Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, both a new release of Dragon’s Dogma 2 for Nintendo Switch 2, as well as an expansion for Dragon’s Dogma 2, adds two big bullet point of content: one is an entirely new region called Norgan, but the other is what’s dubbed Lost Rites dungeons, 12 new dungeons designed to challenge players.
On paper, it’s quite the crazy imbalance between the two bullet points. Norgan not only is just a new region, it contains a new questline, new enemies, new environmental hazards, one new traversal option, a whole new loot system as well as one new skill for each vocation. Whereas the Lost Rites dungeon is just 12 new dungeons with some new unique gear. One sure is a big new thing one would pay for as an expansion, the other seems like tacked on, or would’ve been made as smaller scale DLC add-on, which it probably would’ve been.
But don’t let that misled you into thinking that the Lost Rites dungeons are just tacked-on additions to the Dark Arisen expansion. These are actually some of the best content you can come across in this open world action RPG, and it’s mostly made by reusing and retooling existing assets, that is to say that the dungeons delve deeper into the potential that the base game content has to offer thanks to some deviously brilliant design work. It’s an amazing time.
The Appetiser Obfuscates The Giant Main Course Coming Next
First off, the first two Lost Rites dungeons you’d likely to tackle are basically tutorials to set the tone for the rest. Once the quest is started, you’ll be guided to the first dungeon, located in a cave that curiously doesn’t sprawl too much, a peculiarity within the base game. I vividly remember that there was an ancient door on the right side which doesn’t seem to be able to open, snickering to myself that this was probably for a DLC that just never came to be. I said this in my initial playthrough some time in June, before the summer of game announcements where Dark Arisen was revealed, where in that time, it was more than a year since the game last been updated.
Little did I know that that was indeed a DLC door. With Dark Arisen installed, the ancient door is cracked open, leading you to the shortest of the Lost Rites dungeon.
The second one you’ll likely access, mostly due to how close it is to the main city of Vermund, should start to give you a glimpse of why this is designated for experienced players. This dungeon has you face off against a Corrupted Ogre where the terrain is just a series of cliffs that also leads to an in-cave water that can drown the party. Fighting in uneven terrain is a fun challenge in and of itself, but you’ll be quick to pick up that if you decide to start the Lost Rites at the recommended level of 20, you’ll be for a rough time. These enemies are tanky, and they will test your mettle if you come in underpowered as the fights can be a slog. This is the first indicator that the Lost Rites are for experienced players who have reached the endgame.
The other indicator is that there is a door that you have no item to open it. It doesn’t say what is required. In my playthrough the Pawns didn’t say much other than the way forward is blocked. The only answer I found is through looking it up where online guides states that I need to complete a main story quest that’s very, very close to the point of no return.
Essentially, play the main game first until you reach the near end of the story in Batthal, the second region, and you’ll get access to these weird looking doors. All the other dungeons have this weird looking doors right upfront, so you can’t even do a halfway trip like this second one.
If you have reached that point in the story, you’d already know what you’re looking at. So again, Lost Rites is for those who have properly played Dragon’s Dogma 2, despite the low level recommendation.
The Fun Truly Begins At The Endgame
But once you are geared up and ready to tackle the Lost Rites, it’s a fun ride. Each of the dungeons have a theme or gimmick in mind, and their peculiar entry requirements sort of hinted at what to expect. One of them will see you interact with the enemies in an immersive sim manner. Another makes use of the Glimmercoal/Glymercole ore and its light-producing properties, which was only used once in a side quest in the base game.
What really perks me up in a good way is how the level design can feel like it’s trolling you, teasing you. There’s a dungeon where all the loot seems to be heavy weapons, weapons you might already have gotten if you’re a Warrior, and if you keep mindlessly pick them up you’ll be overburdened. But apparently that is the intended result, as the level is designed around having a party member being really heavy so that floors would crack and have you fall down.
One dungeon is mysteriously littered with camping packs, and curiously there are camping spots within it, two ominous signs of what’s to come. There’s one dungeon with plenty of Rift portals, as if it’s anticipating you to repopulate your party with Pawns as if they’ll be gone or missing ever so often. It all feels cheeky fun, with enough fallbacks in case you do get screwed by the cheeky antics these dungeons set you up for.
These dungeons really feel like dungeons in that it can be sprawling. In some way, having to see the same cave texture over and over with different layouts makes it just more perilous, it gives you this sense of false security that everything looks familiar, when it indeed is not. It really rewards you for paying attention and exploring every nook and cranny, as they are hidden rewards for those who do take time to scour them. Another devious trick I saw is placing a treasure chest with a boring old gear item just to obfuscate that there’s another treasure chest that actually contains the new unique DLC gear item. Do not let a dark corner left unexplored!
