Video Game Vintage Title: Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

A full expansion to Dragon's Dogma, entitled Dark Arisen, was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on April 23, 2013. Dark Arisen is not considered DLC, but rather an enhanced version of the original game with additional features and the new Bitterblack Isle zone to explore. One does not need to own the original game to play Dark Arisen, as the original game is included on both physical and digital versions. Owners of the original game can upload their saves to be rewarded with an Eternal Ferrystone , 100,000 Rift Crystals�a form of in-game currency�and various armor sets. Dark Arisen includes a new fast travel system, as well as new items, weapons and armor. The Xbox 360 version of Dark Arisen includes a separate disc used to install game data for more stable playability.

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen Gameplay

The player is able to select between various types of the vocations: Fighter, Warrior, Mystic Knight, Strider, Ranger, Assassin, Mage, Sorcerer, and Magic Archer. Gender choice and appearance settings are also available. The class system, or vocation, makes a difference to the gameplay and tactical options available to the player, ranging from Fighters relying on hack and slash combat (with a move-set similar to Capcom's Devil May Cry) to Striders' skill at climbing on large enemies (like in Shadow of the Colossus).

One of the game's main innovations is the "pawn" system. While the player's party is exploring the world, the three party members who accompany the main character are controlled by artificial intelligence, but the player can issue the orders to them: "Go", "Help" and "Come". One of the party members is a non-playable character (NPC) and belongs to the main character's world. The other two party members are NPCs, which can be NPCs borrowed from other players by connecting online or locally generated by the game. The party members, referred to as pawns, can talk, seek the main character's help, and provide information about enemies. The player must work on strengthening the main character and the party members. The pawns are vocal, yelling out useful hints and strategies, which are often vitally important to surviving tough boss encounters and dungeons. The pawn system also features social networking features.

The game features a "grab" action, where the main character can grab or cling to enemies, objects, or NPCs. The player can use this feature for more advanced attacks. For example, the main character can either grab on to a griffin's legs and attack it directly, or climb up to reach its head for a more lethal blow. "In a lot of action games, with big enemies the tendency is just to have you hacking away at the shins. You don't get the full effect of fighting a giant boss," Hideaki Itsuno, the director of Dragon's Dogma, said. "With this game you can climb all over it. If it has a body part, you can attack it." The ability to climb enemies has drawn comparisons to Shadow of the Colossus.

The game's large open-world environments have drawn comparisons to Capcom's own Monster Hunter series as well as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. In addition to the large open world, Dragon's Dogma will also feature a large city environment with over 200 NPCs who will move about according to their own time schedules. The player will be able to communicate with the residents in full voice. The game features a persistent world with a day-night cycle; this affects the gameplay during the night, when the game takes on a more survival horror feel reminiscent of Capcom's Resident Evil series. In addition, the game's art style and character movements have been compared to Dark Souls, the hack-and-slash combat elements have been compared to Devil May Cry and Dark Souls, some of the fantasy elements have been compared to Breath of Fire, and the combat and party systems have been compared to Monster Hunter.

The game is designed to be playable even by those who are not too skilled at action games. These types of players can recruit strong NPCs and let them do the fighting during combat as they watch over the battlefield. Players have access to 40 to 50 hours of main quest play and up to an additional 70 hours or more of side quests.