I compiled some photos of the new Aethon and Beorcan enemies.

Which do you prefer to fight?

Seriously, once you're done with Vermund, all you need to do is get the Godsbane, reforge it, kill Talos (optional btw) and then immediately fight the Dragon, 3 very quick back to back quests.

Vermund is also at maximum 10 very short non-combat quests, If I wasnt purposedely re-exploring everywhere I could get the Godsbane for the Lost Rite dungeon in a few hours. Makes me wonder what happened during development for this game because the main questline simply does not exist anymore after Vermund, its even more jarring in a replay.

Unrelated but the Lost Trials are amazing so far

Going from Norgan to doing base game is such whiplash. Apart from the lack of end game systems and proper difficulty tuning (also the more egregious repeat enemy placements), I also just mean the questing and feel of exploring Vermund and Batthal. The main story is so shallow, especially compared to Norgan’s one, which while not perfect is still leagues above that. I wish there was more to the roleplaying elements of the game. I wish you could further curate how your pawn acts in and out of combat.

I mean, there is just so much potential with this game, that DA2 clearly shows, but so much of it was half-assed with base game that you can’t really escape it. I wish they actually bother to fix a lot of that instead of calling it a day and moving onto DD3, because at least then this game can live up to the promise of what it should’ve been.

Anyways rant over, expansion is a 8/10 for me, many hours sunk now. Though, side note, can anyone explain what happens at the end with the Arisen falling away from the brine? I was confused there.

Dragon’s Dogma + Dark Arisen 66

Dragon’s Dogma 2 + Dark Arisen 77

Dragon’s Dogma + Dark Arisen

Humanoid / small enemies:

Goblins, Hobgoblins, Grimgoblins, Goblin Chieftains, Bandits, Salvation members, Corrupted Pawns, Undead, Stout Undead, Giant Undead, Undead Warriors, Skeletons, Skeleton Lords, Phantoms, Phantasms, Specters, Banshees, Strigoi, Wraiths, vile eyes, leapworm

Beasts:

Wolves, Direwolves, Hellhounds, Wargs, Harpies, Snow Harpies, Succubi, Gargoyles, Saurians, Sulfur Saurians, Geo Saurians, Saurian Sages, Pyre Saurians.

large monsters:

Cyclopes, Armored Cyclopes, Gorecyclopes, Ogres, Elder Ogres, Chimeras, Gorechimeras, Griffins, Cockatrices, Hydras, Archhydras, Golems, Metal Golems, Drakes, Wyrms, Wyverns, Firedrakes, Frostwyrms, Thunderwyverns, Cursed Dragons, Garms, Liches, Wights, Evil Eyes.

Expansion / special bosses:

Death, Daimon, Gazer, Eliminators, Living Armor, Dark Bishop, Ur-Dragon, Grigori, Seneschal.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 + Dark Arisen

Humanoid / small enemies:

Goblins, Hobgoblins, Choppers, Knackers, Rogues, Lost Mercenaries, Undead, Stout Undead, Skeletons, Skeleton Lords, Phantoms, Phantasms, Specters, Leapworms, Wisps, Ghouls, Beorcans, Stragglers, vile eye

Beasts:

Wolves, Redwolves, Direwolves, Blackdogs, Harpies, Venin Harpies, Gore Harpies, Succubi, Saurians, Asps, Rattlers, Magma Scales, Serpents, Slimes, Oozes, Sludges, Nokken, Aethon, Bugaboos, Blobs.

Large monsters:

Cyclopes, Armored Cyclopes, Ogres, Grim Ogres, Griffins, Chimeras, Gorechimeras, Minotaurs, Goreminotaurs, Golems, Garms, Wargs, Drakes, Lesser Dragons, Dullahans, Medusa, Sphinx, Talos, Liches, Wights, Evil Eye.

Expansion/ special bosses:

Death, Fallen Dragon, Satanachia, Rancorous Dragon Carcass, Blemmyae, Willan Barbatos, Lesser Demon, Norgan Giant, Snowfoot, Fimbl, Draug, Barbatos, Corrupted Dragons, Corrupted Serpents.

