Dragon's Dogma - Dark Arisen

[Thiefami]

how gay is it that i'm excited for the demo tomorrow? I've never been excited to play a demo.

[Doombear]

More so than the fact that I just created a JP PSN account so I could get the demo and play it tonight? Doubtful! >.>

PS... JP Demo Full English GO!

[Tobi]

I forgot to DL it earlier Oh well, at 85% atm so not much longer of a wait.

[Doombear]

Ok... I effing LIKED that demo. Spent a silly amount of time creating my Pawn and Main Character. No idea if I can import from the JP demo to NA game, so I kept track of which settings I used for them. The actual game was quick, two scenarios and both were silly easy. I need to look tomorrow and see if you can set how many pawns you can have in the demo, and maybe set the number lower. I am going to go back through it a few more times tomorrow. I am also curious to see how the 360 version holds up next to it.

It has a quick and easy MH feel for sure, and while I have heard plenty of complaining about banding and general dated graphics... I was perfectly happy with them! I can't wait for this game now... I really hope this thing has a ton of content to it. Have fun!

And for anyone awake now, that feels like watching a stream of the demo: http://www.twitch.tv/rahxephon91

[Tobi]

PSN store updated, can grab the demo now for those who didn't get the JP one

[Doombear]

Tobi what did you think of it? I assume you have played through it a time or two by now? People seem to be even more divided with love/hate after the demo. I want to grab the 360 (Gold Members only) demo tonight and see if I notice the tearing that seems to be worse on it (though better framerate I hear). If I had to choose between less tearing or fewer framerate dips... I think I would rather have fewer framerate dips. That is if I even notice either.

To elaborate, I really was impressed with the graphics. I say that because I was pretty sure they were going to be bland. The videos I have seen have never really impressed me as far as environments, colors, and detail goes. However, I was impressed. I thought that the graphics were much better than I expected and while they may not be as shiny as some of the newer games (that haven't been in development for 5 years that is) I was still happy with them.

The gameplay was what I expected. The 2nd quest (Griffin) was the more enjoyable of the two because you get to use your created character and I like the Strider more than the Knight. The bow use very much reminded me of MH. The special plunging arrow skill especially, down to the giant circle on the ground targeting system. I need to get my pawns killed on the goblins somehow though, so the Griffin fight is more of a challenge. It was over way too fast. It was fun as hell though, jumping up to grab on to its tail and having it fly over the trees with me holding on for my life... only to come crashing down in flames a few minutes later.

I want to hear what some of you think!

[Thiefami]

I think the demo was exactly as advertised. The game has been pretty open in every aspect. One thing I absolutely loved were the controls. I'm not a big action game player, but I don't mind complexity and I can see this system becoming complex without jumbled mess of frustration. I can see how pawns will have tactical variety as you mix and match between starter and advanced professions. The voice acting wasn't as bad as I thought(at least in the demo) so no real complaint there. All in all the game play is really hot. It's a 'you are' or 'youre not' style system. I had a hard time controlling the sword/board guy, and a better time controlling the strider. I can now see myself making a mage it may be more of my pace. Totally different feels for each vocation and I like that. The enemies are fun and the little linear portion of the dungeon seemed to be pretty open (some may disagree), but i'm sure in the free version you can suicide jump off ledges. The only invisible walls i've encountered were ones that tells you to purchase the full game.

The story may or may not live up to the hype, but this game is a day one buy for me. I am officially hyped about release date.

[Doombear]

I agree, it was what I thought it was as far as gameplay goes, which is why I am surprised to see all these people saying that they are no longer going to Day 1 it because it isn't the "open world RPG" that it was hyped to be. What? I don't know if these people understand the concept of a demo, and how the final OPEN game is going to differ. We didn't have to hunt these bosses down, we were tossed right in front of them. Very little NPC dialogue or quest retrieval or turning in of any kind. I don't understand how the demo can give the impression that the final game isn't much more open, unless you truly play the demo thinking the final game will be just as easy and simple...? I do think that this video is kind of funny though, the glitches are surely going to deter plenty of people...

It Took Us A While To Discover That This New Dragon Game Wasn't Terrible [Video]

I am looking forward to this for sure. I am sure that those hoping for a true Monster Hunter experience will be let down, or those looking for a true Dark/Demon's Souls experience will be let down, and on and on. I think this has some comparative elements but is something pretty different. It may have plenty of wtf broken pieces, but I am still on the 'must own day 1' side of the fence myself.

Looking forward to trying the 360 demo, turning off NPC dialogue, blasting that Intro Screen music, and finding a few 'hidden' items in the demo areas later. I only wish you could try out a mage. I am thinking I may do a mage/archer build with my main character.

[Odesseiron]

DL'd for 360.

Loved the gameplay. The tearing on my TV is quite awful. Not over exaggerating. It is a deal breaker for me. I will try the PS3 version tomorrow.

[AlexRuzhyo]

Loved most of what I saw up until I played the demo. Feels a little too easy; The way you are able heal in menus and to revive pawns. I didn't much care for the Chimera/Griffon fights, but I enjoyed them more when I got used to the controls. The graphical tearing was insane for me (360), so I wonder how it'll be in the final product.

Having played Dark Souls since the release, I was hoping this game would be a little more punishing. I'll rent it and see if it's worth buying, but I hope it doesn't give me that feeling of general malaise like Skyrim did after a few days.

Also, Strider > Knight. So lame you didn't get to try magic.

