Dragons Dogma is at its absolute best when its behaving like a classic dungeon crawler, and Dark Arisen exhibits this in spades. Deep in the bowels of Bitterblack Isle, the game takes on a gritty, heavily D&D inspired, slightly Monster Hunter-esque dynamic where youre getting stomped by some of the most grueling creatures the game has to offer. Boldly oppressive, distilling Dragons Dogma to its strongest elements.

This wasnt exclusive to Dark Arisen of course, the original had things like the Everfall. But the addition of Bitterblack and the expansion of “The Endgame” really heightens this aspect of the game, tools and challenges to express some mastery of Dragons Dogmas systems - which could be very valuable considering how weird Dragons Dogma is as a fantasy ARPG. You might not get too many of these so you its good you can really dig in.