I consider Dragon's Dogma to be a heroic party simulator in which you create your own stories and the chatter with the dragon and Arisen in the background is more of a formality.
The plot pulled the game well in a certain direction, but it didn't annoy you too much and didn't distract you from what you will remember the most - spectacular fights, tactics and sometimes even witchcraft preparations for some tough enemies. So it doesn't matter at all that Dark Arisen only has a completely standard mini-story and doesn't attempt any Shakespeare.

There's also a decent jump in difficulty between the original game and the data disc. The spirit of the game is that you can go to Bitterblack Island whenever you want. But if you don't have enough level, you will know it by the corpses of your pawns and your character. After several desperate attempts to "do it now" (tens of hours of grinding), I finally listened to the creator and went to the island at level 52. In my opinion, this is just enough to make the first half of the game a solid challenge, but not frustrating at the same time.
However, I soon learned the weakness of Bitterblack Island. It is a linear dive into dungeons and caves, which brings with it logically closed spaces and narrow corridors that only occasionally disturb the larger hall. On the one hand, it's very atmospheric thanks to the game's great lighting as you wait for something to jump out at you. On the other hand, my Ranger with a ranged specialization found himself needing daggers more than his specialization would indicate.

I was disappointed that a large part of the bestiary consists only of classic monsters from Dragon's Dogma, to which the authors added some additional characteristics, made them bigger, etc. Even so, there are some great new monsters that every forged dragon slayer will be happy to discover, so I won't spoil their fun specific description.

Anyone who doesn't have and hasn't played Dragon's Dogma at all gets the improved original game together with the data disk. It's solid fun and of course quite a challenge. 30%

Perfect game, I wish this game can get a graphic update. IT BETTER THAN PART 2!!!!

Before DD2 came out, I picked this up for 5 dollars. One of the best game i ever played despite the flaws and outdated designs. Bitterblack isle is peak dungeon meshi style dungeon. Still plays it alongside DD2 which has its own advantages and disadvantages.