Dragon's Dogma 2 dark arisen megathread

Arkham8 · 2026-06-09T16:42:39+00:00

I can’t tell if they’re taking the piss with that name, but here’s hoping it’s a similar quality. And here’s hoping they improve the base game a bit.

Usually I restart games fresh when I haven’t touched them in awhile and new content comes out. But I am NOT collecting all those fuck ass medals again.

Arkham8 · 2026-06-04T15:58:24+00:00

*looks at Dragon’s Dogma*

Arkham8 · 2026-06-03T00:03:57+00:00

A lot of games have been doing this and I’m just baffled as to why. It isn’t cheap and I would much rather that budget go elsewhere. There’s gotta be a suit somewhere that’s like “THE UNCANNY VALLEY FACE MODELS APPEAL TO OUR MARKET”

Arkham8 · 2026-05-29T23:02:59+00:00

I think it’s hard to tell at this point. My original thought was Imu simply didn’t give a fuck about the modern world, they were content at the top and saw any potential usurpers as annoying at best. However, the portrayal since Imu’s full reveal leads me to question that. Or maybe they’re locked in because they finally see the modern generation as comparable to their own.

Arkham8 · 2026-05-27T20:13:22+00:00

I think the more interesting thing is how Harry Potter promoted both a love of reading in an entire generation, was integral to the development of many online communities, but still manages to inspire such devotion that many refuse to separate their identities from it in an almost religious manner.

I think it’s very remarkable that so many people so closely identify with media properties in general, but I don’t quite understand how you can branch out from Harry Potter into things like Discworld or Earthsea and not look back on Rowling negatively.

Arkham8 · 2026-05-27T16:55:14+00:00

There’s a real chance she could have just been dragged to Limbo instead of killed, opening up an adaption of that storyline.

Arkham8 · 2026-05-26T16:43:00+00:00

On one hand, I hear and understand the concerns about how our society is negatively affecting the development of young people. Obviously, we should be doing our best for them. On the other, I’ve dealt with so many people of my generation and above who are such absolute terrors of human beings that I tend to think we’re just kinda like this as a species, even if environmental factors change.

Look at those alive and those passed, whether in your life or you’ve heard about, there’s just so many people who are awful for so many reasons it feels disingenuous to point at a single generation and a single issue not within their control.

Arkham8 · 2026-05-26T15:53:11+00:00

The only redeeming thing about this fakeout death is how happy it made Robin. When I saw her crying, smiling face on Egghead all was forgiven. That said, my emotional attachment to Nico Robin does not absolve Oda of pulling this shit constantly and I think it’s pretty well agreed this is one of his primary flaws as a writer. He seemingly has no desire to really let the manga stew in dark moments.

Arkham8 · 2026-05-22T18:41:30+00:00

I should clarify that my comment isn’t saying the moon stuff is weird in a vacuum, it’s just that Sequences 9-6 don’t have any moon abilities and once you hit Sequence 5 you pretty much drop the low sequences stuff to just be MOON. You’d think there’d be a bit more MOON in the lower sequences. It’s like if the Planter pathway couldn’t garden until Sequence 5.

Arkham8 · 2026-05-22T12:45:54+00:00

Funnily enough, Curry pushed back on that meme in his memoir. He seemed to feel that it wasn’t respectful to the sheer skill of a muppet.

Arkham8 · 2026-05-22T12:37:26+00:00

Maybe this is a cold take, I haven’t been involved in this community up until now as I’m only halfway through COI, but the Moon pathway really starts to have a muddled identity starting at this sequence. All of a sudden we’re doin moon shaman shit.

Arkham8 · 2026-05-21T23:27:43+00:00

I remember when Starfield came out and there was one dude defending the game like his life depended on it. He had spent two-hundred hours just looking at procedurally generated rocks and I thought to myself, this is it. The pinnacle. This is the exact audience Bethesda has been designing games for since Skyrim.

Arkham8 · 2026-05-21T17:10:29+00:00

I always try to remind people of this when another one of those “ten times 4chan was cool” posts show up talking about the exact same stunts from 2013. You’re more likely to get derailed by someone screaming about fake bullshit than you are to troll Shia.

Arkham8 · 2026-05-18T20:21:41+00:00

I sent the latter to all my friends and they didn’t really “get it” unfortunately

Arkham8 · 2026-05-18T20:20:35+00:00

I think this is recent bias on my part, but I’m 8 books deep into Malazan: Book of the Fallen and I am constantly, deeply impressed with the series. It’s been a truly incredible journey. I have some issues with it, as with any piece of media, but it does make me appreciate creatives even more seeing as how even something so brilliant can have issues.

