Dozens of feet up, my gauntlets digging into the mane of a livid griffin, I knew I'd made a huge mistake. The beast was grounded when I'd hopped atop his back in the hopes of introducing his eyes to my sword, but he'd shot up so high afterwards that I could have seen the main character's hometown if I'd dared to look (and if it popped in in time). One slip, one splat, and it'd be game over. Below, though, a mage's spell set my group's weapons aflame. My ranger companion let loose a mighty arrow, alighting the monster's wings and bringing us slamming back to earth.

I already knew how all this would end: I spent many sleepless nights with Dragon's Dogma's appealing mix of Western RPG stylings and Monster Hunter-inspired combat years ago when it first dropped for the Xbox 360. Graphics have advanced, scores of better and lesser RPGs have come and gone, but there on the stones of the Bluemoon Tower, I still relished the return of the same rush of victory that overcame me in 2012.

Now, at last, we have the PC port, which takes its guise from 2013's Dark Arisen, a retooled version of the initial release with a ridiculously tough endgame zone and numerous tweaks to various annoyances. It's a port, all right, which is to say that it's here and it does little to distinguish itself from its console forebears aside from nifty features like better textures and uncapped framerates. (A single crash over 50 hours aside, it ran beautifully.) Still, that's cause for celebration. Scarred with imperfections but entertaining to the end, Dragon's Dogma is easily one of the most memorable RPGs of the last decade.

It achieves this distinction almost in spite of its story. It's not bad, and it's capped on one end by a dragon who eats your heart as though he's sucking Nutella off his claw and on the other by a deliciously bizarre conclusion preceding the New Game that still makes for good discussions when less than sober. In between, though, it relies excessively to backtracking and indulges too many humdrum sidequests. It clings to predictable Western RPG conventions: in one corner there's the dastardly secret society, in another, the artifact-stuffed ruin.

It works, though, because it's all told with enthusiastic gravitas. For all the chimeras and dragons, Gransys is a land that tries to stick to the real, favoring utilitarian armor designs over flamboyance, and the interactions impart a dutiful let's do this sense I admire. This extends even to the open-world landscape, which boasts coastal cliffs, mountains, and towering Norman architecture but never quite inspires the kind of visual rapture you get from, say, The Witcher 3. (Worse, it's prone to pop-ins and muddy details at long distances.) Saving the world is a job, dang it, and Dragon's Dogma makes you feel it.

Jobs can be fun, of course, and Dragon's Dogma delivers a challenging brand of action that's rousing regardless of whether it's played on the keyboard or with a gamepad. Greatswords crash with hefty weight, arrows fly with satisfying thwapps, and spells impale ogres with icy tendrils. So many RPGs could learn from how fun this is. The appeal isn't just the fighting (which could benefit from a lock-on); it's also the way it lets you scramble up the arms of cyclopes and slice off the tails of lizard men. Sick of one of the main three classes of Fighter, Strider, and Mage? You can easily switch out to another and level its skills or those of six hybrids. Some fare better than others; Warriors, for instance, perform pitifully in Dragon's Dogma's many ranged encounters.

Enter the pawns. Nothing sets Dragon's Dogma apart quite like them. They're mysterious beings with classes and skills that fill the blanks of what you need, thus allowing my Warrior to bring along, say, a bow-toting Ranger, a healing Mage, and a powerful Sorcerer—for a price. You get a main pawn that other players can summon, and you can summon up to two of theirs as well. There's a satisfying Pok mon-like appeal to trying them out (which you'll need to since they don't level with you), and having to let go of a well-geared, well-skilled pawn sometimes stings like the death of a fleshed-out character in another RPG. Alas, they're prone to spouting obvious, ceaseless chatter such as "These stairs serve as a useful route in their own right," but happily Dark Arisen lets you switch that off.

If that's what it takes, do it. It's rough in parts, and numerous other RPGs tell a better story or inspire greater awe. But Dragon's Dogma still feels enjoyably unique four years on and that's something few of its genre cousins can claim. And the best thing I can say? Even now, I'm already itching to get back in.

