The ARPG developed by Capcom has indeed become a cult hit in the past few years, thanks to its amazing gameplay mechanics and combat system, which is more akin to Japanese action games than western role-playing games. While Capcom doesn’t seem too interested in letting director Hideaki Mitsuno develop the sequel fans have been waiting for, the amazing Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen modding community did its very best to provide some new content and improvements, making the cult classic an even better game. Let’s check out some must-have mods if you’re revisiting this title.
20. PSX Buttons
Check Out This Mod Press the B button to continue. But I don’t have a B button on my controller! PSX Buttons is an essential mod for those who play Dark Arisen with a DualShock 3 or DS4 controller. Just download the mod and enjoy the correct button prompts. Easy peasy.
19. Aspect Ratio Fix
Check Out This Mod Ultrawide monitors are becoming more popular, but it seems like developers continue having a hard time coding their games properly for aspect ratios wider than 16:9. Aspect Ratio Fix is a mod that everyone gaming on an ultrawide monitor should use. Basically it fixes all the issues that come when an aspect ratio wider than 16:9 is used while booting up the game. Including the actual image getting cut: how the dragon am I supposed to play the game that way?
18. Pawn Manager
Check Out This Mod The Pawn system is great, no question about it. But it can be made even better with the right mods. Pawn Manager is a very handy program that lets you import Pawns from a save file, edit their attributes, and assign them to any save file so that they can be used in the game. This means you can even import Pawns from another player’s game into your own. How cool is that?
17. Spell Mod Pack
Check Out This Mod Dragons are dragons exactly because they cannot be killed. Unless you use the proper ultra-powerful magic spells! This Spell Mod Pack is a collection of modded spells that are extremely powerful. They make the end and post-game much easier hands down. Each spell included in the pack is treated as a separate mod, so you can choose which spell(s) to install to avoid breaking the game too much.
16. Dark Arisen All Natural
Check Out This Mod How do you like your graphics? Personally, I like them all natural. The Dark Arisen All Natural mod is a simple graphics preset that makes the game look way more pleasing to the eye. How, you ask? By removing overly saturated colors, introducing improved sharpening and anti-aliasing, and making dark areas and nights a little brighter. That brightness is probably the least natural thing included in the mod, to be honest. But when the improvements are so easy to see, even at a glance, you won’t hear me complaining! Give it a try and see what you think. Maybe not for everyone but definitely a great choice for some.
15. Japanese VoiceOver
Check Out This Mod Dual language options are the norm for Japanese games nowadays. But this hasn’t always been the case. Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen hails from a time where fans had to resort to undubbing mods to get Japanese voiceovers. And sadly Capcom didn’t do much to change this for the PC port. But we don’t need developers to do all the hard work for us: download the Japanese VoiceOver mod and enjoy the game with a full Japanese dub.
14. Envision ENB
Check Out This Mod Lighting overhauls are always great. Even more for dated games like Dragon’s Dogma. Envision ENB is a complete lighting overhaul that improves not only indoor lighting, but also outdoor lighting, the skyboxes, shadows, and more. Additional anti-aliasing options are also included, so you can get some excellent results with some tweaking. Who ever said that old games cannot look great?
13. Berserk Set
Check Out This Mod When anybody speaks of ancient dragons or monsters that come out at night, I cannot help but think about Berserk. And I’m apparently not the only one. Berserk introduces the now-iconic Berserker Armor used by Guts in Berserk. If you’re familiar with the popular manga series created by Kentaro Miura, you should recognize this quickly. As well as the even more iconic Dragonslayer Sword. The recreation is extremely faithful, so do not let your anger possess you: the beast is always there, lying in wait for you to make a mistake that will cost you and your pawns your lives.
12. Cast Faster
Check Out This Mod Articulacy is an essential augment for any Sorcerer build in Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arise. With this mod, it becomes even more essential. Cast Faster is a mod that buffs the Articulacy augment so that casting spells can be increased by 20%, 50%, and 90%. A far cry from the mere 10% offered by the base game huh? Maybe the developers did not like Sorcerers all that much? The world may never know.
11. Power Leveling
Check Out This Mod Level caps are supposed to be hard to hit. But the time investment is, very often, not all that worth it. To learn the true meaning of power in Dragon’s Dogma and hit the level 200 cap, you only have two choices: spend an inordinate amount of time grinding, or download the Power Leveling mod to decrease the amount of XP needed to level up to either 75%, 50% or 25% the usual amount. Don’t use this mod on your first playthrough, though. Brute-forcing your way through the game will make it hard to enjoy its magnificence!