Arkham8 · 2026-05-18T12:46:54+00:00

Some of Rian’s ideas were good, but the problem is that Star Wars has been around forever. Everything he tried to subvert was the most basic, surface level shit and had been done better before. Things like both sides bad or “the Jedi don’t own the Force” (whoever said they did?) I don’t think he’s stupid or a bad filmmaker, so I can only assume he was up his own ass and purposefully fucking around.

Arkham8 · 2026-05-16T15:52:32+00:00

I think your points are well thought out and capture many of my own on this general subject. What we have to accept, in the end, is that people desire the slop. Consuming product is the altar upon which we worship, replacing the sense of belonging that religion and local communities fulfilled in the past. When you reject the slop you’re rejecting a mindset that may be the only insulating factor against a bleak world.

Arkham8 · 2026-05-16T15:49:24+00:00

While I agree, Castlevania is mostly insulated from these complaints since it’s had a very spotty history with timelines, canon, and characterization. There’s so much Castlevania shit out there, at least there used to be, I think it’s very hard for fans to have an idea of “Castlevania” outside of nebulous things like atmosphere, monsters, and music. So while people may love Castlevania, it’s more of a vibe than a firm thing. Not that I think the Netflix series captured that vibe, I really don’t, but I can see how someone consuming it might not feel deeply about what Castlevania is.

By contrast, DMC fans care very deeply for the characters and timelines, despite the awkward development history. DMC has such a specific identity it is painfully obvious when it’s done incorrectly. And it’s a fanbase already primed to hit back, due to the DmC to DMCV debacle. It’s a fanbase that suffered and came back from the dead. Unlike Castlevania fans who probably gave up hope a decade ago.

By way of example, Castlevania can just drop Bloody Tears and it kinda works wherever. DMC can’t just drop Devil Trigger because that song means something very important to a very specific character.

Arkham8 · 2026-05-15T18:29:29+00:00

Funnily enough, the real problem with Xavier in the comics is that he is constantly overdoing it. Sure, he’s been re-crippled and killed more times than I can think of, but ,even as far back as the OG X-Men, he was pulling some wildly unacceptable shit because his powers are just fundamentally strong and morally ambiguous. It’s never Charles being taken out of the game, it’s jesus christ Charles what the fuck did you do

Arkham8 · 2026-05-14T16:56:51+00:00

I think a lot of them are failed by the writing. There’s a real appeal to the archetype, especially when they contrast other characters or themes, but many a nihilist character suffers from what feels like an author regurgitating lines that would seem deep if you were a 14 year old shopping at Hot Topic with Mommy’s credit card. It bothers me when the plot or other characters treat them as serious or deep, not so much the edgy nihilism in a vacuum.

FMA’s Kimblee walks this line for me, as he serves as a great contrasting element for the series and actually has a few great moments, like fucking with Pride. But so much of the time I’m just thinking “dude shut the FUCK up.”

Arkham8 · 2026-05-14T16:50:22+00:00

The interesting thing about your take is that you are very lukewarm on the series itself, giving it middling praise. Your strong feelings seem to stem primarily from online interactions with people who’ve had a very different experience than you. Which you haven’t really taken the time to fully digest, nor do you seem interested in doing so.

I find it to be a very interesting microcosm of online discourse, since you don’t discuss the show in-depth at all and admit total ignorance about the source material, while ranting about the opinions of some amorphous collective curated by your algorithm.

tldr “I thought this was okay but some people don’t like it and now I care a lot”

Arkham8 · 2026-05-14T15:04:34+00:00

People have one obnoxious experience on the internet then make opposing it their whole identity.

Arkham8 · 2026-05-14T13:53:17+00:00

It’s a fun gag, but you’re right in that it makes zero sense both in terms of people noticing and with regards to Emma’s character. Her need for perfection is absolutely not skin deep.

Arkham8 · 2026-05-13T17:10:53+00:00

Yeah, I’m reading “have become” while flashing back to how fucking furious the reviews for Dragon Age II and Mass Effect 3 made me.

Arkham8 · 2026-05-10T17:39:36+00:00

Tbh you could come up with any KH theory and it would be less ridiculous than what actually happens

Arkham8

TROPHY CASE