Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen Catch-All

Oh wow, it slipped by me how expansive that's gonna be. I think I'll sell my original copy in favor of the new one.

Aristophan wrote:
S0LIDARITY wrote:

I've planned on getting this for a while, but wanted to wait for the Capcom treatment and buy the 'ultimate' edition of the game. I've read the Capcom press release on Dark Arisen and I'm a little confused, will Dark Arisen include the original game content and the DLC or is it a DLC standalone?

Dark Arisen is the original game, plus the DLC for $40. There is even an incentive for old players to pick it up. See Polygon.

Thanks, it sounds like I won't really miss out on the transfer bonuses if I start fresh with the Dark Arisen copy.

Kiddo drinks a lot. She insists it makes her a better fighter. I insist it leads to less prattle about splitting paths on the highway.

S0LIDARITY wrote:
Aristophan wrote:
S0LIDARITY wrote:

I've planned on getting this for a while, but wanted to wait for the Capcom treatment and buy the 'ultimate' edition of the game. I've read the Capcom press release on Dark Arisen and I'm a little confused, will Dark Arisen include the original game content and the DLC or is it a DLC standalone?

Dark Arisen is the original game, plus the DLC for $40. There is even an incentive for old players to pick it up. See Polygon.

Thanks, it sounds like I won't really miss out on the transfer bonuses if I start fresh with the Dark Arisen copy.

Wow. When did that happen? When I first heard about it they made it seem like it would just be DLC.

Higgledy wrote:
Duoae wrote:

Wait, where's that last shot taken? Still not completed pre-dragon yet... So I'm hoping there are more lands to explore!

The Kiddo shot? That's in the starting village :).

Ha! I guess I don't see it from that angle or time of day enough. Don't remember trees being opposite...

Duoae wrote:
Higgledy wrote:
Duoae wrote:

Wait, where's that last shot taken? Still not completed pre-dragon yet... So I'm hoping there are more lands to explore!

The Kiddo shot? That's in the starting village :).

Ha! I guess I don't see it from that angle or time of day enough. Don't remember trees being opposite...

Hmmm I don't remember trees either. There must be a couple on the corner of the building.[quote=ccesarano]

S0LIDARITY wrote:

Wow. When did that happen? When I first heard about it they made it seem like it would just be DLC.

I definitely got the idea it would be DLC. I want the DLC but I don't like the idea of buying the original game again.

I was thinking about it and I'll probably get it if it's dlc and original game for two reasons:

1. This game must have cost a tonne to make with the multiple paths, quests and huge amount of voice acting yet it is awesome. I want to support that as much as possible and I already bought the game for cheap from amazon so I didn't even spend full price on it yet!

2. My sister has a PS3 and I'd gift one of the two to her - depending on if saves are compatible (don't want to lose my arisen and pawn!).

Duoae wrote:
Spoiler:

Okay, now I'm post dragon.. Maybe I missed the lore everyone was referring to before but I didn't see any blurb on where pawns came from.

Spoiler:

Where the pawns come from is never fully explained, they're just weird quasi-humans who live in the rift and are linked to the Arisen. Most of the in-game lore focuses on the connection between the Arisen and the dragon, and you won't get all of that until you complete the post-dragon sequence.

muttonchop wrote:
Duoae wrote:
Spoiler:

Okay, now I'm post dragon.. Maybe I missed the lore everyone was referring to before but I didn't see any blurb on where pawns came from.

Spoiler:

Where the pawns come from is never fully explained, they're just weird quasi-humans who live in the rift and are linked to the Arisen. Most of the in-game lore focuses on the connection between the Arisen and the dragon, and you won't get all of that until you complete the post-dragon sequence.

Yeah, am there now. Could'a sworn I saw people talking about where they came from in the thread...

My big question now is:

Spoiler:

If I go through the rift I created, will I end the game and only be able to go through a New Game+? Or will I be able to return to the post-dragon world and fart about? I searched online but found no answer.

Short answer: yes, it ends the game. It's actually a little more complicated than that, but if there's anything else you want to do in the world pre-NG+, do it before you

Spoiler:

use the stones to open the rift

Blind_Evil wrote:

Oh wow, it slipped by me how expansive that's gonna be. I think I'll sell my original copy in favor of the new one.

