Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

Console: Xbox 360, PS3

Genre: Action RPG

Release Date: April 13, 2013

Date Reviewed: October 8th, 2013

Gameplay:

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen is two games in one. It has the original game as well as the Dark Arisen expansion which was released on PSN and XBL a couple of months before it came out on disk. DD:DR starts off in a small town where you create your adventurer. After the introduction cinematic you are put into battle right away with a Dragon. During the fight you are basically proving your worth. You have a crappy sword and you swing recklessly at the Dragon trying to defend the town. After a couple of swings and cinematic appears and he takes your heart. When he does this you have now become Arisen. You are basically immortal and never age. I am not going into the story because my reviews are not about spoilers. 

The game starts off in a small town. In this small town you have a couple of options. You can jump straight into the main quest line and go out exploring. Or take your time and do some of the side quests. There are so much quests to do in the game, they seem to never end. Luckily in this version of the game you get all of the DLC included on the disk alongside the expansion. If I had to compare DD:DR to another game I would say it's like a face paced Skyrim. DD:DR has a lot to offer for a game. Some of the features include vocations aka classes. There are your basic classes you start off with which then leads into more advanced classes such as the fighter or a hybrid class such as the magic archer. As you're levelling you will gain vocation levels. These are like skill points for your specific class. The higher the vocation the more skills you can unlock for that chosen class. Each skill or augment costs points. You earn these points by doing quests, and killing monsters. One of the class features I like about this game is that you can go back to town and change whenever you want too. There is so much customization with the different types of classes.

Dragon!!

DD:DR also offers armor and weapon upgrades. You can upgrade your armor and weapons by finding certain materials in the world and using them to make your weapons and armor more powerful and weigh less. On top of that there are tons and tons of dungeons and areas to explore to get some of that juicy loot. There are tons of different types of armor and weapons you can loot as well as your basic items such as materials, healing items, etc... Another cool feature are the random encounters you experience in the world just by walking around. Could be an ambush, an escort, or even saving an NPC. 

Some of the monsters in this game are incredible! From the small monsters all the way to the big ones like Chimaera's, dragons, gryphon's, and hydra's. Some of these monsters are incredibly hard and need some strategy. This game also involves an element from Shadow of the Colossus. You are able to climb on thse monsters and go straight for their weak points. These include cutting the hydra's heads off, or hitting the golem's crystals to bring him down. This game also features huge epic bosses and one of my personal favourites is in Dark Arisen. Where you are in the dungeon and you unchain a giant ogre, four times the size of the average ogres. Another cool feature is you are able to have a permanent companion with you that you create and customize. Alongside you and your companion you can recruit two other companions from characters online. These characters do not level with you and your companion which makes sense because they are other players. 

Armor screen!

There is so much things to do in this game it is so hard to keep track. There are a ton of quests, tons of monsters, customization, etc... If you are a fan of RPG's, Skyrim, KoA, etc.... Then I highly recommend this game. It is one of my personal favourites. 

Graphics: 

The character models are not the greatest but the environments are beautiful. The spell effects, armor, weapons are all colourful, and have a lot of detail. The dungeons, caverns, are also very well done and feel that they are what they are supposed to be. The dungeons are dark, wet, creepy, big, and has a lot of details. 

Character customization.

Overall the graphics are well done. Only complaint are the character models themselves. Other than that, gorgeous. 

Audio:

The soundtrack in this game is fantastic. Everywhere you go has a new soundtrack to it. The dungeons, outdoors, boss battles, monster battles, cities, towns, villages, everything has it's own soundtrack. They all sound great. 

Final boss soundtrack!

Conclusion:

DD:DR offers a lot for a game. Lots of exploration, lots of quests, lots of loot, customization, a great story, and a whole other game. After you beat this enormous game you have to do the expansion which is almost as big and has a lot to offer. RPG fans will love this game. I highly recommend this game.

