Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 299 sampled Steam reviews (258 positive / 41 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Story & writing17% mention it
- Combat17% mention it
- World & exploration12% mention it
- Controls & UI6% mention it
- Grind & repetition6% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Story & writing41% mention it
- Combat41% mention it
- Controls & UI32% mention it
- Grind & repetition27% mention it
- World & exploration17% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
69%
29 reviews
5-15h
67%
45 reviews
15-40h
86%
63 reviews
40-100h
93%
84 reviews
100h+
97%
78 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 80 | 30 |
| Creator reviews (4 tracked) | – | 83 | 1 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 88% | 82 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 83 | 49 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 87% | 81 | 59 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 168 reviews sampled · 130 total reviews in window · weighted 115.2 up / 17.1 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (114)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 80
“If anything, Dark Arisen reminds me just how much I missed my time with Dragon's Dogma, and how I'd love to see another one in the works. Here's hoping Gransys has more adventures for us in future!”
read full review ↗ - 80
“In Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen fans of the well-known adventure game for WiiU and Nintendo Switch will feel like at home.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Even in its remastered form, this expansion stands tall as a relatively focused and uncomplicated action experience.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“As it stands, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen for the PC is a fun romp with fantastic combat mechanics and an interesting pawn system. Granted it pales in comparison to contemporary role-playing games in terms of lore and environments, but the reasonable price and slew of additions for PC games ensure there's little cause for complaint. If you've already played the game on a console, you might not be interested as there is no new content, but if you missed it the last time around, then it's not a bad buy.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“There’s no denying that it is rough in parts and really could have done with a full remaster rather than a straight re-release, but Dragon’s Dogma nonetheless remains a fantastically gripping role-playing experience that manages to straddle the divide between exhilarating real-time action and stat-based adventuring.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“A very special gaming experience that no RPG fan should miss, especially this brand new version that improved an already great game.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“PC gamers have finally received one of the most unusual RPGs in recent history. It's a truly mesmerizing adventure - strange, sometimes hard to understand and even obsolete. But these things cannot really be considered as flaws. They're there for a reason. Dragon's Dogma is a great, original game that feeds of some well known clichés.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen is a really fun action RPG that can now come with you on the go. It does have a few technical issues but Dragon’s Dogma always has never been a perfect game on any platform when it comes to overall performance. For the asking price and amount of value on offer you won’t find a better party based action rpg on the Nintendo Switch. Fans of high fantasy will have a blast with this release.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“The combat is fun, and scaling onto larger monsters makes it even more so. I wasn't sure what to think of this game when I started, but I've quite enjoyed my time with it and I would definitely recommend it.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen has its rough spots, but it dreamed big. It has much better action in it than most others of its kind, and it won't push players into becoming a murder-hobo. This is Hideaki Itsuno's big Dungeons & Dragon's campaign, and he is the DM. Gransys is a sizeable world with a lot to see and do, and that can now be on the go.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“There is no other game in this genre with the amount of post-game content that Dragon’s Dogma offers. All in all you are looking at an easy 100+ hours of content if you are new to Dragon’s Dogma, as a complete package this is incredible value for money and easy to recommend to new or returning players.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Despite Capcom's uninspired remastering, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen remains one of the best action RPGs of the last decade. Tight controls hold together thrilling combat, and the sense of adventure that the game exudes is almost unmatched. At its budget price, newcomers should definitely give the PS4 release a fair chance, while veterans will find a good enough excuse to begin the cycle all over again.”
read full review ↗
The Jimquisition
GameMAG
Slant Magazine
Gadgets 360
Nintendo Life
PLAY Zine
GRYOnline.pl
ani-game.com
Gamer Escape
Cubed3
Nexus Hub
Push Square…and 102 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- CAPCOM SHOWCASE | 6.12.2023Jun 6, 2023
- Patch #3 Now AvailableApr 18, 2016
- Patch #3 Now AvailableApr 18, 2016
- DD:DA Patch #2 Now AvailableFeb 19, 2016
- DD:DA Patch #2 Now AvailableFeb 19, 2016
- DD:DA Patch #1 Now AvailableJan 27, 2016
- DD:DA Patch #1 Now AvailableJan 27, 2016