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0:20More details after the video. Capcom has
0:24cooked again. Right. Something you need
0:26to know about me before getting into
0:27this review is that I love Dragon's
0:29Dogma 2. Like to a degree that I think
0:32some would find unjustified. It was the
0:34Escapades of the Fellowship made
0:36playable. Something I resonated with so
0:38strongly that I played through this
0:39thing not once, not twice, but three
0:42times. I very rarely replay games at
0:45all, so that really says something. But
0:46I also recognize and agree that it was
0:48kind of a scuffed video game and a
0:51disappointing sequel in many regards.
0:53The writing, itemization, enemy
0:55distribution, difficulty curve, endgame,
0:57and especially performance were
0:59undoubtedly lacking. Like many, then I
1:01expected some kind of follow-up update
1:03to address these things. But as the
1:05months went by, they never came, and all
1:08cope completely evaporated when the
1:09game's director, Hideki Itsuno, left
1:12Capcom entirely. Until suddenly, 2 years
1:15after the game's initial launch, our
1:17prayers have been answered. Capcom have
1:20once again reeled back in Kento
1:21Kinoshittita, the director of the Dark
1:23Arisen expansion of the first game to
1:25apply his magic touch to the sequel. And
1:27boy, has he done just that with an
1:30ambitious expansion built in response to
1:32the criticisms of the base game. Rather
1:34than doing this through a endgame mega
1:36dungeon like the Bitter Black Isle,
1:37though, Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Risen
1:40adds an entire new region to the game,
1:42the snowy kingdom of Norgan. The story
1:44here is far more coherent and cohesive
1:47than that of the base game with a
1:48smaller cast of characters that each
1:50play an important role. The region is
1:52abundant with fast travel points, but
1:54maintains the tension in the journey
1:56through its verticality and snowstorms.
1:58The spread of enemies across it, both
2:00new and old, is far more balanced here,
2:02and the difficulty of them allows you to
2:04get the most out of this fantastic
2:05combat system more regularly. a combat
2:08system that has also been expanded here
2:10through new abilities for each vocation
2:12and modifiers on existing ones. Those
2:14modifiers appearing in a new gear system
2:16that has randomized stats and perks that
2:18gives the game a much needed extra layer
2:20of buildcraft and a compelling loot
2:22chase. There is one important caveat
2:24though. While Dark Risen was built with
2:26the base game's issues in mind, that
2:28does not mean that the base game has
2:30been completely fixed. Some things have.
2:32Absolutely. Things like performance have
2:34been massively improved from the
2:35disaster that was the game's initial
2:37launch. There's a hard mode now which
2:38gives you a way to push the difficulty
2:40back up once you reach the point that it
2:41becomes trivial. The newly added Lost
2:43Rights dungeons, if tackled at the
2:45appropriate level at least, do help
2:47address some of those criticisms around
2:48unexciting rewards and lack of
2:50encounters to properly test yourself in
2:52the mid to late game. But the base game
2:54story is still rather meek. You'll still
2:56feel a lack of those more involved enemy
2:58encounters. you'll still stumble your
3:00way through a maze-like cave for 15
3:02minutes only to open a chest at the end
3:04of it that gives you a few herbs or a
3:05piece of gear you could have bought off
3:07a vendor. So, if you're hoping that
3:08Darkerizen was going to completely
3:10uplift the base game, sadly that isn't
3:12quite the case since many of its best
3:14features are sequestered away in that
3:16nor region. However, for me, Darker
3:18isn't exactly what I hoped for and then
3:21some. A solid 25 to 30 hour story that
3:24further builds on the more fascinating
3:26elements of this world. a new location
3:28that feels fresh and rewarding to
3:30explore alongside new beasts and systems
3:32that fully leverage the combat. All
3:34wrapped up in a surprisingly meaty
3:36package. I spent about 30 hours with
3:38this expansion and there's still so much
3:40more for me to do. Dragon's Dogma is
3:42such a unique franchise when set amongst
3:44the wealth of other openw world fantasy
3:46games and Dragons Dogma 2: Dark Arisen
3:49offers a glimpse at what it looks like
3:50when its potential is fully realized.
