Dragons dogma worth buying?

[Dandark]

Hello Escapist community.

I've been looking for a new game to buy recently and since I really feel like a new open world fantasy RPG I had been looking towards dragons dogma which seems to fit what I want pretty well.

I was hoping to get some opinion from people on this forum. I didn't get it when it first came out because Crapcom and I was put off of it by some of the flaws I heard about despite enjoying the demo. I'd be more willing to get it now that it has gone down in price but what do people here think? Good game? Awful game? Flawed but still fun and worth getting?

Also what is the deal with Dark arisen? Is it just DLC or can I get that and have the full vanilla game with it?

 

[piinyouri]

My very opinionated opinion?
It's great with a few flaws here and there.

Are there any points in specific you were wondering about? I feel that may help you a bit more than me saying "Yeah I liked it, thought it was fun."

 

[Zhukov]

Nyeaaahhuummmaybe.

I thought the game was dog crap on toast, but there were glimpses of something good under there and other people have said they love it.

I guess I'd say go for it if you can find it cheap-ish, but I can't recommend it at anything near full price.

 

[Dandark]

My very opinionated opinion?
It's great with a few flaws here and there.

Are there any points in specific you were wondering about? I feel that may help you a bit more than me saying "Yeah I liked it, thought it was fun."

I was mainly just wondering if there were some huge flaws that ruined it because I remember passing on it for some reason but can't remember what exactly. It may have just been me not liking Capcom.

That and does the vanilla game come with Dark Arisen? Do I need to buy both the vanilla game and Dark Arisen or should I just get Dark Arisen?

 

[Smooth Operator]

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen is the re-release of the original game plus expansion, and obviously bug fixes, that is the one to get if you do.

I would say it's a pretty damn good game with major flaws, if you can squint a little and enjoy the good parts then you will be fine. I still say this was the next generation of hack & slash RPG (once polished enough), but their refusal to learn from others in their genre has lead them down strange paths.

 

[Rutabaga_swe]

Bought it and tried playing, but after maybe 4-5 hours it just felt clunky, slow and uninspired. The big bosses are kinda cool, i suppose, but the boring ass combat system kinda makes that a moot point to me. Can't recommend it personally, but like others have said in the thread, the game seems to cause very mixed reactions.

 

[Mr Fixit]

I just got it myself, Dark Arisen version... I've played through most of the main story & just barely touched on the Dark Arisen part & I really like it so far. It's a good solid game, but it can be very frustrating early on & the Pawns can be very annoying. I honestly love it though, the story is odd to say the least & the big boss fights can have a very epic feeling. Overall I'd suggest picking it up, especially if you can find it cheap.

 

[The Eupho Guy_v1legacy]

Here's my take on it: Its an interesting game, but it gets very repetitive after a while. The combat can get very same-y, and there's no variation in enemy spawns, so the goblins hiding out in a ravine will be there every time you come back to that ravine. You don't notice it much when you are off exploring new places, but its very noticeable when you travel particular areas a lot. Also, I hope you like walking, because the fast travel system is limited, once you even get it.

On the plus side, the boss fight set pieces are well done, in fact I'd say most of the larger enemies are done reasonably well, its just a shame that the normal sized enemies are so uninteresting to fight. I got through the main story up until the post game, where it became too grindy for me.

 

[piinyouri]

My very opinionated opinion?
It's great with a few flaws here and there.

Are there any points in specific you were wondering about? I feel that may help you a bit more than me saying "Yeah I liked it, thought it was fun."

I was mainly just wondering if there were some huge flaws that ruined it because I remember passing on it for some reason but can't remember what exactly. It may have just been me not liking Capcom.

That and does the vanilla game come with Dark Arisen? Do I need to buy both the vanilla game and Dark Arisen or should I just get Dark Arisen?

I've heard opinions about the story being split abut down the middle. I personally thought it's simplicity was refreshing for a JRPG. Most people who like the game enjoy the combat, and the combat really is the center piece of the game. Dynamic, action oriented. I'd call it a more hack n slashy version of the Souls games, while not being quite as difficult.

