Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen is one of the most distinctive action RPGs of its time, and on PlayStation 4 it took the form in which it shines best. A dragon tears out the player's heart, making them the Arisen, a person condemned to follow the dragon's trail. What follows is a journey through an open world inspired by western fantasy but seen through a Japanese lens, where night is truly dark, roads are dangerous, and a lantern in the backpack carries the same weight as a sword.

The heart of the game is a combat system that had no equal at the time of release. The player can literally climb onto giants and other colossi, cling to their fur, and stab at their weak points while the monster tries to shake them off. Nine vocations from warrior to archer to hybrid classes offer very different styles, with the mage in particular preparing devastating spells over long seconds and needing to be shielded by allies. Those are covered by Pawns, artificial companions the player raises themselves, teaching them tactics based on battles experienced and lending them out to other players over the network. The Dark Arisen expansion additionally adds the dark dungeon of Bitterblack Isle with tougher difficulty and better loot.

The console version for PlayStation 4 brought higher resolution and steadier performance than the original release, so today it feels brisk and legible. The atmosphere is held together mainly by restrained sound, the howl of wind across the wasteland, and sudden attacks out of the dark preceded only by the sound of footsteps. Original reception was mixed due to thinner side quests and inconvenient travel, but over time the game became a cult title referenced by other action RPGs and by its own sequel. Today it's an experience for players who appreciate roughness, tangible combat, and a world that doesn't hold their hand. Walking through a night forest with a torch, hearing nothing but your own breath and rustling in the bushes, ranks among the most tense things console fantasy has offered. The PlayStation 4 version also contains all the added content, so the player gets the game in its complete form and at a very fair price.