Dragon’s Dogma on PC is an HD Remaster in All But Name

The folks at Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry have taken the new Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen PC port for a spin and came away impressed enough to call it an HD remaster in all but name. That said, there are a few niggles, as apparently budget builds (the machine Eurogamer used more or less matches the power of a PlayStation 4) won’t be able to run the game on a locked 60fps framerate in spite of the dated visuals:

Hitting 60fps is more difficult than expected for what is essentially a HD remaster of a last-gen title, and those on budget set-ups will have to bear this in mind. But even so, the experience using our budget PC set-up is light years beyond the sub-30fps gameplay on consoles. However, we’d recommend at least a GTX 960 if sustaining 60fps is a priority.

Overall, Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen works well as a full HD remaster, boasting most of the qualities one would expect from such a release. Alongside the inclusion of all the game’s DLC content and the Dark Arisen expansion, enhanced visuals and the ability to run the game at 60fps (or higher), this offers up a worthy upgrade to fans of the original console releases.

It also gives us a glimpse of how a PS4/Xbox One remaster could turn out when running on budget PC hardware. While there are no plans we’re aware of to go down this route, Dragon’s Dogma’s core fanbase resides on consoles, and having a true 1080p60 remaster on current-gen hardware would be welcome based on the quality of this PC release.

It’s also possible to get a good look at the visual improvements in this video published on the Digital Foundry YouTube channel: