Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen Reviews
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Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen is often Capcom's open world RPG at its absolute peak. It's one hell of a meaty expansion, delivering a surprisingly involved story, joyous exploration, and deeply compelling combat. A transformative DLC.
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Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen is a fine expansion that lengthens the base game to a comfortable degree without being overwhelming. While some jank and difficulty remain, it's clear things have improved in more ways than one.
Dragon's Dogma II: Dark Arisen does what the original expansion accomplished and sets the bar higher. With both Dark Arisen's original premise and the Lost Rites challenges, there are more things to do, fight, and see within the world even before deciding to end it at the finishing fight.
While Dark Arisen has some minor technical issues, as well as occasional problems such as the camera angle during combat, its wealth of content makes it compelling enough to draw players back to Dragon's Dogma 2 more than two years after the original game's release. The new region of Norgan is well worth exploring thanks to its distinct atmosphere and rich content, while other additions, including a well-crafted story, new skills and abilities, and even the DLC's dungeons, ultimately make this story-driven expansion a worthwhile journey into its fantasy world.
Review in Persian | Read full review
John: And if like me, it is exactly your cup of tea, you'll have a very hard time putting it down.
Dark Arisen is a solid expansion that expands Dragon's Dogma 2 with new challenges, plenty of exploration, and systems that make progression more interesting. Despite the lack of new vocations and some uninspired side quest choices, the expansion fulfills its purpose and reinforces the feeling that the franchise still has a lot of potential.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen is an excellent addition to an already meaty game. If you liked the base game, Dark Arisen offers even more difficult challenges alongside even greater rewards.
Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen serves up a new land with a surprising amount of content. The move to the chilled north adds hours for returning players and sands off many of the rough edges of the base game. The downside, though, is that much of the friction is gone, and as much as I like streamlined experiences, I never once thought Dragon's Dogma needed it. The campaign is a surprising blast, with Norgan offering an excellent new land, a new loot system, and challenges to overcome.
Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen is a competent and quite comprehensive expansion, but it ends up being limited by the same foundations that underpin the original game. For those who already enjoyed this formula, Norgan has a lot to offer. However, for those who expected Capcom to take the opportunity to correct its main problems, the expansion may leave the feeling that it fell short of going a step further.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen improves upon the base game in almost every way, introducing a much more interesting snow-covered region to explore alongside an addictive loot system. While I would’ve loved to see a competent story and more enemy variety, what’s here will keep me coming back to explore Vermund, Battahl, and Norgan for months and years to come.
If you’ve played a bit of DD2 but dropped it because of performance or a quality-of-life feature you felt was missing, try 4.0; if you like the new-and-improved DD2, I would highly recommend jumping into Dark Arisen next. If you love the idea of a grand fantasy adventure and experience a truly unique and immersive single-player game where you feel as if you’re actually accompanied by real players going on treacherous adventures together, with great moment-to-moment gameplay, then please, please play Dragon’s Dogma 2, then continue your adventure into Dark Arisen DLC and the cold lands of Norgan.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 Dark Arisen is a thoroughly enjoyable expansion to what was already one of my favourite action RPGs, thanks to a smart new loot system and an entirely new region to explore and fight in.
It’s been a long time since I’ve played a DLC that felt this engrossing, deep, and genuinely more like an expansion. Not only has Dark Arisen given us loads of new gameplay in both the new area and the challenge dungeons, it’s proven the perfect excuse to head back to Dragon’s Dogma II to remind us just how great of a game it is.
Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen is a punishing, atmospheric and endlessly replayable expansion. Even with a level 50 character in full gear on New Game+, Norgan pushed me to my limits, and its bosses, the six weapon skill slots and the relic appraisal loop make it a must-play for anyone who loved the base game. It also ran smoothly on PS5, which is no small feat for this series.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen delivers the progression, exploration, and expanded skills the base game needed, creating the definitive Dragon’s Dogma 2 experience.
With around 80 hours of content, a story that outclasses the base game and performance that is finally stable, Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen caps Capcom's remarkable 2026 and gives the Arisen the adventure it deserved two years ago.
"An expansion that elevates the Dragon’s Dogma experience" Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen delivers an expansion that significantly broadens the experience without losing the essence that made the original game special. It features the distinctive Norgan region, intense encounters, and tangible improvements to Pawns, combat, and exploration. Despite a few flaws, the new content makes returning to the world of Dragon’s Dogma 2 an enjoyable and worthwhile experience—especially for those craving more of the adventure and combat that the game delivers so brilliantly.
Review in Arabic | Read full review