DRAGON’s Dogma was one of the best roleplaying games (RPG) of the last generation and it didn’t do too bad in the sales department neither.

So it’s a surprise that it has never – excluding the free-to-play Dragon’s Dogma Online – received a sequel.

Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen is a port of the Steam version of the game released in 2016.

This cut-price re-release contains the original game, including all of the download content, the excellent Dark Arisen expansion and a new area called Bitterback Isle for players who want a challenge. On the face of it, Dragon’s Dogma looks like a pretty standard fantasy RPG. After completing the game’s prologue, you must then create your character, dubbed ‘The Arisen’ and choose a ‘vocation’, which is the game’s class system.

All of the vocations gain new skills as you level up. Players can also try new ones throughout the game.

As well as your hero, you must design your main ‘pawn’. Pawns are player-created characters you can enlist to help you on your quest.

You can have up to three pawns in your party, although only your main pawn can level up so changing them often is essential to success.

Pawns also retain quest knowledge to share with other players. Quests can be gained from talking to the many residents of ‘Gransysor’ from the numerous notice boards dotted around the world. There is no traditional fast travel method, although you can learn a teleportation spell later in the game. This means you must always be prepared when going out on the road to avoid disaster.

Venture too much off the beaten path and you may run into trouble.

You also want to make sure you plan your quests so you make it back to safety before nightfall, where the game takes on a survival-horror approach akin to Capcom’s Resident Evil series.

These are just a handful of great ideas that make Dragon’s Dogma stand out from the crowd, despite its rather uninspiring appearance.

It is also great value for money, so this re-release should be welcomed by old and new players alike.

RATING: 8/10

KENNY LOMAS