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Animal Crossing: New Leaf

Console: Nintendo 3DS

Genre: Social Simulation Game

Release Date: June 9th, 2013

Date Reviewed: August 26th, 2013

Gameplay:

Animal Crossing: New Leaf is a social simulation game by Nintendo. It is the fourth game in the series to have come out in North America, the first one being on Nintendo Gamecube. First off I would like to say t here is so much things to do in this game it is mind blowing. You start off Animal Crossing travelling to a new town that you name yourself. As soon as you arrive everyone thinks you are the new mayor they were waiting for. So right off the bat you become mayor of your town. When you first start playing this game it starts a bit slow then gradually works it's way up to be something you don't have time to do everyday. You start off with living in a tent. While you are living in this tent you are to work and make money to pay Tom Nook to be able to buy a starter house. Now once you pay off your house you can move forward and do other things. I will try my best to list as much as I can in this review. So once you purchase your first house you can keep on upgrading it to make it bigger and bigger. Obviously the more you upgrade the more it will cost you. On top of upgrading your house you need to run your town. Once enough people like you, you will be able to add additions to your town like buildings, bridges, fountains, parks, etc... and make the town the way you want it to be. In order to make these creations you need to also have the money to purchase those things. To do that you set up a donation pool. You can donate it yourself or have some people come visit your town and make donations. So after you have set up your town it is time to do other things. Why not go to the island and take part in some games with some friends or maybe by yourself. Done that? Okay how about you go enter the bug catching contest that happens once every month on a Saturday and win the trophy!

Fishing and Swimming with Friends.

There is so much to do in this game it is hard to list them all in here. There are events, season, weather, farming, creating, exploring. In New Leaf there is even a strip mall in your town across the train tracks, The more you spend or the more time you play New Leaf the more they get upgraded. That isn't all though, as you progress through the game new shops get added to your little shopping centre. Once thing I really enjoy about New Leaf is the fact that you can go and visit ANYONE'S town and explore, help, play games, etc... Once you have played two full weeks of New Leaf you are able to enter other towns that other people have created. You can even go into one Nintendo themselves have created! The possibilities are endless and you will never get bored and fully complete this game. Overall this game is an absolute joy and recommend every get this.

Graphics:

If you are familiar with any Animal Crossing game the graphics or style of the game are usually the same. The one think I find weird about the graphics in New Leaf is how shiny the grass in the game is. The graphics in this game take advantage of the 3DS. The character models are great looking and the environment are fantastic as well. The style of this game is more of a cartoony style. But it all looks sharp and crisp. Whats really enjoyable is the different seasons that par take in this game. Each season has it's own unique look and feel to it. Every season has something great to offer and makes the game that much more beautiful. Fall has a lot of different colours, winter is as white as ever with the Christmas holiday around the corner it adds a ton of colour, spring is bright and beautiful with flowers and rain showers, and summer is hot, green, and beautiful as well. Whatever the day, season, night, event, and others, Animal Crossing: New Leaf looks fantastic! Overall this is one great looking game.

Exploring the Island.

Audio:

New Leaf has a TON of great bits of audio in the game. Whether it is the music while you are walking around outside, at a store, or even at the night club the variety is endless. Another great feature is say you win one of the Nintendo items from the fortune cookies each one has it's own audio. For example with the Triforce when you press "A" on it it will play the triforce sound with a nice animation to it. Eventually you are also even able to get a CD player and buy or find your own music to spice your house up and bit more. Overall the music in this game is fantastic!

Pretty House!

Conclusion:

Animal Crossing: New Leaf is probably the best Animal Crossing game to date in my opinion. There is so much to do in this game you will never get bored of it. From exploring, playing games, decorating, visiting other peoples towns, playing with friends, shopping, upgrading, fossil finding, fishing, bug catching, events, your birthday, etc... this game and endless amount of content for you to enjoy. The graphics are fantastic, audio, and everything else! I highly recommend this game.

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Something Different:
Hey everyone. So I was contacted a little while ago asking if I could help out a fellow gamer. I immediately jumped to the opportunity and told him I would love to help him out.

Please follow Leonard! Leonard has just started a mobile gaming company known as TatumGames. He will be posting a kickstarter page in early September for one of his projects. Please show him some love and support and help a fellow gamer out.

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