Capcom Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

[Damned Registrations]

The cities look huge and populous, but 80% of the places and NPCs are just for show.

What? Like over half of the NPCs are relevant to quests. The game is insanely detailed in this regard. Considering how many there are in the game, that's an insane ratio.

cyclops after chimera after golem after gryphon after ogre after cockatrice after hydra after beholder after dragon after...

fixed that for you. Don't get me wrong, I love me some monster hunter, but it's got nowhere close to this kind of variety when it comes to the actual combat.

 

[Mozg]

It's weird how much they avoid having you fight the hydra again when it's a pretty well done and unique one. I imagine most people that play the game never see the reappearances. I guess they have to restrict it to mostly clear arenas so the tail doesn't clip through shit too egregiously.

The open world stuff was 100% a damp squib and they clearly knew it and abandoned it with BBI. I thought they really wasted Grand Soren too, the modeled so much shit and there was zero payoff for exploring any of it after you'd seen the green question mark quest hander-outers. There's nothing worth bothering with on all those rooftops even in an engine with entertaining mantling-parkour.

 

[TheEntitledOne]

Playing NG+ punching shit to death. Killed a Drake with fists. Fun shit. Some loverslab mods would make it more entertaining.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Game definitely has some out of place features left over from their original design intention. It was clearly meant to go on for quite a while longer after the everfall shows up and the overworld changes to be more interesting. And it seems like the dungeons got designed before the enemies, so you have weird things like the lizard dungeon with a cyclops boss when it clearly should have had something else as a setpiece. And a lot of enemies that barely get used at all, like the hellhounds, wraiths, and a bunch of stuff from the everfall. The beholder fight is pretty cool for example, would have made a much better fight than the pair of wraiths right before Grigori. And I think the original intent was an open world that doesn't scale, so you could have ventured further afield and found cool stuff like hydras and the stronger versions of enemies in the larger overworld they never finished. Instead they had them overlap the same area by replacing enemies as the plot progresses, but it's not a huge impact because you only see that if you're meticulously finishing quests, and then you're overpowered so the upgrades aren't a big deal.

 

[Zombra]

However, the 'fun part' when you trigger the spells is when it is so satisfying. Much like melee, there's a weight to spellcasting not seen in other popular Action RPGs.

My time as a rank 1 Mage didn't inspire me to want to do more - I'm still really enjoying the in-the-face joy of Fighter - but I'm glad Zombira stepped up to full Sorceress madness. The big spells hit rarely enough that they're still amazing every time to me. When those meteors start smashing into the countryside, or that goddamn tornado obliterates my screen ... it's just ... well ... magic!

 

[Delterius]

snip

Actually I think that its way more than that. In one interview one of the leads mentioned that only a third of the planned world made it into DD. That's too much room just for special monsters and such. Further, let's not forget that the project was defined as Skyrim with good combat by the devs. I believe that at one point you were supposed to leave Gransys as part of the main story. Just think of the audience with the Duke: he says "all roads in Gransys are open to you henceforth as join the Wyrm Hunt" (or something like that). However, I don't believe that anything stood in your way at that point. Plus there's the whole Duchess questline that would make a bit more sense if you, suddenly, left Gransys and Gran Soren behind anyway.

 

[mediocrepoet]

snip

Actually I think that its way more than that. In one interview one of the leads mentioned that only a third of the planned world made it into DD. That's too much room just for special monsters and such. Further, let's not forget that the project was defined as Skyrim with good combat by the devs. I believe that at one point you were supposed to leave Gransys as part of the main story. Just think of the audience with the Duke: he says "all roads in Gransys are open to you henceforth as join the Wyrm Hunt" (or something like that). However, I don't believe that anything stood in your way at that point. Plus there's the whole Duchess questline that would make a bit more sense if you, suddenly, left Gransys and Gran Soren behind anyway.

And the cancelled expedition.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Shit, my pawn changed to Guardian, where are those damn potions I keep hearing about?

In the pawn encampment, in front of the rift stone there's a guy that sells them and glasses, hair and skin colours, etc.

 

[Puukko]

Daimon down, time for round two. Ended up taking the last third of his health down myself because he swallowed my pawns.

 

[Heresiarch]

snip

Actually I think that its way more than that. In one interview one of the leads mentioned that only a third of the planned world made it into DD. That's too much room just for special monsters and such. Further, let's not forget that the project was defined as Skyrim with good combat by the devs. I believe that at one point you were supposed to leave Gransys as part of the main story. Just think of the audience with the Duke: he says "all roads in Gransys are open to you henceforth as join the Wyrm Hunt" (or something like that). However, I don't believe that anything stood in your way at that point. Plus there's the whole Duchess questline that would make a bit more sense if you, suddenly, left Gransys and Gran Soren behind anyway.

