Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen — Dungeon Hum

Technically, Dark Arisen is still the same Dragon's Dogma with the bonus of Japanese voice acting and a new island where it's made clear that you are nobody, you can't fight, and your pawns would be better off herding cows and picking up their droppings.

Technically, Dark Arisen is still the same last year's role-playing game Dragon's Dogma with the bonus of Japanese voice acting and a new island where it's made clear that you are nobody, you can't fight, and your pawns would be better off herding cows and picking up their droppings.

Bitterblack Island is not recommended until you have reached at least level 50 and finished the game. The welcoming committee will devour you without choking. What's more, supermen of level 100 and above can be slammed into the ancient catacomb walls by a single swipe of a tail flashing from the shadows.

Overall, everything strongly reminds of Dark Souls. Sinister dark labyrinths, some kind of slush squelching underfoot, the echoing silence broken by someone's moans and growls. Mighty fiends of hell, who care nothing for your equipment, self-importance, or past achievements, easily sweep the fragile figures of pawn companions off the game board of this labyrinth of death. Cheap tricks are used everywhere, such as pathways under fire or crowds of mages covering the team with volleys of spells. 

Pawns... Well, pawns remained pawns. With voices full of sincere sympathy, they scream about the need to flank, tediously comment on findings, and heroically perish, crushed by the carcass of a creature for which it is difficult to come up with a censored name. 

The complaint is not new, but in the light (or rather, in its absence) of adventures on the island, the not-so-brilliant AI of companions, their slowness, and willfulness begin to cause a burning desire to personally slaughter the pawns. Preferably with something like a chainsaw.

The local fauna has no concept of hygiene, so the fangs and claws of underground creatures harbor so much harmful life that most missed blows lead to poisoning, blindness, and other tetanus. You get into a frenzy, repeatedly plunging your sword into the boss's neck; the mage makes a complex face and declares that he controls the situation; the rogue diligently saws through the monster's tendons. And then — bang — everyone dies.

Additionally, male Death chases the team through the labyrinth and tests his agricultural arsenal on them. The poisoned quartet, resembling paralytics under anesthesia, unsuccessfully tries to fight off the giant wolves that have flooded the room, and then this cross between a Nazgul and a Dementor arrives and finishes what was started. Emotions run high, often finding the most bizarre expressions.

You try to fix the situation by summoning cooler pawns, but there aren't enough crystals for everything. Crystals are spent on opening portals and identifying found items. You give up on progressing and start mindlessly grinding on respawning monsters, cherishing sweet visions of revenge. The saga of a hero in search of a dragon turns into an ordinary Diablo-like game. Well, not entirely ordinary. With wanderings through gloomy galleries and echoing halls of the ancient island. With devilishly strong and dangerous creatures as opponents. With replaying familiar areas in search of unnoticed chests and unfinished horrors.

Diagnosis

Dark Arisen is designed for Dragon's Dogma professionals. Others simply won't appreciate this insane grind on the new island. Or, if for some very valid reason you missed the original, you have an excellent chance to play this wonderful game. But forget about the island. It's for the chosen few.