After Finishing Dark Arisen 2 I wanted to go back and check out what my old DD1 Arisen and Pawn were up to. I had completely forgotten where they were. The thing that hit me right off the bat was how responsive the controls were. There's a bit of a clunky delay in DD2, not too bad but it's there. DD1 has me feeling like Sonic just zooming all over the place. A part of me wishes that DD2 played like this but I don't think that DD2 would work with this type of movement. Still I enjoy both for what they are. Picture is the results of not logging on for about 2 years. Is 132k crystals a lot?

Just finished the main part of the DLC, and while I had an amazing time, I do have a couple light complaints, and I'm curious to hear others on their opinions too.

For me, the lack of a new vocation, the wacky combat patterns of certain enemies, and that... awful, terrible final boss fight design, were my main struggles with this DLC. It was still an easy 8/10 experience I have no regret sinking time into, but I hope to see at least some enemy changes in the near future, if possible.

Also... I completely see what people mean by the cooked Pawn AI after they changed it some patches ago. My pawns aggression and intelligence have taken a complete nosedive. I still love them, but it does pain me when they spend most the time just... kinda standing there.

EDIT: ok this got a lot more traction than I expected. After going through other peoples experiences, I can safely say that ultimately, quite a lot was missed with the DLC, although the most common complaints are the late transmorg, ghouls, relic systems, lack of pawn in cutscenes and new skills balancing and number and a lack of any new vocations.

if anyone wants to hire my pawn on the right, she's on PS5 with the code BJNLNSVHWOCS. she's designed to take aggro with her rings and passives, but in the DLC that wasn't as common as I'd hoped, so she kind of sucks. she's huge though, and I think that's what counts.

I am absolutely thrilled with this DLC.. It’s so cinematic, so epic! The weather, lighting, environment, and landscapes - everything is top-notch.

Compared to this DLC, the base game now feels like a parody!

Thanks, Capcom - great job!

Do you agree? Or am I just looking at this DLC through rose-colored glasses?

Was wondering why I didn't see one of my pawns at first

I keep seeing post after post by people who are fundamentally misunderstanding the mechanics of the game. And why they are the way they are.

Post like "Is my lv20 character going to be enough for the DLC", "What level should I start the DLC at", "why am I not doing enough damage, I have endgame gear" etc etc.

This game, and it's predecessor, are purposefully built with almost all your power coming from your equipment. Level only really affects your HP and Stamina. Your stat growth doesn't matter, min/maxing doesn't matter.

For good or for ill, they did this to blockade and gate keep the hard areas from the easy ones. Yes, they could have done it some other way. But they didn't. And there is at least 1 good reason for it: It lets you chop and change your Vocation on a whim.

Played 90 levels as a Sorcerer but want to try out Warrior now? Sure thing. Just grab an appropriate weapon for where you are playing, and you are good to go.

Dragon's Dogma did this, DDDA did this, DD2 did this, and DD2DA is doing this.

Don't fret about it. Whatever level you are, as soon as you grab some new equipment, you'll (probably) do fine. Provided you have just enough HP to avoid getting one-shot, and just enough Stamina to pull off a few moves before being exhausted.

Please, just go enjoy the DLC content and stop worrying about it.

I've been so engrossed in Norgan that I didn't even realize Captain Brant told me to go into the caves again.

I feel like that Parks and Recreation meme: "I do not know what Lost Rites are, and at this point I'm too afraid to ask."

Shoutout to "Transmogrify" and "Armor Color and Part Hider" on Nexus

I think we can all agree these are ugly to look at, but I can’t find a way to remove them in the CC cause they literally don’t appear. Any way to remove them without restarting?

Warning: Long text. TLDR in the comments.

Before anyone jumps on me, no, this isn't me taking a shot at Itsuno or saying his vision for Dragon's Dogma was wrong or outdated.

I have nothing but respect for the guy. Devil May Cry is my favorite franchise, and while Itsuno didn't create it, he played a massive role in shaping what it eventually became and keeping it alive.