Let me know if you do end up wanting to sell. I've been waiting for the price to drop since last fall. Winter always seems to be a good time to play a deep RPG.

muttonchop wrote:

Short answer: yes, it ends the game. It's actually a little more complicated than that, but if there's anything else you want to do in the world pre-NG+, do it before you

Spoiler:

use the stones to open the rift

Thanks! Off to find out. To be honest, the

Spoiler:

constant hell hound and succubi piling-on during a fight in the wilderness is annoying me a lot as a fight can pretty quickly spiral out of control if they come near you when they're patrolling - and I've noticed that they either have a really long line of sight/activation or they roam a whole lot wider than most other enemies. They're not even particularly fun to fight. Ah well. There are enemies I want to see in the world and I have to travel through the annoying minions to get to them. Hopefully, when I'm level 80-100+ things'll be easier. At the moment I'm only level 68 or 69 and I remember what it was like very early in the game when I had to save before and after every fight and be worried about encountering enemies.

Duoae wrote:

I was thinking about it and I'll probably get it if it's dlc and original game for two reasons:

1. This game must have cost a tonne to make with the multiple paths, quests and huge amount of voice acting yet it is awesome. I want to support that as much as possible and I already bought the game for cheap from amazon so I didn't even spend full price on it yet!

2. My sister has a PS3 and I'd gift one of the two to her - depending on if saves are compatible (don't want to lose my arisen and pawn!).

Yeah, I want to encourage them to make more games like this so I'll probably buy it. Like you, I spent very little on the copy I have now. Also, I can imagine it'll work a hell of a lot better all on one disc (they may even take a stage or two out of the start up sequence. Which would be nice.) I hadn't thought of giving the first copy away but I'll probably do that as well. One of my friends kids has an 360.

Okay, I looked into this further and it turns out Dark Arisen is just a full retail release, not an update. Capcom's Christian Svensson posted this on the Capcom forums:

I get it guys. We went round and round with the team on this topic as it would have been a preferred option from our standpoint too. As it turns out, I’m sorry but unfortunately there were major technical limitations that would couldn’t [sic] allow for a digital upgrade path. The original game was just not designed to be expanded (no hooks in the original code) and so a full-game delivery mechanism was the only option.

We also tried to explore a number of mechanisms to try and otherwise put this full product in original owners hands at a discount digitally but we would have run afowl of a few first party policies (not any first party’s fault, t’was our fault).

So instead, we’re packing more than $20 worth of value in digital rewards for existing users: 100K rift crystals (which in DDDA have a LOT more uses than they did in DD vanilla) the Gransys armor pack and the unlimited Ferrystone. We hope this will be a sufficent “thank you” for being part of the first wave of Dragon’s Dogma fans given the development limitations we had.

Thanks again for your continued support and I hope to see you in Gransys in April.

Capcom is guilty of some sh*tty salesmanship on occasion, but they make some of my favorite games yearly. I'm giving them a pass on this one. Unlike the Asura's Wrath ending situation.

Maybe I'm a bit hazy on what's in the pack but... No digital hooks for what exactly? They have dlc and title updates in the main game, right? What else is in dark arisen?

Also, just checked my stats: 119 hours playtime! Urk!

Duoae wrote:

Maybe I'm a bit hazy on what's in the pack but... No digital hooks for what exactly? They have dlc and title updates in the main game, right? What else is in dark arisen?

Also, just checked my stats: 119 hours playtime! Urk!

My guess is they didn't leave any room in the code to say "here is where players go to access a new continent" or something to that effect. I haven't used the DLC so I'm not sure how any of that works, but it is possible they didn't foresee the game's success (whee!) and thus didn't plan to have an expansion.

Personally, I wouldn't mind something along the lines of Dragon Age: Origins: Awakening, but alas. I still need to finish the game first.

ccesarano wrote:
Duoae wrote:

Maybe I'm a bit hazy on what's in the pack but... No digital hooks for what exactly? They have dlc and title updates in the main game, right? What else is in dark arisen?

Also, just checked my stats: 119 hours playtime! Urk!

My guess is they didn't leave any room in the code to say "here is where players go to access a new continent" or something to that effect. I haven't used the DLC so I'm not sure how any of that works, but it is possible they didn't foresee the game's success (whee!) and thus didn't plan to have an expansion.

Personally, I wouldn't mind something along the lines of Dragon Age: Origins: Awakening, but alas. I still need to finish the game first.

I actually don't mind them doing it this way.II read up on it and it appears there's new enemies andlocations. Looks like you're probably right.

To be honest, New locations is what I what the most. Despite the game world area being largishi really was looking forward to New, unlocked areas post-dragon. What we got is a bit tedious. I miss the sunshine!

Higgledy wrote:

My co-op adventures with GWJ pawns so far:

Viconia (Preparing for my first Orge fight)

IMAGE(http://www.stuartjw.plus.com/GWJ/viconiabattle.jpg)

[/img]

Yay! My pawn is actually useful!

She's totally specialized for healing. I need to get back to this game soon, but dammit... Ni No Kuni is just so awesome!

