‘Major expansion’, new game modes announced for Dragon’s Dogma

Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen — Image used with permission by copyright holder

So you’ve clung to a griffon as it flew through the skies above Gran Soren, and you’ve stabbed countless ogres in the face. You’ve even managed to retrieve your heart from that smug red dragon. Congratulations, you’ve seen everything Dragon’s Dogma has to offer — at least for now.

This morning Capcom issued a press release announcing a number of upcoming, downloadable additions to the open-world fantasy title. At an as yet undetermined date (though we’re told it will be before the end of the year), the publisher will launch two new downloadable game modes at a very attractive $0 price point. The first, dubbed “Speedrun,” is exactly what it sounds like: You’re tasked with completing the game as fast as possible. The quicker you make it to the end, the better your reward. Though the press release doesn’t specify exactly what rewards are available, it does indicate that in-game equipment will be the primary motivator here (and, we would presume, a spot on some kind of Speedrun-specific leaderboard).

The second game mode on offer is appropriately dubbed “Hard” mode, and like Speedrun is exactly what it sounds like. The game’s enemies have all been enhanced, offering greater challenge for those who find the original version of Dragon’s Dogma too easy. As with Speedrun, completing Hard mode will reward players with special equipment.

The biggest news however, is word that a new expansion for Dragon’s Dogma is on the way. Though Capcom is very coy with details on the thing, we know that it’s called “Dark Arisen,” and that it should be available at some point in 2013. No pricing details have yet been made public, and for that matter we don’t even know if this is going to be a downloadable expansion or an entirely separate boxed addition, but Capcom promises that Dark Arisen will be both “exciting” and “massive.” Given the small number of screenshots Capcom issued alongside the press release, we’re also convinced that the decrepit dragon you see in the image above will play some part in the expansion.

Oddly, the press release makes no mention whatsoever of the game’s pawn system. Capcom spent months leading up to Dragon’s Dogma’s release trumpeting its revolutionary create-your-own partner mechanics, and the system itself is actually a pretty addictive component of the gaming experience as a whole. We won’t jump to any conclusions based on the very short PR blurb we received, but it just seems curious that the company would completely neglect that aspect of the title when announcing its plans for the future.

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