Brumbek's UBER-Epic DRAGON'S DOGMA Review! [No Spoilers] [Played on PS3]

[Brumbek]

TL;DR Version

Dragon’s Dogma Dark Arisen is the complete package. It’s a triumph of art, technology, and game design. There’s hundreds of hours of fantastic questing, best-in-class combat, and open-world discovery. You owe it to yourself to play this masterpiece!

PS: the whole "UBER-Epic" title is a joke, people. It's meant to be ironic. This post is just my simple opinion, obviously.

Preface - Brumbek Loves Dragon’s Dogma

Having put 200+ hours into the console version (PS3), I can safely say Dragon’s Dogma is one of the best games ever made, no joke. And now we’re getting this PC version with high framerate, no micro-transactions, and convenience additions at a budget price!

Why is the game so good, you ask? Enjoy my thorough spoiler-free review below! Feel free to skip to sections you care about. I hope you will give the game a chance because it’s truly a once-in-a-generation kind of game, no exaggeration.

Introduction

Dragon’s Dogma Dark Arisen is one of the most immersive, complete action RPG experiences ever made. The game exudes quality, clearing being a labor of love from the developers to the players. And much to love there is with 200 hours of top-tier content. Let’s go piece by piece.

PC Port Information

Disclaimer: I haven’t played the PC version personally since it isn’t out yet. However, the PC previews by Destructoid and PC Gamer indicate it is an excellent port with up to 4K resolution and 150 frames per second, full KB/M support, on the fly KB/M or controller swapping, and uncompressed textures.

The PC version also features keyboard hotkeys for quick use of items and an infinite Ferrystone for easier Fast Travel. New Achievements have also been added. More PC-specific information will be included once the game is actually released.

World

First, there’s a big, beautiful open-world to explore with hundreds of interesting landmarks, nooks, and hidden stashes. The entire open-world is freely accessible from the start, although you are wise to follow the main story path for safety. On a technical note, the engine renders the world beautifully with amazing draw distances and grand vistas.

Story

The story seems generic at first, but please trust that it quickly turns into a thought-provoking tale of fate, destiny, and existence. I dare not say more because it’s easily spoiled. Please just know the first five hours are a bit slow with typical fantasy quests, but keep going to be rewarded with a truly unique story you will not soon forget!

Art Design

Artistically, Dogma is a pure triumph with immaculate art. The creature design, the NPCs, the gear, and so on all feature detailed geometry and stylized textures. The animations are also world class. It adds so much to the immersion when you can realistically climb a monster and see that monster flail about as you strike it.

Graphically, though, it should be noted this game started as a prior-gen year 2012 console game. Much like Grand Theft Auto V it shines on PC because of brilliant art direction, but the prior-gen console roots are still there. Most notable are the blocky buildings and terrain and low resolution textures.

Voice-Acting

The voice acting is incredibly good throughout the whole game. The entire cast is great, with some very famous and respected voice talents. Your pawns have wonderfully calm voices, which is good since they talk so much (can be muted on PC version).

Sound

What about sound effects? The environmental sounds like waterfalls, insects, birds, and so on are top notch. The enemy and player sounds are impactful and fitting. Weapon and skill sounds are distinct and varied, so as to give audio cues exactly when needed. In short, the sound design is top-notch.

Music

Special mention should go to the music. Certain key songs and motifs (bits of melody) are used throughout the game in expert fashion. It should come as no surprise that the music ranges from great to amazing since people like Inon Zur worked on the game. The main menu, credits, victory fanfare, and Bitterblack music are all standouts.

Combat

The combat system itself features precise actions and animations, responsive controls, and countless ways to fight. Dogma’s signature combat feature is large monsters which can all be clung to, climbed, and killed in the most vicious ways.

We’ve all had fun hacking a Dragon’s feet or tail in Dragon Age or Dark Souls. However, it’s a new level of fun to literally do a running jump onto the beast’s mane, cling for dear life, and slash the fiend to death while it flies mid-air flailing about. Hence, it’s no exaggeration to say Dark Arisen has the greatest combat system of any action RPG.

Character & Class Systems

Being an RPG, you level up as you play with a tremendous level cap of 200. Leveling is quite quick, with very little grinding since there’s so many quests, side activities, and events to award much XP.

The versatile class system allows 9 total variants of the 3 major archetypes (fighter, archer, mage), and you can freely change your class as much as you like. The skill system is based on your class, but you can mix and match Augments from any class, incentivizing you to play and master all 9 classes.