Dark Arisen is a re-release of the original game that includes many changes and improvements to address some common complaints people had, like fast travel. They also increased the menu navigation speed tremendously. You only need buy Dark Arisen if you do not own the original.

The new content that DA adds is pretty fun. A fairly large dungeon full of seriously strong monsters. It's designed to be attempted late game, or even after you've beaten the game once. The story of DA does fairly well considering, and manages to still tie into the original narrative and not feel too much like a tacked on story. Beating the dungeon and replaying it yields stronger monsters and new monster placement (Enemies you fought towards the bottom before will now show up earlier)

The pawns are a big dividing issue. Some people aren't bothered by their verbose nature, for others it's too much to handle. Dark Arisen does not do much to address this, so if it's something that will impact your enjoyment in a serious way, you may want to reconsider, or looks up some unaltered game vids to see for yourself.

Any other questions?

 

[endnuen]

It's very good. No handholding and a good challenge. Great monsters and combat, Dark Arisen is well worth £10

 

[Frezzato]

The thing about Dragon's Dogma is, while the pawns were annoying, I don't remember what it was that made me stop playing the game.

Ultimately, I thought the game was an awesome mix of Shadow of the Colossus, highly responsive close quarter combat similar to Arkham Asylum (sorry, no better examples come to mind), and depending on your choices you can have access to elementals as well bow attacks with area effects. Unfortunately, you can't avoid having companions that simply won't shut the fuck up, which is like a novelty keychain that makes a farting noise every 30 seconds no matter what you try.

 

[Tanis]

Beyond the pawns being annoying as hell, thus having me mute voices, I enjoyed it.

I'd suggest getting DDA as it's got the original game + a sort of 'end game' expansion pack, and a lot of bug fixes.

The combat is pretty good, the graphics are solid, and there's enough to do so that it's worth the price.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

Dragon's Dogma is pretty good, really good compared to most RPGs of its kind. I have pretty high standards for RPGs as I want good characters and story along with a focus on role-playing (which almost no RPG does) and Dogma fails in delivering in those areas but so does almost every other RPG as well. The combat is really great, especially against the big creatures like a hydra, a cyclops, a chimera, a dragon, etc. The boss battle against the main dragon is probably the best boss fight ever (no hyperbole whatsoever), it's better than any single boss fight in Shadow of the Colossus. The dragon fight feels like you are really fighting a dragon and not just something big that you slash at their legs enough and they die. My main pawn is a mage and Dogma's magic attacks are just awesome looking like the tornado.

The game has scaling problems like most RPGs, the wolves, goblins, and such don't ever scale up so they become pushovers. The pawns can be annoying but I actually didn't mind them too much, I think with Dark Arisen they is a way to shut them up though (I'm not 100% on that). Dark Arisen fixes the fast travel issue for the most part by giving you an stone with unlimited uses that lets you fast travel. You still got to put down these crystals and set the points you can fast travel to but the world actually isn't that big and you really only need a few places to fast travel to.

 

[Candidus]

Story Summary: Cool story.
Gameplay Summary: Dark Souls meets Monster Hunter. Almost perfect.
Flaws: Only the advertising of DLC when starting/loading your game. The gameplay is almost flawless assuming it's what you want; it doesn't have many objective problems. A few camera issues, that's all. Most of the complaints I've heard from others have made me scoff and say "But I loved that!"

Overall: Buy the game. Just buy it.

 

[TheEvilCheese]

Cool story: Do not spoil.
Gameplay is a mixed bag. The combat can be fun and very solid but it can also feel grindy and repetitive. Overall IMO it's very good especially the bosses. But some of the smaller enemies can get annoying / repetitive.
Definitely worth picking up (Dark Arisen is a standalone rerelease). Hard to get used to the systems coming from other games people say are similar, some wiki research may be required to clear up some of the systems.

