Capcom Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

[cretin]

you really have to give this game at least an hour. Ive started and dropped it many times because the tutorial and the intro area make it seem really fucking banal and generic, but the game quickly opens up after that and starts to be really fun. If you haven't at least gotten to the capital, give the game another chance.

 

[sullynathan]

I think we all did given how many pages and years this thread has existed.

 

[Citizen]

Kodex, can you recommend me something similar to DD in terms of mysterious atmosphere/combat/exploration/secrets/RPG elements? The closest I played were Legend of zelda: Twilight Princess and Soul Reaver, so maybe similar to them would be also fine

No darksoyls pls

 

[Dishonoredbr]

Playing the game , on the switch , runs pretty well and looks solid.

Combat good but i still a Strinder so not that many opitons.. I need to go to the capital yet tho. Hope opens up soon because so far , don't seems to have actual story or characters other than Mercedes and Quina.

 

[Matador]

If you haven't arrived to the Capital, you are at the very early game. All the aspects of the game, included combat, are going to open soon.

 

[Nutmeg]

Kodex, can you recommend me something similar to DD in terms of mysterious atmosphere/combat/exploration/secrets/RPG elements? The closest I played were Legend of zelda: Twilight Princess and Soul Reaver, so maybe similar to them would be also fine

No darksoyls pls

Nier Automata

 

[Zombra]

Hope opens up soon because so far , don't seems to have actual story or characters other than Mercedes and Quina.

I like DD a lot, but don't hold your breath for a brilliant story.

 

[felipepepe]

Kodex, can you recommend me something similar to DD in terms of mysterious atmosphere/combat/exploration/secrets/RPG elements? The closest I played were Legend of zelda: Twilight Princess and Soul Reaver, so maybe similar to them would be also fine

No darksoyls pls

Severance: Blade of Darkness.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Kodex, can you recommend me something similar to DD in terms of mysterious atmosphere/combat/exploration/secrets/RPG elements? The closest I played were Legend of zelda: Twilight Princess and Soul Reaver, so maybe similar to them would be also fine

No darksoyls pls

Realms of Arkania HD

 

[Citizen]

Nier Automata

Is this really good? I thought it was a meme game about anime waifus wearing no pants

It seems like it was made by platinum tho and I liked madworld from them. I'll try it

 

[Falksi]

Kodex, can you recommend me something similar to DD in terms of mysterious atmosphere/combat/exploration/secrets/RPG elements? The closest I played were Legend of zelda: Twilight Princess and Soul Reaver, so maybe similar to them would be also fine

No darksoyls pls

Divinty 2 The Dragon Knight Saga isn't a million miles away.

Worse combat, far rougher game, but way better roleplaying.

 

[Puukko]

Playing Dark Souls made me want to pick this up again and I did so with a few grafix mods (half of which seem to be NSFW, buy the models in this game are not really good enough to make those worthwhile) and this difficulty mod: https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonsdogma/mods/378?tab=description

Overbearing real life story and slightly confusing installation instructions aside, it seems like a quality difficulty mod and something my nth playthrough definitely needs. I've only reached the hydra head escort mission but those wolf packs and bandit gangs definitely had me on my toes. Pawns also seemed a bit more reliable and slightly less prone to dying.

 

[anvi]

This game sucks, just massive amounts of running around a pretty boring world, do a few awkward button combinations to explode a bunch of dumb enemies. Repeat 10000 times.

 

[Alphard]

This game sucks, just massive amounts of running around a pretty boring world, do a few awkward button combinations to explode a bunch of dumb enemies. Repeat 10000 times.

the world map is a bit monotonous at times , but that's not the game strong point. the game focus is on fantastic combat ,( the best of all open world rpg) and mounting mechanic , enemy design ( i just love how "classic fantasy" and masterfully designed enemies are, bosses especially) classes and character building and customization. the pawn system is ( once you get how the different personality trait affect ai ) the cherry on top of this great game.
Skill and items unbalance, map and mobs recycling, the retard romance system somewhat detract from an overall great action rpg unique among modern aaa equivalent crap.
if i compare DD to crap like twitcher and skyrim , dd is a masterpiece

 

[Alphard]

to further make my point, i feel this game nails perfectly classes identity. playing ranger make you feel like your ideal fantasy archer. few things are so satisfying as landing a great gamble in a cyclope eye or headshotting with a perfectly timed brutal arrows the minotaur that is decimating your team.
same for other vocation. sorcerer incarnate the mage fantasy perfectly, conjouring and unleashing powerful spell to annhilate "dumb enemies" . the warrior feel so impactful and "warriory" with arc of deliverance, etc.
no game i have tried managed to recreate the classic fantasy classe stereotype so well

 

[sullynathan]

Lol at replying to anvi

 

[Fishy]

the retard romance system somewhat detract from an overall great action rpg

Are you kidding? That's the best romance system ever! I mean, is there any other game where a plot twist like this can happen?