Gear & Equipment

The game features over 400 pieces of equipment, each with a unique appearance. You can have up to 6 pieces of armor, 2 rings, and 2 weapons equipped. The 6 armor pieces are of special note since there are literally hundreds of combinations that physically fit your unique character body. This is fantasy dress-up on steroids!

Upgrades & Dragonforging

Then there’s the weapon and armor upgrade system. Each item can be upgraded using gold and materials. The materials are harvested from enemies, mining, scavenging, and so on. It’s a great system that adds much incentive to go kill tons of monsters and scour the land for “aught of use” as your pawns say.

As if the base item upgrading system wasn’t enough, Dogma features one of the most brilliant extra gear upgrade systems ever: Dragonforging, which fits so well into the lore and is just such a cool idea. I won’t spoil what it involves but a warning: it’s insanely addicting!

Loot

The game features a great semi-random loot system where most chests have a list of maybe 3-10 items you might find with different rarities. This is great because it encourages replaying areas, and makes it possible to find new stuff even after going through a dungeon or location for the tenth time just for fun.

Pawns - Your Friendly Helpers

Then there’s the pawns, another totally glorious idea unique to Dogma. You get one main pawn with customizable gear and skills, and you can hire up to two other pawns to help you. Your pawns learn about the world, monsters, and quests as you experience it all. So much more could be said, but you’ll want to experience the joy of pawns for yourself.

Throwing Goblins off Cliffs = Winning

Did I mention you can pick up smaller enemies and throw them? See, this is something most games wouldn’t bother with because it’s not really necessary. Sure I could just kill the poor goblin, but how delightful to stun him, go pick him up, run to the cliff, throw him over, watch him flail as he falls screaming, then hear a delightful splat. You know you want to try it!

Concerns - Difficulty

Let me address one common complaint before continuing: difficulty. Dogma uses a static leveling system for enemies. This means some areas are simply too hard for low level players. The game repeatedly tells you some areas may be too difficult at the moment. Your pawns will also tell you when a dangerous enemy is nearby. Follow this tip religiously: if you see a large monster, immediately save your game.

Concerns - Too Many Quests

Some will rightly say there are too many Notice Board quests. There is a constant stream of “Kill X monsters” and “Collect X item” and “Escort X NPC” quests, which can definitely clutter your quest log. The completionist may get overwhelmed, but all the quests do offer decent rewards and are entirely optional. Again, you do not ever have to do Notice Board quests!

Concerns - Missable Quests

Another issue is several side-quests are very missable. OCD players may get angry when a quest gets “Canceled” because too much main story progress is made. This is bad design and unfortunate. However, what needs to be understood is Dogma is a game meant to be replayed at least 2 times (New Game Plus), so don’t worry if you miss some quests the first time.

Concerns - Constant Slowdowns!

The console versions suffer from extreme slowdown, which is unfortunate. However, this is fixed on PC, so who cares about those peasant box problems?! (This was a JOKE about consoles. Do not take it seriously!)

Concerns - Inventory Management & Stamina

Dogma does require a large amount of inventory management, swapping out old and new gear and items. There is also an annoying weight limit that constantly requires you to put items into storage. Your Stamina also tends to drain quite rapidly when running and fighting, which requires you carry a large amount of recovery items, which plays right into the annoying weight limit problem.

Overall, there is too much “playing the menus” but Dogma is so good otherwise that the inventory management will probably be an acceptable tedium to most players. The PC version could have benefited greatly from “no weight” or “double stamina” options but oh well.

Concerns - Too Much Running!

First, understand the original 2012 console release did not feature Fast Travel, which was a big hit against it in reviews. The 2013 Dark Arisen rerelease (and this PC version) have Fast Travel items you can place in the world after reaching certain story points.

It is true you can only set ten Fast Travel locations, so there will be some amount of running back and forth. But if you wisely set up your locations (sort of an unofficial puzzle-game, finding the most efficient locations), there won’t be much serious backtracking.

Concerns - Mute Protagonist, Bad/No Lip-Synching, No Dialogue Options

Your character is mute, only the main story scenes have lip-syncing, and the lip-synching isn’t good. Other NPCs like merchants have no lip-synching. Also, this isn’t a game like Witcher or Fallout where you have dialogue options. It’s a more traditional JRPG with a linear story. Just be aware of all that.

