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Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen arrives April 23, fans stunned by reasonable pricing

Earnest Cavalli
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Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Capcom has made a habit of thinking primarily with its wallet of late. Street Fighter X Tekken’s extra characters, which were on the disc yet required players to pay extra to unlock them, is just one example. A more recent example can be found in an article we published only yesterday on the upcoming home console/PC release of the year-old, formerly-3DS-exclusive Resident Evil: Revelations. Given this trend, it’s quite surprising when the company offers something objectively valuable for little money, as is the case with the upcoming Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen.

Despite the title, Dark Arisen is really closer to an especially large downloadable content addition than a new entry in the nascent Dragon’s Dogma franchise. Unlike most DLC however, Dark Arisen is getting the full retail treatment. When it debuts on April 23, the game will be available for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in retail disc form (though PlayStation 3 owners can also grab the title as a PSN download).

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What exactly is included in the new Dark Arisen expansion? Glad you asked. This morning Capcom served up unexpectedly candid details on the expansion in handy list form. Take a look:

  • A massive new underground realm to explore featuring over 25 terrifying new enemies
  • More skills/equipment/augments:
    • Level 3 Skills
      • [Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen] provides each character class with a new tier of skills, giving players new devastating abilities and skills to master
    • Over 100 pieces of new equipment14 new character/Pawn augments
      • All new high level weapons and armor sets for players venturing into the underground caverns
    • New tiers of equipment enhancement
  • And there’s more:
    • Increased character customization options
    • Item appraisal
    • Option to select Japanese voice over
Impressive. Capcom has seemingly taken every interesting aspect of Dragon’s Dogma and fleshed it out to a massive degree for Dark Arisen. As fans of the original game, we’re quite happy with this list but we have yet to mention the best part of Dark Arisen: Those who have played Dragon’s Dogma can use their existing characters and pawns throughout the entirety of the new content. What’s more, those who somehow missed Dragon’s Dogma aren’t left out of the fun; Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen includes a full copy of Dragon’s Dogma alongside all of its new additions. Granted, Dragon’s Dogma is year-old game so it’s not like you’re getting a free title that would otherwise sell for $60, but given its scope, clever gameplay mechanics, and novel take on the open-world roleplaying game genre, it does make for a very impressive bonus.
 
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More impressive? Once released, the entire package will only set you back $40. That’s $20 less than standard, modern retail pricing and is about what we’d expect to pay for the Dark Arisen content by itself under normal circumstances. We don’t know why Capcom has decided to be so uncharacteristically generous with this particular game, but we hate to stare into the jaws of a gift horse – particularly when said horse brings with it a chance to further explore the fantastic world of Gransys.

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Earnest Cavalli
Earnest Cavalli
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Earnest Cavalli has been writing about games, tech and digital culture since 2005 for outlets including Wired, Joystiq…
How long is Dragon’s Dogma 2?
A sphinx in Dragon's Dogma 2.

Open-world RPGs can be anywhere from around a dozen hours long to well over 100. Dragon's Dogma 2 is very unique, even among others in the genre, for not adhering to a lot of traditional design philosophies, such as how it handles fast travel. If anything, that will only add to your total playtime, plus there are all the optional quests to do, Vocations to try out and level up, and more if you're a completionist. If you're wondering if you have the time to fit Dragon's Dogma 2 into your schedule among all the other games releasing, here's how long you can expect this adventure to last.
How long is Dragon's Dogma 2?

For the main quest, Dragon's Dogma 2 can probably be beaten in around 25 hours, give or take. That's assuming you mainline the story as efficiently as possible and don't get stuck on any boss fights being under-leveled. A more realistic playthrough where you explore a bit, do some side content, and maybe go for the true ending will push you into the 30 to 35-hour range, as it did for us.

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How to increase maximum carry weight in Dragon’s Dogma 2
The Arisen next to a bug in Dragon's Dogma 2.

One lesson you will learn very quickly in Dragon's Dogma 2 is that your Arisen isn't built to carry as many materials as you want it to. On a single trek through the world, you will be snagging fruits, herbs, monster parts, ore, weapons, and more. All that weight adds up fast, and you only need to go over half your weight limit before seeing negative effects. Sure, your pawns can shoulder some of that burden, but even then, you will need to start leaving things behind. There are no backpacks or stats you can increase to increase your carrying capacity, but that doesn't mean it isn't possible. You just need to look in a different place.
How to increase your maximum weight

There are two ways to increase your weight limit in Dragon's Dogma 2, but only one of them is permanent. That is to find and use special Golden Trove Beatles hidden in the world. These are big, gold glowing beetle-looking critters, usually clinging to trees or walls that you can grab like anything else. Once you find one, open your inventory and use it to permanently increase your weight by .015kg. That's a rather small increment, but there are dozens, if not over a hundred, of these bugs to find.

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The best vocations in Dragon’s Dogma 2
Dragon's Dogma 2 key art featuring a knight with a fiery hole in their chest.

Your Vocation defines your role in combat in Dragon's Dogma 2. Everything from your skills to what weapons and armor you can use is tied to this class. You will pick from just a handful at the beginning of the game, but can easily change Vocations later on, as well as unlock more than twice as many new options than what you start with. It can take a while to really get a feel for a Vocation and how it performs in combat, as well as to look through all of its skills and augments, before knowing if it's worth sticking with to level up. Personal preference will play a part to some degree, but these Vocations have the most potential to make you the strongest Arisen in history.
The best vocations in Dragon's Dogma 2

You can pick from 4 Vocations at the start of Dragon's Dogma 2, but will end up with a total of 10 by the end of the game if you unlock them all. New Vocations are unlocked by completing quests, but they are almost unmissable. Four Vocations -- the Magick Archer, Mystic Spearhand, Trickster, and Warfarer -- can only be used by your character and not any Pawns.
Warfarer
There's very little downside to being a jack-of-all-trades in Dragon's Dogma 2, which is exactly what the Warfarer is. This is the only Vocation that can use any weapon in the game AND learn any skill from other Vocations. This is the only Vocation that really lets you build whatever class you want and gives you the ability to adapt to any situation you find yourself in. The main downside to this class is it has the lowest base stats, but that is a small price to pay for how versatile you can be.
Mystic Spearhand
Hybrid Vocations are all quite powerful, but we put the Mystic Spearhand at the top of the heap. This class turns you into a fighter that can take advantage of magic to output crazy damage. The two almost overpowered abilities you get here are the ability to slow enemies for a short time and to create a magical mimic that doubles all your actions. It is great for both crowd control and large single targets, but takes a while to unlock and lacks some range.
Warrior
If you're going to be a straight-up melee fighter, you might as well hit with the biggest weapon you can, right? The Warrior swings swords large enough to make Guts blush and is a full-on tank. You won't be doing anything fancy with this vocation beyond charging up and swinging as hard as possible. The obvious drawback is any flying or ranged enemy will counter you, so bring some Pawns in those classes to cover your bases.
Sorcerer
For those who fancy themselves a pure mage, stick to the Sorcerer over the actual Mage vocation. While the Mage is more focused on healing, it is the Sorcerer who gets the best offensive spells you will want to be casting. If you have a second Sorcerer with you, you can even sync up and decrease your casting time. If not, you will need some tanks to take aggro while you deal with some slightly long casting times and low total health.
Thief
As far as the starting Vocations go, the Thief is the one we find the most fun and viable for the entire game. This is a light and speedy build focused on critical hits and being able to climb and hang on to large beasts. Once on, you have a number of great skills to stagger and knock down an enemy so the rest of your squad to gang up on it. Just don't get hit because you're one of the squishier Vocations.

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