3:56I'll find something.
4:03>> We have discovered anomalies.
4:09So, I think even the biggest Dragons
4:11Dogma fans would agree that while the
4:13base game story had its moments, overall
4:16it was kind of a mess. Key story threads
4:18that went nowhere, characters that would
4:20come and go without explanation or
4:22relevance to the broader plot. So, it
4:23sets an admittedly low bar, but it's one
4:26that this new story content added in
4:27Dark Arisen absolutely clears. It kicks
4:30off with a pretty interesting hook. You
4:32learn of the existence of another
4:33Arisen, an impossibility given only one
4:36should exist in this world at any given
4:38time. And so begins your search for
4:39them, sending you to the region of
4:41Norgan, a snow-covered Icelandic
4:43inspired kingdom that appears to have
4:45been abandoned long ago. Who and how is
4:48this arisen? When and why did the people
4:50leave Norgan? How are these things
4:52connected to the doomsday premonitions
4:54you've begun seeing? These are the
4:55questions that are raised throughout
4:56this story, and each have actual
4:58satisfying payoffs. I can't go into
5:00specifics without spoiling things, but I
5:02think the main reason this story came
5:04together so well for me is that it keeps
5:06to a tighter cast of characters. It
5:08deals with a small family, a few scouts
5:10and scholars from Vermont, and two or
5:12three other key characters that I
5:14hesitate to reveal here. Each showing up
5:16repeatedly throughout the story to play
5:18a key role in events or to add further
5:20context to this region. I would oversell
5:22the story. Uh the writing can be
5:24painfully on the nose at times, and some
5:25of the story beats feel like a Russian
5:27nesting doll of scavenger hunts in a way
5:29that feels contrived. But for the most
5:31part, I really enjoyed this story for
5:33the way that each plot thread and
5:34character is given real purpose here.
5:36And in how it further explores the more
5:38fascinating aspects of this world,
5:40namely the bond between the arisen and
5:42their porn and the worlds that exist
5:44beyond this one.
5:46>> Arisen,
5:47this fallen dragon abandoned by the
5:50cycle, by death itself.
5:55It
5:56>> is a burden I alone must shoulder.
5:59One of the best parts of Dragon's Dogma
6:01is the way your journey through its
6:03environments and encounters pushes you
6:04to create stories of your own. And that
6:06comes through stronger than ever here in
6:08Nor. I'd say this region has roughly the
6:11same square mileage as Batal, the
6:13smaller second region of the base game,
6:15but it's like triple as dense with
6:16points of interest. It's brimming with
6:18cave networks and huge castle ruins to
6:20explore both above and below ground.
6:22Notably, Norgan's verticality and tundra
6:25climate has you contend with the
6:26environment in some fresh new ways.
6:28You'll occasionally come across grapple
6:30points, for example. These kind of let
6:31you choose where you want to create
6:33shortcuts, but you've got to be
6:34selective about it since grapple hooks
6:36are a consumable item that are rare to
6:37come by. Snowfall can block off certain
6:39areas, but also grant access to others
6:42as the packed snow creates ramps up to
6:44previously hard-to-reach places. Perhaps
6:46my favorite new element here, almost
6:48literally, is the cold. Some of Noran's
6:50areas are regularly battered by violent
6:52blizzards. These slowly deplete your max
6:54stamina unless you keep warm through
6:56consumables or coldresistant gear. But
6:58it also disables your mini map and the
7:01use of fast travel. That's important
7:03since now that you can fast travel
7:04freely and Norgan is abundant with fast
7:07travel points. This mechanic retains
7:09that primal sense of survival that often
7:11defines this game's most memorable
7:13moments. It led to adventures like this
7:15one, for example, where I strayed off
7:16the beaten path following one of my
7:18dumbass pawns guiding me to a chest or
7:20something. Next thing I know, I'm
7:22completely lost in a snowstorm, and
7:24every direction that I went, I'd seem to
7:25bump into enemies that would rock my
7:27[ __ ] only for me to be later claimed by
7:29the cold. I pass out and wake up to find
7:32my loot robbed by a Sasquatch. And the
7:34only way to retrieve them is to follow
7:36his tracks back to his den, resulting in
7:38a whole other adventure. Judge from
7:40these tracks, a monster has been here.
