Death has always been an integral part of Dragon's Dogma. From the intoxicating notion that it could come at any time while travelling the world of Gransys to the corpses that litter an area once you've torn through it, death permeates the narrative like a foul odor. The punishing difficulty ensures defeat in most cases, making it an absolute certainty that a restart will be necessary at least once. That same frustration, however, is what attracted the droves of players to Capcom's open-world RPG in the first place.

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen ups the ante by introducing Death personified. Your first sighting could end up being your last, though with persistence, even Death itself can be cheated. And that's just one small piece of this sprawling hunk of supplemental content. The austere world of Dark Arisen is a meaty expansion pack that serves up a substantial amount of new material, opening up welcoming arms to veterans and enticing new players with what will inevitably be billed as the definitive Dragon's Dogma experience.