Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen - Nintendo Switch Release April 23

[Hello Goaty ♥]

Dark Arisen is currently £9.99 on PSN until the 15th. I nabbed it having played the original on the 360. I don't mind starting over.

Stupid silly question ... can you play this on the PS4 yet?

as i do have it sealed still for the Xbox and im reluctant to crack it yet.

[Mr Ben]

As far as I know, no you cant. I'm not sure of the details with the announced Playstation Now streaming though.

[MrEm]

The one at the top left of the world map is the easiest to kill apparently, though it took me a few attempts on my first play-through at the time. He can still be a right git when your higher level, mainly due to the mind control, but that can be interrupted if your quick enough. I found that the quickest way to kill him was to go a Warrior class (one with the 2 handed sword) and use the charge attacks at the right time (when he isn't targeting you). Make sure you have a healer type mage, and above all else prevent that pawn from being mind controlled.

I really should start playing this again on my PS3, but I have far too many games on PC to plough (The Witcher 2 included ) through.

I did it before seeing this reply, I enlisted a high ranking sorcerer and ran about for ten minutes without any consideration to tactics after my pawn was mind controlled. It wasn't pretty or elegant but I emerged victorious ( I was totaly carried by the sorcerer), one day I will remain calm and not button mash, but today was not the day.

I'm having a run of RPGs lately, I got this, Skyrim and Dark souls in the recent sales on xbox live. After reading the dark souls thread I'll give this a bit more time so I can give dark souls my full attention.I'm coming unstuck enough times in dogma so I'll have nowt to come in dark souls.

[Professor Puzzles]

I killed a griffin last night! And I spent some time wandering peacefully through Cassardis at night, occasionally grabbing passers-by and chucking them off the tallest cliff I could find, then waiting for them to climb up the hill so I could chuck them off again. The head priest from the cathedral made a horrible splat on the beach and didn't get up again...

[MrEm]

I have had what I think is the final confrontation with the dragon, is there much more to do now?

[Polmon]

Have you got the Dark Arisen version? If so, you've got loads left. If not, you've got a fair bit left of end game stuff to do.

[MrEm]

Yeah its the DA version, I have definitely had my moneys worth out this game and there is more to come? Good stuff.

[Polmon]

Have you been to Bitterblack Isle yet? You get there from Cassardis.

That's where the Dark Arisen content is, and there's a fair bit of end game stuff you can do before that too (just keep following the story quests you get).

One thing though, to avoid accidentally going in to new game +:

When someone asks you to collect 20 wakestones, don't give them the stones, it that will trigger NG+.

[MrEm]

I've left ever fall for the time being and returned to bitterblack. I naively ventured out there when I was a lowly strider at the beginning of the game. I was confronted with a huge apparition of death wielding a massive scythe and it cut down two of my pawns in as many seconds. Needless to say I hot tailed it out of there pretty sharpish and have been too chicken to return until now. I'm level 46 now so hopefully I'll fare a little better this time around. Thanks for the ng+ advice too Polmon.

[Melon_Bread]

I'm level 46 now....

Good luck with that.

Need to get back into this, such a great game.

[df0]

Level 86 on Bitterblack in The Bloodless Stockade, getting killed over and over by that cunt Death. Other bosses in the game work because they telegraph their moves and they have clear weaknesses. Attack the legs to have an Ogre fall over, aim for the head when the body deflects most attacks. Death has as far as I can tell - and this is harder than you'd think - two moves: the scythe swing that one shots and a sell that puts you to sleep. Move out of the way is a good method of avoiding instant death. Here is the problem with that: Death - comparable to Four Kings in Dark Souls - floats in the air and it is impossible to look for it to see what it is doing. It is black, the environment is pitch black. All I see basically is its pink health bar and my Pawns dying in a brief cutscene. Using a lantern is a good idea if it did not extinguish every time the little environmental water there is touches it. And that happens all the time.

[Kayin Amoh]

Can't really help - I had a Strider, so I was murdering the poor bugger with a bow and staying the hell out of the way.

[Curtis]

Forgive my hazy memory cause it's been a while, but are you fighting him when he appears (multiple times) in the sewer tunnels?

If so, are you lighting the torches that cost Rift Crystals(?) and then whacking them, because they throw out a ridiculous amount of light beams/orbs which home in and attack anything nearby. Works really well on Death. You just have to be quick and use them up (they are finite) before Death gets close enough to attack you, then hot-foot it to the next one. If memory serves there are at least 4-5 down there.

[df0]

Finally I did enough damage it left. I was the sole survivor so I went back to the nearest Rift Stone to get my buddies back. I re-enter The Bloodless Stockade and who is there to greet me? Death. It respawns every time you leave and enter the area. I am not near strong enough to kill it without the help of those lights beacons.

edit 1: that is the trick I have been using Curtis. I "defeated" Death once by using three lights but all the Pawns were killed. When you leave the area to get them back, Death re-appears. Bugger. I can defeat Death by myself, it just takes a long time. But when I go on adventuring alone afterwards, I get messed up by an Elder Ogre. I need my Pawns.

edit 2: sod it, I fled the scene. Now at the final boss and the word of the day is: one shot deaths. Ugh, what a mess. Where Dark Souls does a lot right, this game does a lot sub mediocre.