The intriguing, innovative RPG Dragon's Dogma will finally arrive on PC on January 15, but what does the game's sudden re-emergence mean for the series? And how will the PC edition differ from the original console release? We put a few questions to DDDA producer, Minae Matsukawa, director Kento Kinoshita, and PC producer Jon Airhart.

PC Gamer: Between this release and Dragon s Dogma Online, it seems like the series still means a lot to Capcom—where is Capcom at in terms of considering a sequel?

Matsukawa: Thanks for your interest in the series! The Dragon s Dogma development team members often talk about the possibility of a sequel. We d love to hear the opinions and feedback from players of the upcoming PC port of Dragon s Dogma: Dark Arisen, as that will increase the chances that we can look into the possibility of continuing the series.

PC Gamer: Is the team that made the original game still together?

Matsukawa: Of course! The team from DDDA worked together in 2015 on Dragon s Dogma Online, which was released for the Japanese market.

PC Gamer: For those who don t know, what was the origin of Dragon s Dogma s development? What was the idea that drove development to begin with?

Kinoshita: It all started with an idea by the Hideaki Itsuno, the director of the original Dragon s Dogma. He wanted to create a game with an online system that you could use asynchronously, like an internet forum rather than a live chat. His initial pawn system concept was the starting point, and from there the open world of Dragon s Dogma was fleshed out, and its fluid and flexible combat system.

PC Gamer: I remember people wondering if the pawn system would successfully replace a co-op partner at the time of release, but people really embraced it—why do you think that idea was so popular?

Kinoshita: Probably a big reason for the popularity of pawns is that we really wanted to design them so that they were always making the player s game experience more enjoyable, whether they were lost in a dungeon, battling enemies or exploring towns. Giving pawns different voices and personalities was the way we made them feel special and unique.

PC Gamer: The creature design always felt a little different to other fantasy games to me - what were the team s influences in creating creatures for the game?

Kinoshita: We based the creature designs on the real-world legends and fairytales that most people are familiar with. Rather than taking that basis and making the creatures even more fantastical in order to make them impressive, we felt there was more value in giving players the feeling that these were real, living, breathing beasts. So, one of our key concepts was to give players around the world the chance to feel like they had genuinely encountered and taken on these mythical beasts that we all have in our collective consciousness. Our art directors and designers tried not to stray too far from the imagery found in ancient legends and iconography. In this direction, we were influenced by other works which take the same approach, such as Kento Miura s Berserk, and Mike Mignola s Hellboy.

PC Gamer: What was behind the decision to bring Dragon s Dogma to PC now? Has something changed with the PC market since release that makes this the right time?

Jon: A PC version of Dragon s Dogma: Dark Arisen is something we had been planning for some time. We know it s been a long wait, but we ve brought the right team together to create the version of Dragon s Dogma: Dark Arisen that our PC fans deserve.

PC Gamer: It s interesting, because recent Capcom remasters like Resident Evil made it to consoles, too—but this is PC-only. Why is PC such a good match for Dragon s Dogma?

Jon: This is a game that already looks great on Xbox 360 and PS3, but increased draw distances and uncompressed textures on a powerful PC makes it look absolutely beautiful. It s also a game that includes many elements inspired by classic RPGs released on the PC. Those reasons plus the requests from our fans make this a perfect fit for a PC release.

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen is set to release on January 15, Capcom announced today. Not only that, but the system requirements are out too, and it's good news for anyone with a superb rig. The framerate is unlocked, and if you want to play the game in 4K, you can. Controllers are supported, in addition to mouse and keyboard.

Dragon's Dogma originally released for consoles back in 2013, and it's quite the underrated classic. Andy got some hands-on time with the PC port earlier this month and came away impressed. "The Pawn system is a stroke of genius, the combat is satisfying and challenging, with a kinetic, weighty feel to it, and a curiously Japanese sense of humour runs throughout."

Oh, and there's a new trailer, too. Scroll to the bottom for the system requirements.