So that's why the game feels incomplete? A pity really. I was absolutely fascinated when I saw Gran Soren and the surrounding vast plains for the first time, thinking "wow there's gonna be SO MUCH TO EXPLORE".

If Capcom is going to make Dragon's Dogma 2, I hope they will be able to design the game with better focuses. Otherwise it'll just turn out to be another Kingdom of Amalur.

 

[DDZ]

For the first time ever more than one person used my pawn over night.

I quite like the pawn game.

 

[Reinhardt]

I love low level night expeditions. My 15 lvl assassin got cyclops, chimera, 2 chaosskeleton knights and pack of bandits in one place.

 

[Morkar Left]

The game is pretty good. Basically Diablo 2 meets Gothic 2. Not a full fledged rpg, though there is room for improvements, but it has a really nice flow. There's always something to do or to discover.

 

[Ivan]

Dark Bishop + Cursed Dragon vs my Fighter

 

[Ebonsword]

My time as a rank 1 Mage didn't inspire me to want to do more...

What, you didn't find it satisfying to shoot flying enemies out of the air with trivial ease?!

(Or maybe I'm just scarred from the many, many times I tried to (unsuccessfully) take out harpies with my Fighter?)

 

[Zombra]

My time as a rank 1 Mage didn't inspire me to want to do more...

What, you didn't find it satisfying to shoot flying enemies out of the air with trivial ease?!
(Or maybe I'm just scarred from the many, many times I tried to (unsuccessfully) take out harpies with my Fighter?)

Hey man, I roll with Skyward Lash slotted!

And still can't hit airborne enemies for shit!

 

[mediocrepoet]

My time as a rank 1 Mage didn't inspire me to want to do more...

What, you didn't find it satisfying to shoot flying enemies out of the air with trivial ease?!
(Or maybe I'm just scarred from the many, many times I tried to (unsuccessfully) take out harpies with my Fighter?)

Hey man, I roll with Skyward Lash slotted!

And still can't hit airborne enemies for shit!

It's all about the jumping heavy attack and timing. Some people like jumping light because it's faster and has more of a horizontal arc. I like heavy because of the sword's overhead smash.

 

[Blaine]

I gave in and bought this after all. I've been going back and forth between it and Dark Souls 2, trying to decide which I'll play through first.

The beginning areas are very familiar to me from my Blu-Ray player playthrough years back (pre-Dark Arisen), but fortunately not too familiar, so I'll be able to enjoy it fresh. I've also forgotten most of the item combinations except for dim inklings, which is also good.

From a technical standpoint, I'm extremely pleased. The game works perfectly with my 144hz G-Sync monitor. I'm playing it at 144 FPS stable at max settings, and boy, does it look a whole lot better than the PS3 version, with absolutely no chop or screen tearing to annoy me or to interfere with camera movement, aiming, frame timing, etc. I'm using a Razer Sabertooth controller because I know better than to try to play Japanese action RPGs with mouse and keyboard... might change my mind if I change vocations to a class that shoots arrows, though.

The game is like a combination of Monster Hunter, Dark Souls, and pre-retardation Resident Evil, pretty much the Japanese answer to Skyrim. Unlike Bethesderp's recent entries, it actually nails a medieval-esque atmosphere, much like the Souls series. It still amuses me that Japanese developers are far better than Western developers at capturing a convincing medieval feel.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Some spoilers in here, but made me laugh.

 

[BLOBERT]

BROS I THINGK IM TOTTALY GONNA GET THIS FIOR THE PC

MY LAPTOP RUNS DARK SOULS AWESOME SO UI THINK I CAN GET THIS FOR THE PC INSTEAD OD THE FAGBOX!!11!!

 

[Mozg]

Yes

 

[polo]

So, when and where can i get a decent magic bow? Been stuck with the same for some levels now.

 

[Blaine]

So, when and where can i get a decent magic bow? Been stuck with the same for some levels now.

One of the tidbits I've read, and also vaguely remember myself from playing the game years back, is that bows in this game (regular bows included, but magick bows in particular) are rarer than nipples on a monitor lizard. There are like 3,000 kinds of swords, but 10 bows.

Someone with more recent experience playing the game will have to help you with actual advice, but I love being the bearer of bad news, so I went ahead and did that part.

 

[Damned Registrations]

I could tell you where/how, but I'd need to know where you are in the game. If you're in the normal story, the merchants will eventually have better ones as you progress the plot. If you're in BBI... shenanigans are required.

One sure fire way to get a decent weapon of any type is to kill Grigori with that kind of weapon; he's guaranteed to drop pretty decent weapons matching whatever you used on him. But that's a one time deal near the end of the normal game.

 

[Delterius]

I'm pretty sure that the blacksmith and the blonde merchant both sell new magic bows. If only the latter.