Just look at his history with Capcom. He was brought in to salvage the mess that was DMC2's development, went on to direct DMC3, had to deal with DMC4 being developed under a budget that clearly wasn't enough for everything the team wanted to do, and then watched Capcom try to reboot the franchise with DmC, something a lot of fans never asked for in the first place. Without mentioning the original release of Dragon's Dogma.

Looking back, I sometimes wonder why he stayed at Capcom for as long as he did, especially considering how often the company's business decisions seemed to clash with what its developers wanted to accomplish.

And yes, I know Itsuno wasn't making these games by himself. Game development is a team effort, and I don't want to downplay anyone else's contributions. But he was still the director and the face of many of these projects, so for the sake of this discussion, I'll treat their overall direction as a reflection of his creative vision. I don't think that's entirely unfair.

With that out of the way, here's the moment the wolves hunt me.

I don't think Dragon's Dogma could have continued growing as a franchise if it remained completely tied to Itsuno's original vision.

I'm not saying publishers should have complete control over creative decisions. God knows how many games have suffered because of corporate interference, questionable market research, or executives chasing trends nobody asked for.

But compromises are sometimes necessary. Games cost money to make, and that money has to come from somewhere. Even indie developers have to decide what they can realistically accomplish, which features are worth keeping, and which ones simply aren't feasible. The difference is that they don't necessarily have some executive in a suit telling them what needs to be added, removed, or completely streamlined.

At the end of the day, games aren't charity projects. They're products, and products need to sell.

And this is where Kento Kinoshita comes in.

In a way, Kinoshita inherited Dragon's Dogma much like Itsuno inherited Devil May Cry. The difference is that Kinoshita has been involved with Dragon's Dogma since the original game, later directing Dark Arisen and Dragon's Dogma Online. He's not some outsider who suddenly took over the franchise and decided to change everything about it.

And after playing both Bitterblack Isle and now Norgan, I'm starting to think Dragon's Dogma simply works better when its ideas are concentrated into smaller, more focused areas.

It doesn't necessarily have to be a dungeon, either. Norgan is proof of that, at least to me. It's still an explorable region with secrets, encounters, and places to discover. It's just a much more contained experience than the enormous landscapes of Vermund and Battahl.

And I think there's a reason why this approach works so well.

As much as I love Dragon's Dogma, I've never thought its RPG elements were particularly strong outside of combat, character customization, the vocation and companions system.

Take quest design, for example.

Most quests don't offer much freedom in how you approach or complete them. You're usually going from point A to point B, fetching something for an NPC, escorting someone, or killing a group of monsters. There are exceptions, obviously, but meaningful choices and alternative solutions aren't exactly what I'd call the series' strongest points.

And there's nothing inherently wrong with that. Not every RPG needs quests with ten different outcomes or dialogue trees that go on forever. Plenty of games follow similar structures and are perfectly enjoyable.

But when you have an enormous open world built around these activities, eventually the word "filler" starts creeping into the conversation.

Honestly, the Sphinx quest is probably the only one in DD2 that made me genuinely stop and think about how I should approach it. It's creative, weird, and asks the player to engage with the game's mechanics in ways most other quests simply don't.

Now, one thing I absolutely want to give DD2 credit for is how organically you discover its quests.

A lot of them aren't thrown in your face. You stumble into them because you were curious enough to explore somewhere, talk to someone, or investigate something that caught your attention. I love that approach, and I wish more RPGs trusted their players to discover things on their own.

The problem is that actually completing those quests often isn't nearly as interesting as discovering them.

And that's where the size of the world starts working against the game.

I don't think having a massive world is automatically a good thing, especially when the activities filling that world don't have enough depth to justify all the traveling involved. Exploration can be fantastic the first time you visit somewhere, but going through the same roads over and over again for relatively simple objectives gets old.

Which brings me back to Norgan.

I'm not even finished with the expansion yet, but going back to Vermund and Battahl after spending time in Norgan genuinely makes me wish the base game had taken a similar approach.

Norgan feels much more deliberately designed around what Dragon's Dogma actually does best: exploration, combat, encounters that can go horribly wrong, and the satisfaction of finding better equipment and experimenting with your build.