10. Unlimited Sprinting
Check Out This Mod Stamina systems are great to balance action RPGs. Until you’re forced to walk because running depletes it. What’s more boring than that? Well the Unlimited Sprinting mod helps quite a bit in improving the game’s overall pace, as it allows you to sprint without consuming stamina. If you feel this is cheating, there are different options that lower stamina drain levels (totally customizable). Which I suppose, is a little fairer. But this is a single-player game. So I always go with the unlimited option. YOLO, right?
9. Adjusted Stats
Check Out This Mod With the Adjusted Stats mod, it doesn’t matter which class you pick for your character: you always get the best possible stats increase. Now it does feel a bit like cheating. But it’s also the perfect mod for when you want to create some very interesting characters that combine traits from classes that are at the exact opposite of the spectrum. Thanks to this mod, all stats will be increased to match their best possible values. Which is usually tied to different classes across the game. It’s basically a superpower level-up mod, but not totally gamebreaking. The mod works for Pawns as well, so that they won’t be left behind. How thoughtful!
8. Greater Rewards
Check Out This Mod We’ve cried for you. We’ve bled for you. We almost died for you. So you’d better show some real gratitude, you ungrateful NPCs! The Greater Rewards mod tweaks rewards for both the main quests and side quests. This way you can get double the rewards, or even more if you so desire. This mod is fully customizable so there’s no risk of breaking the game if that is not your intention. Or if you wanna break it then be my guest.
7. World Difficulty
Check Out This Mod Welcome to Gransys Nova. Where enemies are no longer the same, and new challenges await all intrepid adventurers. World Difficulty completely overhauls the Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen experience by changing the stats, behavior, and placement of most enemies. And it introduces new bosses that are much more dangerous than the vanilla ones, to prevent the game from becoming too easy like it does in its vanilla state. And if you’re one that likes playing through games multiple times, the mod rearranges things even further in New Game Plus mode. What’s that, exactly? Download the mod and find out.
6. HD Environment Texture Overhaul
Check Out This Mod Every game released on PC needs an HD texture pack. So don’t act like you’re surprised to see one for Dragon’s Dogma. This specific mod introduces new high-quality textures for most of the environment found in Gransys. These are no mere sharpened or upscaled textures, but brand new ones that make the game look great at any resolution, while being coherent with the game’s art direction. Which is always something nice in my book: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
5. No Carry Limit
Check Out This Mod No item carry limitations are essential mods for any RPGs out there. If looting is most of the fun, why am I not able to carry everything with ease? No Carry Limit not only increases carry limits for all classes to 10,000 (effectively removing the limit) but it also includes the option to reduce sprint stamina consumption or even remove it altogether. Light as a feather!
4. Don’t Blind Me
Check Out This Mod The real danger in Dark Arisen is not the monsters you have to face during the course of your adventure. It’s the glow effects. These effects can get very annoying over time, so the “Don’t Blind Me” mod is a true godsend. It lets us tweaks these effects so they do not get in the way (at the worst possible times!). The mod comes with two variants, so you can just fix the lantern if you really low those flashy skills and spells and can’t go a day in your life without looking at them.
3. Texture Improvement Project
Check Out This Mod Better textures for the entirety of Gransys? Yes please, where do I sign? The Texture Improvement Project introduces a lot of improved textures to the game, making both wilderness and towns look better than ever. Sadly, the project proved to be too ambitious, and development has stopped for now. But the mod is still functional, so it’s worth a try at least! The changes are pretty noticeable for sure.
2. Resonant ENB
Check Out This Mod A game as dark as Dragon’s Dogma needs to have better ambient occlusion and lens effects. Why, you ask? Well try the Resonant ENB preset first, then let’s talk. This preset improves the game’s visuals quite a lot by adding high-quality ambient occlusion, which improves lighting considerably. But also adds new bloom and lens effects. This preset also fixes the horrible banding issues on dark objects, which is easy to spot from time to time: darkness cannot hide everything, after all.
1. Great Mod Compilation
Check Out This Mod If you’re among those who like modding games without having to spend hours researching and installing them, you’ll simply love the Mod Compilation for Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen. This compilation includes most of the mods listed above, alongside many others that improve the interface, clothing, jumps, Augments, and much more. Some of these mods change the game quite a bit, so I suggest you first complete the game at least once before indulging into this compilation. Once you do, you’ll never go back to the vanilla game, trust me.
