Let's hunt the dragon again!
Capcom for more than a year he has accustomed us to seeing some of his most successful IPs re-proposed in various remastered, more or less successful. First it was the turn of the Resident Evil series (respectively with the remastered chapters 4,5,6, and more recently of the first Revelations), and then to move on to the other saga dedicated to zombies, much more "caciarona", of Dead Rising (with the first two chapters, in addition to the chapter Off the record.) Now, more than 5 years after its original publication, Capcom is also proposing one of its best ip's on the "current gen" consoles, but at the same time underestimated, especially by us Westerners. We are talking about Dragon's Dogma, a particular RPG, also innovative for the time, which arrives on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in the edition called Dark Arisen, thanks to the addition of the homonymous DLC inside. Available for a few days, Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen returns in an improved version, thanks to a revised technical sector, which gives a greater general "cleanliness", but certainly not revolutionary.
Farewell, fisherman's life!
The narrative has never been the strong point of the production, but indeed, almost until the end of our adventure, it seems to slip away quickly among a myriad of side quests to be undertaken. But let's go in order; the game puts us in the shoes of a humble fisherman (completely customizable thanks to a good editor) who soon sees his life completely changed. The peaceful village of Cassardis, our birthplace, is in fact shaken by a sudden and ferocious attack by the dragon Grigori, which generates chaos and destruction. Our avatar, heedless of danger, bravely lashes out against the dragon, but is easily defeated. Grigori, appreciating the courage shown by our hero, extracts the heart from his chest, swallowing it, thus making him an Arisen, or the chosen one who will have the task of hunting the dragon for eternity. From that moment on, we will be called to embark on a dangerous journey that will take us around the length and breadth of the whole "medieval" territory of Gransys. Despite a story that is not exactly exceptional (which, however, is pleasant), Dragon's Dogma focuses on other factors, (some more successful and others less) that make it a truly immense RPG.
On the other hand, it is impossible not to mention the quality of the Dark Arisen expansion, which, although the story created is shorter than the original, is at the same time better narrated, more engaging and better structured.
The road traveled by the Arisen is long ..
Surely the strong point of Dragon's Dogma is the gameplay; immediately we will have the opportunity to explore the entire Gransys region thanks to a vast open world, although not free from defects. Fortunately, with the addition of the Dark Arisen expansion, one of the critical elements of the title has been partially filled, namely the movements from zone to zone. Thanks to a series of crystals, which can be positioned in certain areas, we will be able to reduce backtracking to a minimum, thus allowing us to carry out quick and less exhausting transport.
In addition to exploration, a key point of the gameplay is the fighting; With a combat system halfway between an action and an RPG, we will have the freedom to choose between various classes available (initially 3, for a total of 9), each with its own set of skills, passive and active, which can be useful to depending on the enemies we are going to face. Enemies that turn out to be really many, varied, and almost all beautifully made, both graphically and for moveset, capable of making even the most "banal" clashes extremely choreographic and satisfying fights, especially at the greatest difficulties.
Speaking precisely of the gameplay, it is impossible not to mention the presence of the pawns, or mercenaries at the service of the Arisen, controlled by the AI, who can become real companions that can be enlisted in our party. The player also shortly after the start of the game will have to create his personal pawn, so as to have concrete support for the rest of the adventure. And that's where the game's unique asynchronous multiplayer comes into play, perhaps one of the best ever made. To accompany our avatar and our personal pawn, we can in fact add two other characters to our party, using two pawns created by as many online users. Just as we can use the pieces of others, ours can also be called into action by the other players. This system thus allows to obtain advantages that will exponentially improve the gaming experience; the pawns, especially in battle, based on their "experiences" (ie missions faced with other users) will be able to provide us with useful information and recommend winning strategies to be adopted, or during missions they will be able to suggest the right thing to do to complete them. A not bad game system, which, despite having remained almost unchanged, is once again convincing and well done, capable of giving the player a good sense of progression.
The title is really vast, solid and capable of keeping you busy for a good number of hours, thanks to a huge series of side missions, items of equipment to collect and secrets scattered around the game map.
Little effort, maximum yield
Let's move on to the element that must be taken into consideration when it comes to a remastered, that is, the technical sector. Pad in hand, the general effect is certainly good, but not excellent. The game travels quietly on 30 fps (unlike the PC version at 60), however very stable and during our test, unlike the “old gen” versions, we never found any drop, even in the most chaotic and agitated situations. This remastered also features extremely fast in-game uploads and the total disappearance of the annoying black bands that appeared on the sides of the screen during the movies, outline elements that make immersion in the title even more enjoyable. After all, the work done on the graphics of the title is also good, where you can now see more defined textures (while not hiding their old gen nature) and a completely revised lighting system, which gives greater "reality" to the environments both of day and especially at night.
The audio sector, on the other hand, remains unchanged, with some truly inspired music that blends beautifully with the ambient noises that will accompany us during our long walks throughout the kingdom of Gransys. Finally, we point out as a positive note the budget price at which Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen is currently sold in physical and digital stores, respectively at € 29.99 and € 24,99.
Final comment
We are facing a fairly "lazy" remastered, without infamy and without praise from Capcom; few improvements have been made to the title (exclusively on a visual level thanks to new textures and a completely revised lighting system), even less the innovations that translate into the excellent, albeit only inclusion of the Dark Arisen DLC to the basic play package. Despite more than 5 years have passed since its release, Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen has aged really well, remaining without a doubt one of the best RPGs of the last gen. Thanks also to the budget price at which this new re-edition is proposed, we recommend the purchase to all lovers of the genre, but also to those who simply for one reason or another have not had the opportunity to play it on the consoles of the previous one. generation.
