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Ahead of Dragon’s Dogma 2, you can get the first game for $5 right now

By Tomas Franzese March 8, 2024

Dragon's Dogma player fighting an enemy. — Capcom

Capcom has heavily discounted Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen across all of the platforms it’s available on ahead of the launch of Dragon’s Dogma 2.

This is happening as part of a wider Capcom Publisher Sale taking place across major platforms. While titles like Street Fighter 6 are also discounted, picking up Dragon Dogma: Dark Arisen right now makes the most sense, as its sequel is right on the horizon. Dragon’s Dogma is a fantastic RPG with exhilarating combat and unique ideas like its pawn system that lets you venture out with characters that your friends created. Dragon’s Dogma 2 seems like it will only expand on these ideas, so it would be wise to familiarize yourself with the foundation it’s building on is.

No matter what platform you want to play Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen on, you can get it at a heavy discount across all platforms. Right now, it’s priced at $4.49 on Xbox, $4.97 on Steam, $4.99 on Nintendo Switch, and $5.09 on PlayStation. Considering that Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen typically still retails for $30, those are some pretty great discounts for players who want to get a taste of the first Dragon’s Dogma game before its sequel.

And if you feel like you just can’t wait for Dragon’s Dogma 2, you’re also in luck. On March 7, Capcom released Dragon’s Dogma 2 Character Creator & Storage, which lets players tinker around with the game’s customization systems and create their player character and main pawn before launch. Then, on March 22, you can pick up Dragon’s Dogma 2. That game won’t be available at a discount, though; Dragon’s Dogma 2 will cost $70.

Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen is available and on sale across PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. If you don’t want to pay for it at all, you can also try the game out for no additional cost if you have a PlayStation Plus Extra subscription.

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Gaming Staff Writer

Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…

Gaming

The best skills for each Vocation in Dragon’s Dogma 2

An archer fires an arrow at an enemy in Dragon's Dogma 2.

As you level up your Vocations and character in Dragon's Dogma 2, you will earn XP and Dcp. The former will contribute to you leveling up and passively getting stronger, while the latter needs to be spent on unlocking new skills for your current Vocation. There are 10 total Vocations you can eventually unlock and use, and each one has a dozen or more skills to unlock and test out, and yet you can only use four at any given time. That's a lot of possible skills to try out and potentially waste your DCP on. Instead, we'll help you min-max your build right from the start by recommending the best skills you should get for each and every Vocation in the game.
Best skills

The best skill will vary for each Vocation based on what role they are most suited to in combat. Some skills can be upgraded to better versions as you level up your Vocation, so check back in the skills menu every so often to make sure you're using the best version available.
Fighter
Airward Slash -- Fighters are limited in range, but Airward Slash gives you an option to at least attempt to attack flying enemies with this leaping strike.

Gaming

The best item recipes in Dragon’s Dogma 2

Believe it or not, your Arisen in Dragon's Dogma 2 is very skilled at crafting. We're not talking about building structures, tools, or weapons, but item crafting. By combining specific pairs of ingredients in your inventory, you can produce some extremely potent consumables. As you will discover for yourself on your first long trip across the land, there are a ton of materials to discover, leading to hundreds or thousands of possible combinations. Knowing what items are best saved to make something special can save you from having to scour the world looking for more or struggling without it. Here are the best recipes that not even the best pawns will tell you about.
Best item recipes

Salburious Drought
This green liquid will be your most common healing item in Dragon's Dogma 2 and also the item you will probably craft first. It probably has the most possible combinations of ingredients to make and will always be a more effective way to get the most healing out of any individual ingredients. If you have a Greenwarish and combine it with almost any fruit, you can whip this tonic up.
Detoxifying Decoction
Status effects are no joke in Dragon's Dogma 2. If you get poisoned, it isn't going away until you cure it or rest at an in or camp. And that's if you have enough healing items to keep yourself alive long enough to make it there. Detoxifying Decoctions will cure what ails you and keep you adventuring instead of scrambling to get back to town. An easy way to make it is by combining Pitywort and Syrupwort leaves.
Exquisite Dried Spud
Stamina regenerates naturally, so you may not think an item that replenishes it would be all that important. Ask yourself that when you're clinging to the back of a Griffen 100 feet above the ground and your grip is slipping. Pop an Exquisite Dried Spud to keep climbing or running in those touchy moments. Just smash two Ripened Princess Harspuds together to make it.
Mighty Robrant
For a more flavorful and alternative healing item, the Mighty Robrant will be able to take you from close to death to full HP for the majority of the game. This is a second-level item made by first crafting a Fruit Robrant and then combining that with Cinnamon Bark.
Miracle Robrant
The ultimate consumable that you can make is the Miracle Robrant. This will heal a massive amount of HP and refill your stamina all in one. These take a bit more work to get, so save them for emergencies. Make one with any Fine Robrant and a Saurian's Tail.
Bunch of Flowers
Finally, make a nice gift for someone with a Bunch of Flowers to earn some favor. You can give gifts to almost any important character in the game, and while not all will like flowers, a good deal will, and they're free to make. We craft ours out of Sunbloom and Noonblooms, but most flower combinations will do the job.

Gaming

3 underrated PS Plus games to play this weekend (July 26-28)

Angela in Trials of Mana.

If you're looking for something to play this weekend, you should try out one of these three underrated games from the PlayStation Plus Premium and Extra game catalog. The first game is an RPG remake from Square Enix that can prepare you for one of August's biggest game launches. Then there's an enjoyable racing game from EA that you should check out before it leaves PS Plus next month. Finally, I recommend a remake collection of two cult classic platformers from Bandai Namco Entertainment that are worth your time if you've never played them before.
Trials of Mana

Trials of Mana is the 2020 remake of Seiken Densetsu 3, an SNES sequel to Secrets of Mana from the 1990s that never came out in North America. Next month, this long-running RPG series will continue with the release of Visions of Mana, so you should check out this RPG with action elements beforehand so you can understand the foundation upon which Visions of Mana is building. The fact that you can start the game with one of six different protagonists gives it replay value as well. Make sure you play the PS4 version of Trials of Mana through PS Plus Extra before it leaves the service on August 20. It's also available on PC, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.
Need for Speed Unbound