Addendum - So Much Awesome Content!

Did I mention that game has a very large end-game dungeon you can play as much as you’d like? It features some crazy bosses that will test your mettle and reward you greatly. Just in case that isn’t enough, Dogma has a “hidden” boss (he’s easy to find) you can fight solo or online for unique rewards.

Addendum - The Dark Arisen Expansion

Then there’s the Dark Arisen expansion content bundled with the game: Bitterblack Isle, an uber-dungeon featuring the hardest encounters in the game, intense dungeon delving, a mysterious story to unravel, and an addictive Diablo-inspired loot system. The PC version also features new Bitterblack Isle Achievements, adding even more incentive to play for another 80 hours!

Conclusion - Once in a Generation Game

Dragon’s Dogma Dark Arisen is the complete package. It’s a triumph of art, technology, and game design. There’s hundreds of hours of fantastic questing, best-in-class combat, and open-world discovery.

Do you like third-person action combat, interesting stories, open-world exploration, dungeon-delving, hunting monsters, and crafting epic gear? Of course you do, and you owe it to yourself to play this masterpiece!

[[sMil3]]

"Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen is the complete package. It’s a triumph of art, technology, and game design. There's hundreds of hours of fantastic questing, best-in-class combat, and open-world questing. You owe it to yourself to play this masterpiece! Buy now!!
http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/dragons-dogma-dark-arisen
Tl;dr: "im a massive fanboy of a average game"
So because I love the game when Metacritic has it at a score of 80...your point is? 80 on Metacritic is actually “Great” by the way, not average. LOL."

My point is that your review is extremely biased. I dont go around calling the games I like " triumph of art, technology, and game design" or "masterpieces" when there are a few others in the genre much better. If you cant separate your extreme bias from objectivity,then your reviews will never be good. Just ask IGN ;)

[Brumbek]

Nguyên văn bởi ルを失うTiTiCon:

You completely missed the point. Go back to your cave.

That's not a very nice thing to say. I would please ask you, out of respect for the glory that is Dragon's Dogma, please try to avoid mean things and focus on how much love we should have for Dragon's Dogma!!

[WoofWoof]

Nguyên văn bởi ルを失うTiTiCon:

"Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen is the complete package. It’s a triumph of art, technology, and game design. There's hundreds of hours of fantastic questing, best-in-class combat, and open-world questing. You owe it to yourself to play this masterpiece! Buy now!!
http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/dragons-dogma-dark-arisen
Tl;dr: "im a massive fanboy of a average game"
So because I love the game when Metacritic has it at a score of 80...your point is? 80 on Metacritic is actually “Great” by the way, not average. LOL."

My point is that your review is extremely biased. I dont go around calling the games I like " triumph of art, technology, and game design" or "masterpieces" when there are a few others in the genre much better. If you cant separate your extreme bias from objectivity,then your reviews will never be good. Just ask IGN ;)

Don't have a horse in this race, but reviews are by their nature subjective

if you want a completely objective game review, it would be a spec sheet

[Brumbek]

Nguyên văn bởi WoofWoof:

Don't have a horse in this race, but reviews are by their nature subjective

if you want a completely objective game review, it would be a spec sheet

Exactly right of course. Respect to you for being calm about this. It is so bizarre that some people can't accept that I, personally, the Great and Mighty Brumbek, random internet user, think Dragon's Dogma is a 10 out of 10.

They seem to think if Metacritic says it is an 80, that it is impossible for anyone to give it higher. Each of us are unique people. We all have our personal tastes! I thought Dragon's Dogma was dang near the tastiest morsel I've ever played! I have a right to my opinion, and I have a right to post it on this forum!

[[sMil3]]

Nguyên văn bởi WoofWoof:

Nguyên văn bởi ルを失うTiTiCon:

"Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen is the complete package. It’s a triumph of art, technology, and game design. There's hundreds of hours of fantastic questing, best-in-class combat, and open-world questing. You owe it to yourself to play this masterpiece! Buy now!!
http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/dragons-dogma-dark-arisen
Tl;dr: "im a massive fanboy of a average game"
So because I love the game when Metacritic has it at a score of 80...your point is? 80 on Metacritic is actually “Great” by the way, not average. LOL."