Duoae wrote:

Maybe I'm a bit hazy on what's in the pack but... No digital hooks for what exactly? They have dlc and title updates in the main game, right? What else is in dark arisen?

Also, just checked my stats: 119 hours playtime! Urk!

I think the DLC for Dragon's Dogma was pretty bare bones. Many of the quests just involved finding medallions hidden around the world. It's been nearly a year since release, so I figure they had to do some pretty significant work to create the new version.

I figured I'd upload and share some of the pictures I've taken in the 130ish hours I've put into this game. More games on the consoles should have screenshot features (also, I'd like to have a screenshot button on the controller so that I can take them during cutscenes!):

Apologies for the image dump! Luckily we're near the end of the page so it shouldn't be too bad.

Oh, and my main's name is Ehlana and my pawn, seen in the bronze cuirass just below, is Nenaphil.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/wLjvMvG.jpg)
Is there a problem, officer?

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/V2VpD17.jpg)
My early party. Look! It's Rook! (Actually, I kept him for ages before realising pawns didn't level with you!!

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/6YvF1Uh.jpg)
First time behind bars. I was only trying to help a little girl who'd fallen over!!

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/MLcGjXv.jpg)
Goddamn encyclopspedia salesmen!!

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/BuoQNvd.jpg)
Uh-oh!

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/k16Foc5.jpg)
Oh dear!

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/cJyySJs.jpg)
Ack!

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/12p3UUM.jpg)
Impressive!

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/COBWnkE.jpg)
Nice to meet you too.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/19CWu3P.jpg)
Smile!

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/jKYHXCj.jpg)
Are you smiling?

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/Sc9ls9D.jpg)
That looks painful.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/Phsdwgy.jpg)
Wheee!

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/9UNyZqi.jpg)
Up, up and away!

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/39jyhZS.jpg)
You shall not pass!!

Great pics. I've been there with the Ogre just outside the door way but, for me, most of the time all I could see was his crotch.

Higgledy wrote:

Great pics. I've been there with the Ogre just outside the door way but, for me, most of the time all I could see was his crotch.

Thanks for not sharing that pic!

:p

Duoae wrote:
Higgledy wrote:

Great pics. I've been there with the Ogre just outside the door way but, for me, most of the time all I could see was his crotch.

Thanks for not sharing that pic!

:p

I seem to be obsessively taking shots at the moment so I'll probably post more. I'll try to keep the Ogre crotches to a minimum.

I used to just sell the golden weapons. But then I saw the golden 3 tooth thing. It looks badass. I think I'll stop selling them. I've already got over 1 million gold just from questing and such and I'm not really buying new weapons and armor in favor of finding them in chests and such. Buying all the golden weapons may be a goal for late game.

Grenn wrote:

I used to just sell the golden weapons. But then I saw the golden 3 tooth thing. It looks badass. I think I'll stop selling them. I've already got over 1 million gold just from questing and such and I'm not really buying new weapons and armor in favor of finding them in chests and such. Buying all the golden weapons may be a goal for late game.

Oh, I sold 'em as soon as I got em. I'm more into nitty gritty realism than bling bling. I have been buying all the cool-looking armour from vendors and that's pretty much reduced me down to 3,000ish gold. Might be time to sell my golden bastard sword... I need the rest of that new set from the vendor up by the greatwall!

For those in the UK, Amazon has Dark Arisen for £13.62 delivered (select free delivery.) This link is to the 360 version but the PS3 version has the same deal. Needless to say I've taken the plunge.

This is the world I saved? WTF, game?

Question:

Spoiler:

Am I stuck in the vocation I chose to fight the dragon in as the inn in Gran Soren is now gone?

Grenn wrote:

This is the world I saved? WTF, game?

Question:

Spoiler:

Am I stuck in the vocation I chose to fight the dragon in as the inn in Gran Soren is now gone?

Spoiler:

No. You can change your vocation in a couple of places. One of them is in the Pawn temple — whatever it's called — where the Rift stone is in Gran Soren. And there's a refugee camp in the field near the secondary exit from the town. I believe all of the stores are represented between those two places.

Grenn wrote:

This is the world I saved? WTF, game?

Question:

Spoiler:

Am I stuck in the vocation I chose to fight the dragon in as the inn in Gran Soren is now gone?

Spoiler:

Yeah, I really miss the colours and sunlight! :/

I just finished! I'm really glad I avoided spoilers - the pay off was worth it. I'm looking forward to exploring some new content with the 'expansion' later this year, though I'll likely wait to pick it up seeing as I grabbed the current version so recently. I can't wait to see what developers like this do with the next generation of consoles. While I'm amazed how good it looks on my PS3, this game did some things with AI that should only get better on new hardware.