7:43>> Not only does Norgan leverage the parts
7:45of Dragon Snma that were already good,
7:47crucially, it responds to the parts that
7:50weren't. I've already mentioned the
7:51storytelling, but this also applies to
7:53things like difficulty, enemy
7:54distribution, and itemization. So, let's
7:56talk about those next.
8:10If you've played and finished Dragons
8:12Dogma 2 at least once before, a question
8:14you might be asking yourself is, how
8:15hard is the new content since the base
8:17game becomes a bit of a cakewalk toward
8:19the end, doing a disservice to the
8:21excellent combat system? Well, Capcom
8:23have said that the recommended level to
8:24enter Norgan is between level 40 and 50.
8:27That's around the level you'll be when
8:28you finish the game or potentially
8:30pushing into New Game Plus. I went in at
8:32about level 45 on a new game plus
8:34character. Running into my first group
8:36of raiders in Norggan, then I realized
8:38that uh I was not doing a lot of damage.
8:41These guys were absolutely kicking my
8:43ass. Once you start getting your hands
8:44on some of the new gear, things do get
8:46more manageable. But overall, entering
8:48at that recommended level and always
8:50using the best gear available to me, I
8:52found that enemies were able to keep
8:53pace with my power all throughout the
8:55campaign, which was great to see. And
8:57that's on normal mode, by the way. We'll
8:59talk about the newly added hard mode
9:01later. How about enemy variety? Now, if
9:03I listed out the enemy types in the base
9:05game, it'd be a reasonably substantial
9:07list, albeit not as much of an increase
9:09over the first game as we might have
9:11hoped for. The main problem was that the
9:13distribution of these enemy types was
9:15just bad. Uh, most of the time you are
9:18fighting the less interesting enemies
9:19such as goblins, bandits, harpies, and
9:21lizards, and not nearly enough time
9:23spent on the bigger ones that utilize
9:25this franchise's fun class design and
9:27physics and climbing mechanics. Pleased
9:29to inform that Norgan feels much more
9:31balanced in this regard. In the span of
9:33any given hour, you'll often encounter a
9:35properly varied gamut of enemies. Most
9:37of them are redesigns of previous
9:39enemies with new tricks. From jump
9:40scaring skinks that camouflage in the
9:42snow to hobgoblins that now bound around
9:45making them a pain for ranged characters
9:47to yetis who will bat you around with
9:49tree trunks or blast its icy breath in
9:51front or around itself.
9:56There's also a handful of brand new
9:58ones. I don't want to spoil them for
9:59you, but believe me when I say that
10:00there are a few more than you might
10:02expect. Many that feel very different to
10:04anything that you'll find on the
10:06mainland. They're all spread across
10:07Norgan in such a way that you'll
10:09regularly get to make full use of this
10:11combat system. But what is the point of
10:13all this? Are you getting anything
10:14exciting from these fights? The answer
10:17is refreshingly yes. The main way you'll
10:19be getting your gear is from spoils.
10:21These are mystery items gained from
10:23monsters, chests, and treasure piles,
10:25which you then appraise to receive all
10:26new gear with randomized stats and
10:28passive perks. And those perks are quite
10:30significant. They range from things like
10:32increased damage to certain mobs or
10:34extra health or stamina or conditional
10:36bonuses. My favorites were the ones that
10:38modified the abilities of each of the
10:40vocations or classes. For instance, one
10:42made my mounted gouging ability on my
10:44rogue also plant an explosive that keeps
10:47me on top of the monster rather than
10:49pushing me off. This is my favorite kind
10:51of itemization, frankly. The kind that
10:53encourages you to experiment with
10:54different setups and that actually
10:56changes momentto moment gameplay in big
10:58and small ways. There's now an actual
11:00compelling loot chase here, complete
11:02with super rare appearances and boosted
11:04perks. It made every winding cave and
11:06lengthy fight feel worthwhile, and I
11:08expect to sink many more hours into the
11:10game now because of it. Better still,
11:12that's not the only new way you can
11:14customize you and your pawn. There are
11:16new abilities for every class found
11:18through these pillars that are often
11:19surrounded by enemies or in a difficult
11:21to reach spot. There's also transmog
11:23unlocked through a side quest around
11:25midway through the expansion. You can
11:26apply the looks of any of the gear
11:28you've unlocked regardless of vocation.
