Early Reviews Put Dark Arisen Above the 2013 Expansion

Capcom's Dark Arisen expansion for Dragon's Dogma 2 has critics scoring it above the original game's 2013 follow-up. On Metacritic the new content sits at 84, a few points clear of the older Dark Arisen's 81. Reviews describe it as turning Dragon's Dogma 2 into a must-play RPG, delivering the kind of expanded endgame the base release lacked. The package adds the snowy, punishing region of Norgan, a reworked character creator and a spread of gameplay refinements. It launches on October 9 for $30 across Steam and other platforms, roughly 13 years after the first Dark Arisen introduced players to Bitterblack Isle.

For a game that arrived in 2024 to a mixed welcome, the numbers mark a notable turnaround. The original expansion's user score of 7.9 leaves room for the sequel's version to climb higher once players get hands on it. Publishers rarely get a second swing at an RPG's post-launch identity, and Capcom appears to have used the opportunity to address complaints rather than simply add more map. Whether that goodwill holds depends on how the new foes and progression land with the community over the coming weeks.

Tags

• pc
• dlc

Sources

• GamesRadar+

Where this story ran: one outlet on 8 October 2026. The summary above is written by GamersGuild; the links go to the original reports.

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