[TacoTaru]

Hmm played it on 360 first and didn't have any graphical tearing that I noticed. About to play PS3 now. Regardless its fucking great and a day 1 for me. Only thing I'm confused on is I didn't think there was multiplayer but I noticed in the options there was something about open to anyone. Ive tried to keep myself as much in the dark about this game outside of a couple videos but is there actually a mulitplayer aspect to it? Would determine what system I buy for if there is.

[Caiyuo]

Kind of split between thinking it was really cool and the battles being undeniably fucking chaotic. Someone mentioned that when I was showing off one of the trailers, but yeah, the fights were just all over the fucking place and I'm not sure how I felt about it. Didn't even kill the Griffin, seemed like we weren't doing shit to it and the mechanics of grabbing on and attacking felt like they needed an actual introduction instead of JUMP ON AND ATTACK IT'S WHATEVER

[Thiefami]

lol I had problems with the griffon at first. There are random times to take full advantage of it. Like when it swoops down for the dead bodies you can grab onto it or zerg it's wings and itll fall. I'm guessing thats what they were talking about your pawns 'experience' different enemies. It was way easier, and more coordinated when I knew wtf I was doing the second time around.

[Doombear]

Hmm played it on 360 first and didn't have any graphical tearing that I noticed. About to play PS3 now. Regardless its fucking great and a day 1 for me. Only thing I'm confused on is I didn't think there was multiplayer but I noticed in the options there was something about open to anyone. Ive tried to keep myself as much in the dark about this game outside of a couple videos but is there actually a mulitplayer aspect to it? Would determine what system I buy for if there is.

My guess would be that the "open to anyone" setting refers to whose pawns you see in the Rift. I imagine you can set it to anyone or friends only. No idea why you would want to limit it to friends only though. That is the only aspect that is even remotely 'multiplayer'. You are able to loan your pawns out and borrow pawns from other players. Upside is that maybe another player's pawn has fought the monster you are hunting down and can offer tips or bonuses, or it is familiar with the city/are you are in and can offer advice/info there, etc. Kind of cool.

53% downloaded on the 360 version, going to be hard pressed NOT to see the tearing now that I have heard how awful it is from multiple people, but I wanted to give it a shot anyway... Launch 60GB PS3 doesn't need too much more punishment from hours and hours of playtime during the hot ass summer...

[Shuichi]

Just finished playing the demo for this one and while it was incredibly chaotic, it was fun as hell. In my imagination a battle against a chimera or a griffon would be exactly that, chaotic. Full of people screaming at as they try to fight back against a incredibly powerful foe. Gonna be buying this one. I'm a sucker for some good swords and sorcery.

[Kiarax]

Just tried the 360 version (haven't touched PS3), didn't notice any tearing or framerate drops so whatever. Game looks like shit when it's transitioning to nighttime though. Combat seems like kind of a clusterfuck, but a fun one. Wish we got to try out more classes but the one in the Griffon fight was damn fun. Went in wanting to play the sword and board class and now I just wanna play the archer lol, dunno if I'll buy it day 1 but I'll definitely pick it up at some point. Also what the fuck is with the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen? Are they still there at 720p? Shit's stupid.

[Tobi]

I actually enjoyed the demo more than I thought, I wasn't that too into the game before but after playing the demo that changed, I'm very interested in it now and its to the point where I wanna pick this up day 1 now if I can.

Gameplay was pretty fun, controls took me some getting used too though, but overall it was good. I hope later on in the game increases in difficulty or there's harder modes to choose from, demo was pretty easy, but still fun as hell, loved the Griffon fight. I also wish the demo was a bit longer too, would've liked to have played a little more of it. I REALLY wish you could've tried Mage as well, Mage is usually the class I love most and play in most games, I actually used to hate them, but that changed 3 years before I quit FFXI. I'm pretty sure I'll end up using mage once I get chance to play the full version.

I'll probably play the demo again tomorrow, still gotta DL the NA one, but played JP demo for like 2-3 hours last night, lol

[Doombear]

Definitely a fun clusterfuck. I had more trouble with the 360 Griffin than I did with the JP PS3 Demo... odd, and surely just a coincidence. I did actually notice some horrible tearing, but I still don't know that it is enough to pull me from the 360 version. If you watch when you first start the Griffin quest and it is panning across the castle behind the goblins...that is where I saw some very noticeable tearing. Also I left the gobs alone and ran up to their right towards a mining village/cave and when I was going BACK towards the castle there was tearing across it again. Again... not sure if I care. The PS3 version chugged a tiny bit in the cave mission, when I was fighting the goblins just after the dragon lit up the place. Very very minor, but noticed it once or twice.

All in all it comes down to the controller. The PS3 controller... I just want to use Dark Souls controls, and after checking out the other control schemes none of them felt right. The 360 controller just felt more natural and I did better with it. As for the letterbox... no clue what that is about. I don't notice it much, but it is just ... odd as shit.

I really like that each fight for me against the different has been different. The first time tonight I fell off of it and was apparently high enough up in the sky at the top that I plummeted to my death. That was awesome. It killed me once or twice after I forgot to pay attention to my stamina and was 'dazed'. And once I basically had its wings on fire the whole time so it just flew, crashed and got its face stabbed repeatedly. I like the little things. The roars ala MH that stun you. The fact that they change their appearance as you damage them (bloody face, burnt up wings) etc. And that dragon in the caves... I can't wait to go up against him.

[Kiarax]

Loud at the end.

[Lonely]

Tried the ps3 demo and didn't notice the tearing, game is dark as fuck, though I think that's intended? I like the ideas behind the combat but it was a huge cluster fuck, the party members don't shut the fuck up. Absolutely loved the character customization, and how you can customize your companion. It obvious this game will be plagued with a number of issues on release but i'm definitely keeping my eye on this game.