11:30Very nice. Looking forward to seeing
11:32other players pawns with the most
11:33bizarre outfits imaginable. So, all in
11:36all, Nolan addresses three of the things
11:38that Dragon Strong 2 was very much
11:39lacking. More fights with the enemies
11:41that properly leverage this combat
11:43system. Deeper buildcraft and meaningful
11:45rewards for exploration. As you might
11:47have caught on to though, the kicker
11:49here is that everything I've talked
11:50about only applies to Norgan. So, what
11:53of the base game? Does Dark Arisen fix
11:55Dragon's Dogma 2? Well, the answer to
11:57that is not really, or at least not
12:00completely.
12:08Let me start by talking about the
12:10updates in the leadup to Darker Risen
12:12since I know many of you might not have
12:13touched the game in quite some time. One
12:15controversial aspect that'll likely
12:17remain a bit controversial is that of
12:19fast travel. Previously, you used a
12:21somewhat rare consumable item for this,
12:23which meant you used them sparingly and
12:25mostly slept from place to place by foot
12:27or ox cart. Now, a lot of people, myself
12:29included, enjoyed that aspect of the
12:31game. It made you really feel the scale
12:33of this world and it elevated the danger
12:36and immersion. At the same time, because
12:38of the distribution of enemy types and
12:40the lack of exciting rewards, especially
12:42when visiting the same places, this
12:43often became more tedious than anything
12:45and undoubtedly turned people off from
12:47the game. So, in a recent update, you
12:49now get an infinite use version of this
12:51item. Now, I've got no problem with this
12:53existing. I think it's going to be a net
12:55positive for most people. My only gripe
12:57is that you get this very, very early
12:59on, like basically before you'll even
13:01have to use one of those consumable
13:03ones. This means that one of the only
13:05somewhat exciting drops you can get in
13:07the base game is immediately converted
13:09into vendor trash. I think it also robs
13:11new players of getting even just a taste
13:13of that friction beforehand. would have
13:15rather seen this unlocked through some
13:17cool midgame quest line, but I guess
13:19genie's out of the bottle now. Moving on
13:21to what has objectively been improved
13:23though is performance. Dragon Stoma 2
13:26famously ran like absolute garbage at
13:28launch for all but those with high-end
13:30PCs. Now though, it runs beautifully.
13:33But don't take my word for it because
13:35I'm still on a pretty high-end machine.
13:37You'll find other recent reviews
13:38reporting a roughly 30% increase in
13:40performance over what it was previously.
13:42That's just on PC. Consoles actually
13:44benefited the most from this since
13:46performance was especially bad there,
13:48but now achieves a rock solid 60 fps on
13:50performance mode. Worth noting, I have
13:52seen reports that the PS5 Pro's PSSR
13:54upscaling tech does appear to make
13:56things a little blurry though. So, if
13:58you're wanting to play on quality mode
14:00at 60 fps, hopefully that gets a patch
14:02soon. Broadly speaking though, the game
14:04now runs way, way better than it did at
14:06launch. There have been some other nice
14:08updates, too. All classes got two extra
14:10ability slots for a total of six,
14:12finally matching that of the first game
14:14and give you far more flexibility in
14:16combat. Capcom have also outright
14:18removed most of the dumb
14:19microtransactions such as the placeable
14:21fast travel points and currencies. Good
14:24stuff. But what does Dark Risen
14:26specifically bring to the base game
14:28then? Well, there's 12 new repeatable
14:30dungeons called the Lost Rights and the
14:32long requested hard mode. Both of which
14:34are welcome additions, but I don't think
14:36they landed quite the way that I hoped.