My point is that your review is extremely biased. I dont go around calling the games I like " triumph of art, technology, and game design" or "masterpieces" when there are a few others in the genre much better. If you cant separate your extreme bias from objectivity,then your reviews will never be good. Just ask IGN ;)

Don't have a horse in this race, but reviews are by their nature subjective

if you want a completely objective game review, it would be a spec sheet

I agree with you (after all,reviews are also opinions),but not to this point. Someone calling a game with a few obvious flaws of a "masterpiece" is just...well,ridiculous.

[[sMil3]]

Nguyên văn bởi Brumbek:

Nguyên văn bởi WoofWoof:

Don't have a horse in this race, but reviews are by their nature subjective

if you want a completely objective game review, it would be a spec sheet

Exactly right of course. Respect to you for being calm about this. It is so bizarre that some people can't accept that I, personally, the Great and Mighty Brumbek, random internet user, think Dragon's Dogma is a 10 out of 10.

They seem to think if Metacritic says it is an 80, that it is impossible for anyone to give it higher. Each of us are unique people. We all have our personal tastes! I thought Dragon's Dogma was dang near the tastiest morsel I've ever played! I have a right to my opinion, and I have a right to post it on this forum!

No,I cant accept so called reviews that give 10/10 to a game while ignoring all its flaws in the process. Never did,never will.

[Jemolk]

Nguyên văn bởi WoofWoof:

Nguyên văn bởi ルを失うTiTiCon:

"Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen is the complete package. It’s a triumph of art, technology, and game design. There's hundreds of hours of fantastic questing, best-in-class combat, and open-world questing. You owe it to yourself to play this masterpiece! Buy now!!
http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/dragons-dogma-dark-arisen
Tl;dr: "im a massive fanboy of a average game"
So because I love the game when Metacritic has it at a score of 80...your point is? 80 on Metacritic is actually “Great” by the way, not average. LOL."

My point is that your review is extremely biased. I dont go around calling the games I like " triumph of art, technology, and game design" or "masterpieces" when there are a few others in the genre much better. If you cant separate your extreme bias from objectivity,then your reviews will never be good. Just ask IGN ;)

Don't have a horse in this race, but reviews are by their nature subjective

if you want a completely objective game review, it would be a spec sheet

Pretty much. And the comment that there are "a few others in the genre much better" is simply not true. It's an entirely subjective thing which game is best, as long as it isn't a buggy mess, which this is not. It achieves its goals. The Witcher 3 no doubt achieves its own goals, which are not the same as the goals of the devs of this game. The game is hardly "average," if you like this kind of game it's one of the best in its class. If you don't like this kind of game, go find one you do like, no one's stopping you. Maybe it doesn't do what you want it to. It does do what Brumbek and many of the rest of us want it to, which is why we quite like the game.

Reviews like this are not analogous to a court of law where objective facts reign supreme. They are analogous to the court of public opinion, where opinions are everywhere and facts are hard to locate for inclusion in the deliberations. Some things are pretty undeniably flaws, like slowdowns. Most of them, however, are matters of opinion and taste.

[[sMil3]]

Nguyên văn bởi Jemolk:

Nguyên văn bởi WoofWoof:

Don't have a horse in this race, but reviews are by their nature subjective

if you want a completely objective game review, it would be a spec sheet

Pretty much. And the comment that there are "a few others in the genre much better" is simply not true. It's an entirely subjective thing which game is best, as long as it isn't a buggy mess, which this is not

1) So you're telling me you cant say that TW3 is better than,lets say, Barbie games,and that GoW is the best of its genre? That quality isnt measurable?
2) one of the most critizised points of this game were the inumerous bugs and graphical glitches. So here you go.

But hey,you're saying a 10/10 review of a port still not launched is ok! Good for you!

[Sire]

Quality is subjectively measurable. Ppl can't agree on anything

[[sMil3]]

Nguyên văn bởi Sire J'vemp:

Quality is subjectively measurable. Ppl can't agree on anything

Oh is that so? Damn,I wonder how some games get >9 average in scores!

[Brumbek]

Nguyên văn bởi ルを失うTiTiCon:

I agree with you (after all,reviews are also opinions),but not to this point. Someone calling a game with a few obvious flaws of a "masterpiece" is just...well,ridiculous.

Masterpiece is defined as "a work of outstanding artistry, skill, or workmanship." I find Dragon's Dogma to have outstanding artistry and very skillful craftsmanship. That doesn't equal perfection.

You are engaging in the classic review score fallacy that 10 out of 10 means "perfect in every way." It does NOT mean this. Most sites make 10 out of 10 mean "Essential" or "Masterpiece".

