Epic boss fights, mind-bending magic, a plot that doesn’t hold your hand, and a world that encourages exploration. I’m not talking about Elden Ring, but a game that came out ten years ago today - Dragon’s Dogma. It’s a JRPG in the style of a Western RPG and it fucking rules. If you’ve recently finished Elden Ring, instead of starting it again, give this gem a go.

In the opening moments of Dragon’s Dogma, a dragon rips your heart from your chest and eats it. Instead of dying though, you become an Arisen, someone chosen to challenge the dragon and reclaim your humanity. Now that’s metal. It’s a better dragon game than Skyrim, the dragons here are actually dangerous. Did Paarthurnax ever rip someone’s heart out? I don’t think so. Alduin the world eater? More like shite eater. The dragon here taunts you with your own heart by having it glow in its chest. Now that’s a dragon.

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As well as the epic quest, there’s political intrigue, romance, plenty of interesting side missions, forest witches, and everything else you’d expect in a Western fantasy setting. Where it all gets a little bit FromSoftware is in the quest design. Unless you’re following a guide you will absolutely miss stuff in your first playthrough. For someone like me who likes to try and complete everything a game has to offer, this is a pain. However, it also makes the world feel more alive - it doesn’t simply wait for you, shit happens.

The Soulsborne nature of the game goes even deeper thanks to its utterly fantastic boss design. Fight Chimera, Trolls, Griffins, huge Hydra; all sorts of mythical monstrosities are just waiting to be bested. It’s got elements of Shadow of the Colossus in there as well, as you can scale all these bigger enemies to attack their weak points.

But, however will you fell these gargantuan opponents? Absurdly powerful magic, that’s how. Summon a storm of meteors, wield a whip made of lightning, ravage the ground around you with an earthquake, or summon a devastating maelstrom to suck up all the enemies around you. You can also do some real Geneva Convention breaking shit, like sending a cloud of poison towards foes or blasting them with magical exploding arrows. It’s unhinged and makes you feel more powerful than a god.

There are also magic hybrids of every class. My favourite is Magik Archer, who combines the best elements of a rogue and a sorcerer. Also, they get a cool magic bow that fires enemy-seeking arrows. And, thanks to the developers not wanting you to be miserable while playing, you can swap between classes easily and use many of the abilities you’ve unlocked. This allows you to try everything out and cherry-pick the best stuff to keep for your perfect character.

Despite giving you the power of ancient gods and demons, Dragon’s Dogma is the first game to make me fear nighttime. It’s truly dark - it’s also on the Switch so playing it on the OLED would give you true true blackness - you can barely see in front of you without some fire or spells lighting the way. The foes at night are also a lot spookier. Ghouls, specters, zombie types, all manner of nasty things that don’t dare come out during the daytime. Trying to fight these enemies in near-total darkness is thrilling.

The similarities don’t end there, though. Dragon’s Dogma also has a unique online co-op mechanic - Pawns. Each Arisen is allowed to command a small following of Pawns in battle. You create one early in the game who’ll act as your permanent companion. You can customise them just as much as your own character. You then loan your Pawn out to other players who take it on adventures and ensure it gains knowledge. Each time you boot up the game, your Pawn will regale you with tales of their adventures. If they fought a foe you haven’t encountered, they’ll now know it’s weakness. You can also borrow the Pawns of others to help you with quests they’ve done and you haven’t. It’s a genius system.

Originally released on the PS3, Xbox, and PC in 2012, Dragon’s Dogma quickly took Japan by storm but took a little longer to catch on in the West. It’s on modern consoles in the form of the Dark Arisen remaster, released on PS4, Xbox One, and Switch and containing all the DLC as well as some nice quality of life improvements. There’s not a single excuse not to try it now.

If you liked Elden Ring, hell, if you like yourself, play Dragon’s Dogma. The Dark Arisen remaster has aged like a fine wine and is the perfect spiritual predecessor to FromSoftware’s magnum opus. Once you’ve finished it, join the rest of us in prayer and hope that Capcom makes another one.