14:38What I like most about the Lost Rights
14:39dungeons is that most of them have a
14:41specific entry condition that feeds
14:43directly into the unique gimmick of that
14:45dungeon. So, for example, one I
14:47particularly enjoyed was one where I
14:49couldn't enter with any spellcasters or
14:51spell books in my inventory. I was like,
14:53hm, that's interesting. Why would they
14:55do that? Only to go inside and find a
14:57maze of tunnels home to slimes, an enemy
15:00that is basically immune to anything
15:02except magic. So, the only way I could
15:04move through this was to basically kite
15:06them out of the way so we could slip
15:08past or look for spell books inside the
15:11dungeon that finally let me deal with
15:12them. Not all the dungeons are like
15:14this. Some of them are just standard
15:15gauntlets, but a good number of them do
15:18cleverly encourage you to think and play
15:19a little differently than you're used
15:21to, which I quite enjoyed. Great to see
15:23that they've got new unique rewards
15:25behind them, too. Armor, weapons, rings,
15:27you name it. And that does at least
15:28somewhat alleviate the lack of exciting
15:30loot in the base game. I guess my main
15:32disappointment with these dungeons is
15:34that they don't really hold up if you've
15:36already completed Norggan. The gear is
15:38useless to you by that point outside of
15:40unlocking their appearances. I get why
15:42maybe Capcom couldn't integrate the
15:43spoil system into the entire existing
15:46base game, but why not here? Given
15:48they're designed to be replayable with
15:50their randomized enemy spawns on
15:52repeated runs, this feels like a missed
15:54opportunity to keep the loot chase going
15:56outside of Norggan. These dungeons, or
15:58at least the ones I did, were also a
16:00complete pushover for me since I was so
16:02highlevel and fat with stats by the time
16:04I did them. And that's with the new hard
16:06mode on, mind you. A quick note on that,
16:08you can only access this after you've
16:10beaten the game once. And it applies
16:12permanently to your save file, which is
16:14why I didn't use it in my playthrough. I
16:15wanted to turn it on after beating
16:17Norgan for a comparison. And yeah, while
16:19it definitely did what it's supposed to
16:20do when it comes to the Norgan content,
16:22it didn't change my experience much with
16:24the base game content. I was once again
16:26one-shotting mobs, destroying Cyclops in
16:28seconds. And while enemies are
16:30noticeably more aggressive, the
16:32distribution of them appears to be the
16:33same. I didn't notice more Chimeas or
16:35Minotaurs or Dullah Hands. I understand
16:38this was a late addition to the
16:39expansion, but I'd like to see more work
16:41done on this since I suspect a lot of
16:43people will, like me, be looking to
16:45complete the rest of the base game after
16:46coming from Nor given its position in
16:49the broader story. Should we dock points
16:51on the expansion for not fixing more of
16:53the base game? Maybe. Me personally
16:55though, I thought Dragons Dogma 2 was
16:57pretty damn awesome before Dark Arisen
16:59came along. I very easily recommended
17:01this game to people back then, but I
17:03especially do now with these new base
17:05game updates, which will undoubtedly
17:06make it easier for new players to get
17:08into the game and to stick with it. And
17:10for those like me who have waited all
17:12this time, fiending to see this game's
17:14full potential realized with a good
17:16story and tough endgame fights and a
17:18Moorish gear chase, Norgan specifically
17:21will give you that in one very meaty
17:23package, might I add. It took me about
17:2530 hours just to complete the Norgan
17:27campaign, but I still haven't fully
17:29explored the Norgan region or done all
17:31the side quests nor completed all the
17:33new Lost Rights dungeons. It effectively
17:35doubles the amount of stuff in the game
17:37for just $30 or $50 with the base game
17:41included. So yeah, you're getting some
17:42real bang for your buck here. We don't
17:44know what the future holds for this
17:46franchise now that itso is out of the
17:48picture, but Capcom have said that they
17:50want to continue expanding it. And to
17:51them, I say, please, please, if you are
17:54making more Dragons Dogma, put this guy
17:57in charge from the start. It's clear
17:59that Kinoshida gets it. He knows what to
18:01chop, change, and add to bring the best
18:04out of this franchise. He did it for the
18:06first game, and he's done it again here.
18:07I strongly recommend Dragons Dogma 2:
18:10Dark Arisen.
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