Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
Overview -
'Dragon's Dogma' was a bit of a flawed gem when it originally released back on Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2012. Within a year, fans were met with the expanded re-release in the form of 'Dark Arisen.' While it rectified a lot of the original game's issues, and added a fun new dungeon, it always felt like a game that was somewhat hampered by the consoles it released on, with technical flaws that still held it back from greatness.
Finally bringing the game to a new audience, Capcom seeks to deliver the definitive version of what could very well turn out to be a hit on PC.
Video Review
The PC version of 'Dark Arisen' is certainly the best looking version of the game to date. The draw distance has been greatly expanded, and textures look slightly better than the original console release.
Unfortunately, the game's base visuals are showing their age. Character models look ugly and towns feel largely generic and dull. Combat animations can look fantastic, and some of the monster designs are really great, but it's definitely not a particularly pretty game. Additionally, cutscenes look strangely compressed, and subtitles can look blurry in places.
Audio Review
'Dragon's Dogma' has a surprisingly good soundtrack, even if it often falls into typical fantasy tropes. It's a really diverse soundtrack that can be incredibly exciting when it needs to. The game is let down somewhat by voice acting that feels OK at best (though, to be fair, I suspect a lot of that may have to do with the somewhat awkwardly written script that forces Shakespearean dialogue in at every possible turn) as well as voice clips that repeat far too often (you'll hear "They're masterworks all, you can't go wrong" hundreds of times), but it doesn't ruin the great work put into the music.
Final Thoughts
In spite of some odd quirks, and a little bit of age starting to show, 'Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen' still feels incredibly fresh, is tons of fun to play, and is a great addition to the wealth of the PC platform. It can take a little while before things really start to get going, but once they do, it's a compelling game that has a lot to love for both action and RPG fans. If there's ever going to be a 'Dragon's Dogma 2', it could turn out to be something of a masterpiece.