I rest my case.

 

[Alphard]

the retard romance system somewhat detract from an overall great action rpg

Are you kidding? That's the best romance system ever! I mean, is there any other game where a plot twist like this can happen?

I rest my case.

in my case my waifu was a nigga ( no racism) . i didnt understand if it was the shop owner or the dude that you help kill the cultists. well at least it wasnt symone

 

[Sentinel]

This game sucks, just massive amounts of running around a pretty boring world, do a few awkward button combinations to explode a bunch of dumb enemies. Repeat 10000 times.

just install the no stamina consumption while running mod, or hack and go straight to BBI, the expansion, which is just dungeon crawling.
base game sucks major dick outside of grigori tbh.

 

[anvi]

Thanks I will try that sometime. The base game does indeed suck.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Dragon's Dogma is only superficially an Open World game; the designers might have initially wanted this, but limited resources forced them to drastically reduce the size of the world from what was originally intended, and the final result is that all major locations are covered by the main quest and a handful of important side quests that are difficult to miss accidentally. If you spend hours wandering around the countryside not doing anything in particular other than defeating random mobs of weaker enemies, then you might come to the erroneous conclusion that the game is just "massive amounts of running around a pretty boring world", but really the fault is yours for wasting time rather than following up on the main quest and side quests.

As it is, Dragon's Dogma is the best of all CRPGs in action-based combat with a party, and a contender for best action-based combat in CRPGs generally. Monster design --- at least for the larger, more powerful enemies --- is superb, and the pawn system works wonderfully in creating meaningful interaction between your characters and the enemies in combat that is satisfyingly tactile. Moreover, although Dragon's Dogma is focused on combat, it also has decent exploration, character customization, itemization, and even a bit of "choice & consequences".

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

I think a lot of problems with the open world aspect of the game stem from the board quest. If you tackle board quest like most other RPG's the open world becomes a monotonous slog pain in the ass. But here's the thing...you aren't meant to do them like that. You aren't meant to go out of your way to kill some Lizardman or whatever because that out of the way location won't be out of the way if you're just progressing through the game like normal. Board Quest are so not things you should be actively doing, (outside of escort missions) that the game should have made like 90% of them non-selectable quest the game just tells you you've done once you've done it; maybe your Pawn tells you when you're near one like they grabbed it off the notice board for you. It isn't even like the game doesn't already do this too because that's how killing giant monsters works, you kill some Chimera out in the wilderness or whatever and you'll just randomly get a Quest Complete message.

I remember when I discovered this is how the board quest were meant to be done. It was my second try at playing the game after not finished the first and being pretty mixed on the whole thing. I took an escort mission in the first town but also decided to just take every board quest too. And it turned out in the process of doing that escort mission I basically also finished off every board quest I'd selected too. It was at that point I was like: Oh, Ok, I'd been playing the game completely wrong before.

The good thing about the open world, (which far outweighs any of its negatives) and this game does it better than anything is the day and night cycle. I remember reading some Witcher 2 interview where one of the developers there was talking about how they wanted the player to have to really think about how they approached missions and what items they use before fights, well, they failed in that but this game totally nails it. For most of the game you actually need to think about when you go do something because of the monsters that come out at night, and even if you did leave during the day for some dungeon off somewhere there's times you'll exist and it's like: Oh shit, it's night.

 

[Matador]

Board quests are just bounties to get extra XP and money while you do more important missions. It's usual to get board quests completed in the course of missions while you are not even trying. I think they got that from their Monster Hunter games.

It's beyond me why "Hardcore" RPG players find this confusing or annoying. Maybe OCD problems.

Also the side quests in this game are often very good with interesting stories and some minor C&C.

 

[Sentinel]

Thanks I will try that sometime. The base game does indeed suck.

Also I'd recommend looking up the optimal portcrystal locations so you can drop them there and have an easier time travelling in the future.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

optimal portcrystal locations

The what now