been interested, so I'm up for this

I never considered the Witcher janky, so I was surprised when you said that. I found the control in DD were getting in the way of the enjoyment a lot of the time. Admittedly I never got to the second half of the game where it supposedly becomes amazing, but that's a very long slog to get there...

It's mostly animation stuff in Witcher not being as smooth as I would expect it to be, thankfully a lot of this is outside of the combat so it only matters if you are out exploring the world. The horses especially are the worst I've ever used in a game to the point where I will just fast travel for long the distances and run on foot for the short ones.

The_Jaster wrote:

Is it the good kind of janky or the pretty bad janky though? As when I started Witcher 3 recently I was quite shocked at some of the janky-ness that game has which is something you never see anyone mention when they talk about it but I was able to look past it and love the game now.

So, knowing that sort of stuff that Andy mentions beforehand could make me go easier on it........BUT doubt I'll be looking for another big action-rpg anytime soon so I'll probably wait to see what the reviews are like.

The game openly warns the player in loading screens to avoid going out at night or off the beaten path unless they feel very sure of themselves.  I followed that advice and never had an issue.  I also didn't a few times and the game showed me why it told me to stay on the path.

There are entire portions of the map that are very veeery dangerous until you're fairly high-level, but there are plenty of areas you can also go and, as long as you avoid nighttime (nightmare-fuel and deadly as hell no matter where you are) you'll be fine.  You can progress the story and do a decent bundle of side-quests without running into issues, and the sidequests that are set in bad territory are easy to avoid (and a good way of educating the player where not to go).

The only problem some might have is that it can be a very fine line between where the game goes from doable straight to "imma gonna rip you in half!" mode.  Slide down the wrong cliff while fighting a pack of wolves and you might find yourself against a bunch of killer alligators or a chimera with no hope of escape or victory.  

Some of my favourite parts where carefully winding my way through bad territory for a quest and taking part in a siege.  And it's really satisfying late-game when you can start to branch off the main path and actually take on all the monsters that so terrified you early on.

Basically save regularly and play cautiously and you'll be fine.

Thinking about it I do still have Witcher 3 to play, that I should just play that instead.

@Athrun - The more I look the game up the more I do think I will enjoy it, the strider class looks like fun.

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@mas - Yup you should definitely play Witcher 3.

Oh wow. Er... I need to clear my backlog before April 23rd! I don't know why I ignored the existence of the original version of the game. I'm sold. I can live with clunkiness; it's much more forgivable than stationary yap-yap bad storytelling, which this seems to bypass.

Athrun888 wrote:

There are entire portions of the map that are very veeery dangerous until you're fairly high-level, but there are plenty of areas you can also go and, as long as you avoid nighttime (nightmare-fuel and deadly as hell no matter where you are) you'll be fine.  You can progress the story and do a decent bundle of side-quests without running into issues, and the sidequests that are set in bad territory are easy to avoid (and a good way of educating the player where not to go).

The only problem some might have is that it can be a very fine line between where the game goes from doable straight to "imma gonna rip you in half!" mode.  Slide down the wrong cliff while fighting a pack of wolves and you might find yourself against a bunch of killer alligators or a chimera with no hope of escape or victory.  

Some of my favourite parts where carefully winding my way through bad territory for a quest and taking part in a siege.  And it's really satisfying late-game when you can start to branch off the main path and actually take on all the monsters that so terrified you early on.

This all sounds really cool and has pretty much sold me on this.

I'm really liking this. My playtime has been limited only by the fact that it feels like a game I'm supposed to sit down and play in big sessions, so I rarely feel like firing it up if I just have time for a quick bash before or after work, or between hikes and social engagements at the weekend.

This game is hella dope.

Good to see you are enjoying it, I was so tempted when it went on sale recently but my current backlog put me off getting as it'd only sit there unplayed for months. Though if I do get through that backlog (which is only 7 or 8 games) this would be the first thing I'd buy.

I played this for like 8 or 9 hours today and I kinda finished it? There's some postgame stuff which I hear is where it gets really whack, so I won't give it a full write-up just yet.

I really love this game though. Its far from perfect, but in all the best ways. It is incredibly weird, perhaps owing to itbeing a skewed Japanese interpretation of European fantasy - by a lot of Monster Hunter guys, I think. It can be janky and awkward and obtuse but once you have a vague idea what you're doing, and you tailor a character and gear to a playstyle that works for you, its easy to embrace the weird and get stuck into what this game does best: killing cool monsters and interacting with fun characters.

Also, it has a huge world, looks pretty nice (particularly the beasties) and runs like a dream, so Im pretty sure Switch can run something closer to a Monster Hunter World than the 3DS game we were ported before.

Hah, I just got this and started playing it last week! I never realised quite how Monster Hunter WRPG this is and it's absolutely my jam - I'm completely loving it

Game is obtuse as hell though

Are we Switch friends? If not, get me added and you can take my pawn out on your adventures.

Won't it cost a million RC points because they'll be much higher level?

I've unwrapped the cellophane! I'm probably halfway there, right...