Pawns are unique and, later on, very cool. However they can get VERY annoying at times.

 

[Mutie]

Hello Escapist community.

I've been looking for a new game to buy recently and since I really feel like a new open world fantasy RPG I had been looking towards dragons dogma which seems to fit what I want pretty well.

I was hoping to get some opinion from people on this forum. I didn't get it when it first came out because Crapcom and I was put off of it by some of the flaws I heard about despite enjoying the demo. I'd be more willing to get it now that it has gone down in price but what do people here think? Good game? Awful game? Flawed but still fun and worth getting?

Also what is the deal with Dark arisen? Is it just DLC or can I get that and have the full vanilla game with it?

I understand your reservations about Capcom... I'm an old school Resi fan :/ Got a huge collection, action figures on the wall, both chainsaw pads... took years! But those new games Breaks me heart.

But as for Dragon's Dogma... Quite simply YES!

I've not finished it. Not really scratched the surface... But for a few weeks it was the most damn fun I've had! It's goofy and a bit lame in all the usual way, but damn good at it. It reminded me of Fable, but with that JRPG flair that piques your thirst for silly storylines. Plus, you can make anyone! I usually make a character fors me RPGS, carefully considered and woven deeply into the world and plot. But for this one I made me, and it was kinda weird... Cause it most definitely was me. But we crazy fighting powers. And a hot Elven Archer sidekick. Which, while I will admit is rather juvenile, is totally justifiable in this game >.< It has an awesome classical vibe, like the old Harryhausen monster epics; taking down huge mythical beasts in the heat of battle in a multitude of possible ways. One time, my sidekick ran up and jumped on a cyclops's neck and turned it's head to face me, in response to my sprinting to a rock a drawing a power shot. Then she shouts "FIRE NOW!" Blinded the fucking thing! Pull it to the ground with some wires on to the sword of my knight.

Buy this game.

(There's a version with Dark Arisen included on disc. Bit more expensive but not much, need to upgrade mine cause I bought vanilla so don't make the same mistake :/ )

 

[garjian]

Why do people apparently not like this game?

Pawn speech is a minor annoyance at best, I like them, myself... It's part of the game's charm.
Other than that and the fact that it has a leveling system (which means that occasionally, some challenges are actually next to impossible due to not being the right level) ...I can think of nothing to complain about.
Combat is fun, the world is interesting, there's tonnes of personality... The game can be very challenging, there's some well hidden quests and secrets, the classes feel different... I don't understand what's not to like.

Anyway, if you're getting it I have a little advice. The class you choose at the start of the game seems to effect your stats quite significantly... for example, I've made 2 Magic Archers, the first was very weak as he started as a Strider and therefore had a low Magic stat... with the second I picked Mage, and he's remarkably good.
It's difficult to know what you want to be if you haven't played it, but, y'know...

Another thing I do personally is to avoid making your main pawn a healer. It kind of reduces the whole mechanic of looking for and downloading other people's pawns when it's only really a matter of additional DPS... but I certainly wouldn't want to tell you what to do, soooo...

 

[Dandark]

From what I have heard in this thread the game sounds pretty fun and has what im looking for so I just ordered it and should get it in a few days

Thanks for the advice on it, im guessing the reason I didn't get it before must have just been me being annoyed at one of the many things Crapcom did to make people hate them.

 

[GundamSentinel]

From what I have heard in this thread the game sounds pretty fun and has what im looking for so I just ordered it and should get it in a few days

Have fun with it. I sure had.

Good fast-paced action with a fun combat system. Nothing like climbing on top of Cyclops and stabbing it in the eye. And I really enjoyed the character creation system: it actually matters for a change.

I'd recommend finishing the main game's story at least once before starting Dark Arisen. Dark Arisen can be Dark Souls-level hard if you're low level or ill-equipped. Reading some wiki articles about the different classes and exactly how leveling works can help as well.

 

[kmg90]

If you have a PS3, I believe it is still available for free and I'd definitely recommend you give it a try.