Minimum Specs:

OS: Windows Vista or newer Processor: Intel Core i5-660 CPU or equivalent Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: Radeon HD 5870 or equivalent DirectX: Version 9.0c Storage: 22 GB available space Sound Card: DirectX-compatible sound card or onboard audio chip

Recommended Specs:

OS: Windows Vista or newer Processor: Intel Core i7-4770K or equivalent Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 or equivalent DirectX: Version 9.0c Storage: 22 GB available space Sound Card: DirectX-compatible sound card or onboard audio chip

A dragon attacks your village and you bravely face it with a rusty sword. As you hack hopelessly at its legs, it plucks out your heart, tossing it into its mouth before flying away. You lie dead on the beach—or so it seems. Waking up, you discover you re The Arisen: a legendary warrior destined to drive the beast back to whence it came. Tough break.

Yes, this is a fantasy RPG, full of beards, wizards, jerkins, and goblins. But it s by a Japanese studio—led by Devil May Cry director Hideaki Itsuno—and isn t the fusty old swords-and-elves games you might be expecting. It takes hokey Western fantasy tropes and injects them with humour, personality and some clever game design. Dragon s Dogma was released three years ago on consoles to great critical acclaim, but it always felt like a game that belonged on PC—and now, finally, it s coming. 

There are perks to being The Arisen, including the ability to summon Pawns—bodyguards who exist solely to aid you in battle. Early on you create a main Pawn, who ll follow you throughout. I created a mage called Queen to accompany my tank-like fighter. She casts a spell in battle that makes my sword burn with magical fire and heals me. She s awesome. 

Other Pawns can journey with you too, but only temporarily. You can create them yourself, choose from a selection of computer-generated Pawns, or—and here s the best bit—download them from other players. Pawns who travel with you gain knowledge of the places you visit and, importantly, monsters you defeat. So if you kill a troll, anyone who downloads the Pawns who helped you defeat it will have its weakness revealed. But the more experienced a Pawn is, the more expensive it is to hire. It s a unique system. 

And you ll need help from Pawns, because Dragon s Dogma is tough. There s no indication if a part of the world is beyond your current skills, giving the game a genuine sense of danger and adventure. You ll enter a cave and get wiped out in seconds by some unholy monster. But, later, you ll come back with Pawns who know its weakness and better abilities, and make short work of it. This lack of hand-holding is reminiscent of Dark Souls, but it s not quite as punishing.

The combat also has echoes of Dark Souls, emphasising careful parrying and blocking. But unique to Dragon s Dogma is the ability to climb on large enemies. You can shimmy up a troll s leg and hack away at its head as it tries to shake you off. Pawns can grab smaller enemies and hold them, giving you a moment to attack. Battles are tactical and any attempts to dumbly hack-and-slash your way through the game will be met with a swift, unceremonious death. 

Japanese games often suffer from bad PC ports, but the preview version of Dragon s Dogma I played boasts a broad selection of graphics options, plays at a steady 60fps, supports high resolutions, and gets rid of the black bars that plagued the console version. I noticed some shadow glitches while using a lamp to light dark areas, but hopefully these will be fixed. I wouldn t say it was a pretty game but the art and animation are so full of character I don t mind its low-poly models and slightly blurry textures too much.

But while Dragon s Dogma isn t a visual powerhouse, it is one of the most imaginative action RPGs released in recent years. The Pawn system is a stroke of genius, the combat is satisfying and challenging, with a kinetic, weighty feel to it, and a curiously Japanese sense of humour runs throughout. It s heartening to see the game arrive on PC in such fine shape. That dragon s days are numbered.

I for one am pretty bloody excited that Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen is coming to PC. I've already played it through on console, but as the trailer above demonstrates it's going to look and run a lot better on PC. Look at that silky framerate. It brought a tear to my eye.

If you've already played the game nothing in the video will surprise you it's a simple runthough of the game's unique systems, including pawns. These are fully-customisable companions that can be shared online. If other users take one of your pawns on an adventure, you reap some benefits.

Not shown in the trailer is that you can pick people up and throw them off cliffs. That's what initially sold the game for me. Oh, and the menu theme for Dragon's Dogma is one of the best ever committed to tape (make sure you listen until the 0:43 mark). Assuming the port is good, this will definitely be one to play. It's due in January 2016.