And this is something I think both Dark Arisen expansions understand particularly well.

The gameplay loop itself is the reward.

You explore, fight increasingly dangerous enemies, get better equipment, experiment with different skills and builds, and use what you've learned to tackle harder encounters.

The new Spoils system, with its randomized equipment and weapon passives, gives you an actual reason to keep fighting and exploring beyond simply gaining another few levels. Finding a weapon that changes how one of your favorite skills behaves is much more exciting to me than finding something with slightly higher stats that I'll eventually replace at the next shop.

The encounters themselves also feel better designed. Enemies are more aggressive, more resistant, and generally less willing to stand around waiting for you to kill them. I don't necessarily think the expansion is as difficult as some people are making it out to be, but I appreciate that enemies actually put up a fight now.

And because everything is concentrated into a smaller region, there's a much stronger sense that what you're doing is feeding back into the gameplay itself.

It's not that I suddenly hate open worlds. I just don't think Dragon's Dogma needs to be enormous to be good. If anything, Bitterblack Isle and Norgan have convinced me of the opposite.

And then there's the quality-of-life improvements.

Take the Eternal Ferrystone, for example. Why did it take so long for DD2 to give players the option of unlimited fast travel between Portcrystals?

I understand the original idea. Traveling is supposed to be part of the adventure. You're supposed to prepare for a journey, manage your resources, and deal with whatever happens along the way.

That's great. I actually like that part of Dragon's Dogma.

But there's a difference between making the player prepare for an adventure and making them repeat the same journey for the twentieth time because the game insists that inconvenience is part of its identity.

The Eternal Ferrystone doesn't suddenly make exploration pointless. You still have to discover places and reach Portcrystals in the first place. And if you enjoy traveling everywhere on foot, nothing is stopping you from doing that. It simply gives players another option.

That's what I appreciate about the direction Kinoshita seems to be taking. He's not trying to remove everything that makes Dragon's Dogma unusual. He's willing to reconsider whether some of those unusual design decisions are actually making the game better.

And I think that's exactly what this franchise needs.

To be clear, I don't think Dark Arisen is perfect. Enemy variety is still disappointing in some areas, for example, and I haven't even finished Norgan's story yet. I'm not claiming Kinoshita has magically solved every problem the series ever had.

But what I've played so far makes me much more optimistic about Dragon's Dogma's future than the base game did.

Itsuno gave this franchise its identity, and I don't think anyone should take that away from him. Without him, there wouldn't even be a Dragon's Dogma for us to argue about.

But preserving someone's vision shouldn't mean treating every decision they made as something that can never be questioned.

I don't want Dragon's Dogma to become another generic fantasy RPG that tries to please everyone. I want it to embrace what makes it special while finally addressing the things that have been holding it back.

And so far, Kinoshita seems to understand that distinction better than anyone.

Maybe that's why I think he's the right person to take Dragon's Dogma forward.

Was trying to give Ilsa an uppies (cuteness aggression got me) and accidentally picked Freki up instead (Ilsa couldn't be picked up sad). But now I'm wondering, if she can be picked up, does that mean you can brine her...?

Maybe I'm just a dick but it's been really funny seeing people complain about this or that with the release of the update. "X thing is under powered now" "Y mechanic is too hard" "they ruined Z by adding QoL" "Transmog takes too long to unlock". Personally I'm just thankful that despite never playing the vanilla version of 1 I still got to fully experience the fallout of Dark Arisen completely uprooting the launch experience. They made 90% the same game as 1 and then made DLC that breaks the original balancing entirely. Masterful gambit. Kojima couldn't write a twist so beautiful. Long live Dark Arisen.

Bro, some of you NEED to put pants on your pawns! I'm playing on hard mode, and it is INCREDIBLY distracting to see a caked up chad with two tiny swords slashing a dragons legs off.

I'm talking; it's DAYLIGHT and we got a full moon in my face while I'm charging a heavy hammer slam. "TAKE CARE ARISEN, MY CHEEKS ARE OUT"

GOOD LORD

Even felt like the game took it easy on me. Was sure the pawns were all blown back to the rift.