Notice Gamespot's list of 10 out of 10[www.gamespot.com]. Every single one of those games has issues. Some of those have serious issues. That doesn't stop them from being "works of oustanding artistry, skill, or workmanship."

Nguyên văn bởi ルを失うTiTiCon:

No,I cant accept so called reviews that give 10/10 to a game while ignoring all its flaws in the process. Never did,never will.

No one is ignoring the flaws. We are saying the game is so good that it is essential to play regardless. Read that Gamespot 10 out of 10 list. You are not understanding how review scores work.

Dragon's Dogma has issues...I list the main ones in my review because I'm not blind or delusional. However, Dragon's Dogma is, in my opinion, "a work of outstanding artistry, skill, or workmanship." A masterpiece!

[[sMil3]]

Nguyên văn bởi Brumbek:

Nguyên văn bởi ルを失うTiTiCon:

I agree with you (after all,reviews are also opinions),but not to this point. Someone calling a game with a few obvious flaws of a "masterpiece" is just...well,ridiculous.

Masterpiece is defined as "a work of outstanding artistry, skill, or workmanship." I find Dragon's Dogma to have outstanding artistry and very skillful craftsmanship. That doesn't equal perfection.

You are engaging in the classic review score fallacy that 10 out of 10 means "perfect in every way." It does NOT mean this. Most sites make 10 out of 10 mean "Essential" or "Masterpiece".

Notice Gamespot's list of 10 out of 10[www.gamespot.com]. Every single one of those games has issues. Some of those have serious issues. That doesn't stop them from being "works of oustanding artistry, skill, or workmanship."

Nguyên văn bởi ルを失うTiTiCon:

No,I cant accept so called reviews that give 10/10 to a game while ignoring all its flaws in the process. Never did,never will.

No one is ignoring the flaws. We are saying the game is so good that it is essential to play regardless. Read that Gamespot 10 out of 10 list. You are not understanding how review scores work.

Dragon's Dogma has issues...I list the main ones in my review because I'm not blind or delusional. However, Dragon's Dogma is, in my opinion, "a work of outstanding artistry, skill, or workmanship." A masterpiece!

You're not blind or delusional,but you call masterpiece to a game that is not outstanding in any form or way. Got it.

[Brumbek]

Nguyên văn bởi ルを失うTiTiCon:

You're not blind or delusional,but you call masterpiece to a game that is not outstanding in any form or way. Got it.

I'm honestly worried about you if you cannot understand that people have different opinions. Sometimes people of good will disagree about stuff. If you cannot understand this I'm honestly concerned for your ability to relate to other human beings.

[[sMil3]]

Nguyên văn bởi Brumbek:

Nguyên văn bởi ルを失うTiTiCon:

You're not blind or delusional,but you call masterpiece to a game that is not outstanding in any form or way. Got it.

I'm honestly worried about you if you cannot understand that people have different opinions. Sometimes people of good will disagree about stuff. If you cannot understand this I'm honestly concerned for your ability to relate to other human beings.

Dont worry,most people I relate with actually fundament their opinions with something other than bias,so its all good ;) . At least they dont make reviews of non released products...

[Tahl]

Nguyên văn bởi John Titor:

Nguyên văn bởi Brumbek:

TL;DR Version

Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen is the complete package. It’s a triumph or art, technology, and game design. There's hundreds of hours of fantastic questing, best-in-class combat, and open-world questing. You owe it to yourself to play this masterpiece! Buy now!!

Stopped right there. Sounds like an ad. Fantastic questing and open world questing! Buy now! lol

Why should anyone be interested in this review of the game anyway? There are literally better ones available since 2013. The only thing that would be interesting for this release on PC this "review" is curiously missing: An in-depth on PC specific changes, options and how it performs on a PC.

Maybe if you wouldn't fawn all over it like a fanboy within the very fist sentence i would have taken this "review" more seriously.

Also pretty funny how you pretty much review your experience with the console version you then go on and mock as peasant boxes.

If this is satire it's okay-ish i guess but if not then well...trash tier at best. Anyway, it's hard to tell these days.

If I could thumbs down comments I would create several accounts just for this one.

Translation.
"Her der, no game can be good. All gaming is trash. Your to positive must be bs. Plus, I apparently stopped reading after the first line then complained becuase I didnt read about what I wanted to know... out of a huge post. So Im stupid."