Without spoiling too much, the Interminable Corridor is one of the all-time dungeons in a video game. It lives up to its name in that you will learn what the word “interminable” means by the end of it. That is if you can reach the end, as it feels like it’s never going to end. It keeps going and going, like a marathon. For you Malaysians, it’s like a MRT ride but somehow there’s more and more stations that keeps appearing before you reach the terminal at Kajang. It’s “interminable” in that way. Even the bosses in there feel that way, as I attempted at level 50 and attempted to cheese it by hiring Pawns 20 levels higher (again, bad idea to do so—what I consider “high-level” Pawns were also struggling with the one last fight at the end).
The Corrupted enemies, the enhanced versions of the base game enemies unique to the Lost Rites dungeon, are no joke. Some of them are way too tanky for a level 50 character, which is more or less an endgame-ready character for the base game. They also hit harder. But at least one of them has gotten ridiculously more annoying: those bloody Oozes.
These slimy pricks were annoying in their base form, but the Corrupted version makes it so that it blocks all physical and magickal attacks. My Pawns straight up just gave up and warn everyone not to bother attacking, so for a good amount time, these things became my bane. They’ll gobble you up slowly, sapping stamina away, you can barely move, and in most cases, you just see yourself, or your Pawns, slowly dying with no way to fend themselves. And yes, they always happen to appear in rooms with tight corridors. The Corrupted variant isn’t invincible though, and if you decide to read the level and game designer’s intent and make use of the environment, you’ll figure it out.
This Is How You Reuse Assets
That’s the real beauty of all the Lost Rites dungeons. Most of them are reusing the same assets of the base game, but through smart design, it recontextilises the existing content into a whole new experience. A lot of which are related to the interactions you can have with the environment. Between the hazardous terrain and the curiously placed items and movable objects, a lot of what makes Lost Rites sing is what made the base game of Dragon’s Dogma 2 sing: it can sometimes be a game of improv as physics objects interact and collide in magnificent ways ranging from comedy to tragedy. Or as some folks like to describe it: “A Looney Tunes game.”
That is the strength of Dragon’s Dogma 2, its confidence in making use of physics and letting systems create chaos from all the interactions that are beyond the designer’s control. But with the Lost Rites dungeons, we now see the benefit of when a designer gets to control and make use of the chaos generators (the game’s interlocking systems) and just design to ensure specific gimmicks to happen. If the open world outside is a sandbox where anything can happen, these Lost Rites dungeons are handcrafted theme park rides where something magical will happen.
The more that Dragon’s Dogma 2 leans into its immersive sim-like quality, by letting its built-in systems and mechanics interact, the better the game is. And with the Lost Rites dungeons in the Dark Arisen expansion, we’re now seeing more intent to force specific outcomes from these systems and mechanics, so that you can experience this “oh shit!” moments more reliably.
Plus, I genuine love when game and level designers decide to mess with the players. It shows a great understanding between game maker and player when both sides decide it’s more fun to do a little trolling. These Lost Rites dungeons are deviously designed and I loved the nine that I’ve played (the other three requires you to go pass the point of no return, which I’m not committing just yet).
While these may be like an iffy purchase as a standalone DLC, it makes so much sense that it’s included into the expansion, with some carry-over between the dungeons and Norgan (you unlock the new skills plus some grinding bonuses if you complete the Lost Rites).
The only complaint I have is that some of the rewards of the Lost Rites dungeons are basically recolours of existing gear. Some of the new body armour are just remixing a few layers of the same outfit. The game could’ve benefited more from the ability to dye the gear to specific colours rather than pad out the number of gear like this. But at least the truly unique ones are showstoppers: I’ve seen enough social posts about the armour set with the side boob window to know fans do love some of the rewards for mastering the Lost Rites.
The gear itself will also be naturally outclassed when you venture into Norgan to tackle the Dark Arisen expansion proper. Thankfully, there is a new transmogrification (layered armour/cosmetic change) system so you can still rock the new Lost Rites fits.
Closing Thoughts
The Lost Rites dungeons would’ve been a fun little DLC on its own, but just geared for the true sickos that wanted more challenge out of Dragon’s Dogma 2. The deviously designed dungeons really pushed the systems already present in the base game in new, fun ways.
Having it as a standalone DLC, which is what it may have been designed for initially, would only be something optional—perfectly skippable if you’re not interested. But by having it be included in the Dark Arisen expansion, with a neat little integration to incentivise players to do these dungeons, there’s no excuse to not attempt them.
Twelve dungeons may not be a lot, but these are extensively designed, challenging, rewarding and really raises the bar of what Dragon’s Dogma 2, as an action-RPG with many interlocking systems, can truly be.
Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen is out now on Nintendo Switch 2. The Dark Arisen expansion for Dragon’s Dogma 2 is available for PS5, PC (Steam) and Xbox Series X|S.