[MrEm]

Level 86 on Bitterblack in The Bloodless Stockade, getting killed over and over by that cunt Death. Other bosses in the game work because they telegraph their moves and they have clear weaknesses. Attack the legs to have an Ogre fall over, aim for the head when the body deflects most attacks. Death has as far as I can tell - and this is harder than you'd think - two moves: the scythe swing that one shots and a sell that puts you to sleep. Move out of the way is a good method of avoiding instant death. Here is the problem with that: Death - comparable to Four Kings in Dark Souls - floats in the air and it is impossible to look for it to see what it is doing. It is black, the environment is pitch black. All I see basically is its pink health bar and my Pawns dying in a brief cutscene. Using a lantern is a good idea if it did not extinguish every time the little environmental water there is touches it. And that happens all the time.

level 86 and struggling with bitterblack? I'm only at level 49 so I think its time to leave gransy for a while. I've enjoyed my time here but I can't be arsed to grind the levels to be able to compete at bitterblack. I'm going to play Blooddragon instead I think.

[carlospie]

The last boss is horrendous. I breezed through the whole game but the difficulty spike for him is just next level.

[God Is A Girl]

*takes deep breath*

Ahem, I've been playing console games for 21 years now... but never in all this time have I been so horribly, bitterly and incontrovertibly WRONG about the value of a game like Dragon's Dogma. In fact, not since Skyrim have I been so utterly mesmerised by the dark spaces laying in wait.

Of course, I should qualify that statement by adding that I've chosen the Dark Arisen reboot - together with the fact that I've never played a Dark Souls - but that hasn't stopped me from taking my vagabond party to Bitterblack Isle while at the somewhat tender level of 35 (granted, two of my accompanying pawns are Level 38 and 40 - and the back-of-box blurb suggests that wary warriors should attempt this after-party at Level 50 or thereabouts).

Notwithstanding, it's manageable for me because I'm only playing on Normal difficulty but that's more than enough to have me quicksaving before entering the next blithe corridor. Given that Dark Arisen ships with the vanilla experience, together with a shedload of DLC at no extra cost, it's fairly taken my breath away. The somewhat disruptive layer of other people's pawns - all cohabiting your game world and all available for hire - is a masterstroke and I've spent far too long weighing up the pros and cons of who will be added next.

As alluded to above, I'm moreover ashamed that I've waited until the tail end of this generation to see the error of my ways, but therein lies the rub. With games this good, I'm certainly in no hurry to trade up, and all I can say to anyone else who hasn't yet dipped their toes into Dogma is this: take the plunge already! The water might be icky but it's imperceptibly fine.

Oh, and it's hardly a revolution in and of itself, but having the added distraction of posting in-game snaps to Facebook has given me more than enough pause for thought.

*exhales*

[df0]

Put some clothes on woman, have you no shame?

[Melon_Bread]

yeah it's great, you should give Monster Hunter as go as well if you like DD and also let that pass you by.

[shadowmask]

I put well over 200 hours into this game. Phew!

[God Is A Girl]

I put well over 200 hours into this game. Phew!

I'm no stranger to 'ploughing' (hello Geralt of Rivia!) long and hard into the night and taking my own sweet time to uncover every nook and cranny. So it was, after following a paper trail for the last week and knowing not where it leads, that I decided to suck it up and visit Bitterblack for the lulz (if not for the exclusive loot).

Since unlocking the DLC, it's only just dawned on me that a good number of high-level pawns had been decked out in unidentifiable items - and these have only become visible when updating my save file. I've sunk maybe 40-50 hours thus far, and I'm still bewildered at the sight of player's pawns who have reached Level Infinity? Wtf? A good job I've bookmarked the Dragon's Dogma wikia!

[Gabe]

I might go back and finish Dark Arisen some day, but I probably won't bother. I think I put easily over 150 hours into this, though I was never enamoured with it (for reasons outlined earlier in the thread) and, at the time, I pushed on because I wanted to go for the full 1,000GS. In the end I got about a third of the way through the second playthrough but just got so very bored with it all. There are snippets of a good game in there and I certainly got my money out of it, but any sequel would have to substantially improve in a number of areas (not least the dreadful UI) to really get me interested.

[Mr Ben]

I did the whole 1000GS on the 360, and am near to going post game on my second playthrough on the PS3. Not done much in Bitterblack Isle yet though, apart from get a few items that were removed from the base game. Still think its better than Skyrim mainly due to the combat mechanics and you can still get wtf owned at high levels.

Wish it was on the PC though. Framerate gets on my nerves, especially fighting the Ur Dragon.

[friedgold]

I've got back into this again - such a great game.

I've re-speced my Magick Archer and added Sunflare to his skills...but I can't seem to use it? Do I need a particular circumstance to be able to do it?

[carlospie]

Great game it's just a shame so many bosses are of the jump, cling, slash repeat technique.

[Ran]

People bumping this thread so close to E3 are liable to be hunted down and severely punished for raising hopes of a sequel announcement/pc port (neither of which will happen).

Glad it's still being enjoyed, as you were!

[Polmon]

I've got back into this again - such a great game.

I've re-speced my Magick Archer and added Sunflare to his skills...but I can't seem to use it? Do I need a particular circumstance to be able to do it?

It's a dagger skill. Not trying to use it with a staff or bow are you?

[friedgold]

I'm an idiot, to be honest. Pro tip: when getting back into a game after months away, it's worth reading the fucking manual.

[Curtis]

I adore this game. Bitterblack Isle was a thoroughly enjoyable add on - like a descent into darkness.

Was thinking about restarting from scratch. Although being able to respec anytime means I've tried all the classes, so I'm not sure how replayable it'll be.

[Kayin Amoh]

It's still fun to play through, for sure.

Have I ever mentioned that this game should be on PC too?