ActionAdventureRPG
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
Give it 15 hours
Gets good by 15h then rated almost like by veterans
Fully opens up by 35h rated like by long-time players
Reach the ending at least 14% of players who started
Started playing 90% of owners
Steam reviews 88% positive of 49,277
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours almost 1 in 2 reviews are negative (45%); after 35h it's almost 1 in 20 (5%).
- Fully opens up by hour 35.
- At least 14% of players who start reach the ending.
- The biggest drop-off is between “Onward” (Departed from Cassardis) and “The Courier” (Entered Gran Soren): from 87% to 58% of starters.
- 90% of owners got the first achievement.
When it gets good
Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.
before it gets good opening up fully opened up
Based on all 49,406 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 299 reviews: 46.5h for positive, 23.4h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.
Where players quit
Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (90.3% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- It Begins Completed the prologue. 100%
- Onward Departed from Cassardis. 87% −13
- The Courier Entered Gran Soren. Most players quit here 59% −29
- Writ Large Received a writ from the castle. 46% −13
- Come Courting Attended an audience with the duke. 29% −17
- The Message Received the duke's commendation. 21% −8
- Rough Landing Completed the urgent mission. 21%
- Destiny Accepted the Godsbane blade. 19% −2
- Treacherous Peered into the very depths of the world. 19%
- Freedom Escaped the yoke of eternity. ≥14% −5
story milestone ending (most common ending) biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.
All achievements (59)
story milestone ending side
- It Begins Completed the prologue. 100%
- Onward Departed from Cassardis. 87%
- A New Ally Summoned your own pawn. 78%
- Getting a Head Earned the approval of the Enlistment Corps. 70%
- Foreign Recruit Enlisted a pawn to your party from beyond the rift. 65%
- Into Dripstone Cave Entered the azure caverns. 65%
- The Courier Entered Gran Soren. 59%
- The Artisan Combined two materials to make an item. 56%
- Writ Large Received a writ from the castle. 46%
- Human Resources Changed your vocation. 46%
- The Tourist Visited 50 locations. 43%
- The Savior Used a Wakestone to restore the dead to life. 36%
- Into the Ancient Quarry Entered the ancient quarry. 35%
- Inhuman Resources Changed your main pawn's vocation. 34%
- Local Recruit Directly enlisted a pawn to your party. 33%
- Come Courting Attended an audience with the duke. 29%
- Into the Frontier Caverns Entered the southwestern caves. 28%
- The Escort Acted as a reliable travel companion. 27%
- The Vagabond Visited 100 locations. 27%
- Affinity and Beyond Raised a person's affinity to the maximum. 24%
- Dragon Forged Strengthened equipment in wyrmfire. 22%
- The Message Received the duke's commendation. 21%
- Rough Landing Completed the urgent mission. 21%
- Into Soulflayer Canyon Entered the Soulflayer Canyon. 21%
- Destiny Accepted the Godsbane blade. 19%
- Treacherous Peered into the very depths of the world. 19%
- The Knave Obtained a forgery. 19%
- Eye Contact Defeated an evil eye. 18%
- The Patron Helped Madeleine open her shop. 16%
- Freedom Escaped the yoke of eternity. 14%
- Mercy Dealt the blow of deliverance. 14%
- The Veteran Defeated 3,000 enemies. 14%
- Eye Gouger Defeated the Gazer in Bitterblack Isle. 14%
- Closure Put an end to all things. 13%
- Headshunter Defeated a hydra or archydra. 13%
- The Explorer Visited 150 locations. 13%
- The Specialist Learned all the skills of a single vocation. 12%
- The Inquisitor Defeated the Dark Bishop in Bitterblack Isle. 11%
- 100 Reached LV 100. 11%
- Conqueror Defeated Daimon for the first time. 9.4%
- Into the Manse Entered the duke's manse. 9.2%
- The Laborer Completed 50 notice board quests. 9.1%
- Serpents' Bane Defeated a drake, wyrm, and wyvern. 8.1%
- The Coin Collector Earned a total of 10,000,000G. 7.9%
- Cheat Death Defeated Death in Bitterblack Isle. 6.6%
- True Conqueror Defeated Daimon in his true form. 6.3%
- 200 Reached LV 200. 6.1%
- A Queen's Regalia Dressed a male party member in women's clothing. 6.0%
- The Messiah Defeated the Ur-Dragon. 5.8%
- Solitude Obtained the almighty power of sovereignty. 4.8%
- Servitude Soar unto a new world. 4.4%
- Peace Took refuge in an illusion. 4.3%
- Well Equipped Obtained 350 pieces total of weapons and armor. 4.1%
- The Philanthropist Gave 50 presents. 3.8%
- The Ever-Turning Wheel Completed the adventure a second time. 3.5%
- Hardened Veteran Completed game in Hard Mode. 3.2%
- The Captain Enlisted a large number of pawns. 3.1%
- The Hero Completed all pre-planned, non-notice board quests. 2.2%
- The Sprinter Completed game in Speedrun mode. 1.6%
Steam page Updated: 2026-10-17.