Anyone who has played the video game Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen will surely notice how the Netflix show adaptation, Dragon's Dogma, is way too faithful to the franchise. It almost follows the same progression and plot as the video games and for some, takes too little liberties when it comes to storytelling for a show.
As a result, video game fans can easily predict what going to happen next. Still, Netflix's Dragon's Dogma has its own twists in the formula and introduces changes that might catch the video game fans off-guard. These come in the form of story elements, original characters, or even the villain itself among others in these 10 differences between the game and show.
THE CHARACTERS
As mentioned earlier, most of the characters used in Netflix's Dragon's Dogma are fresh and not related to the video game. That in itself is a little weird since they practically had a blank canvas but still chose to copy the game's format. Anyway, the protagonist, the side characters, and even the dragon seems different.
The dragon certainly didn't introduce itself so it's likely not Grigori in the game even if they appear the same. Even the townsfolk in Cassardis are different and all the characters the game fans have grown accustomed to in that area are nowhere to be found.
THE DRAGON'S CRUELTY
Now the dragon might be different or the same one as in the games but Netflix's Dragon's Dogma's dragon appears to be a lot more evil or destructive than its video game counterpart. Apparently, it killed a lot more people and even burned plenty of villages and towns along the way afterward.
Moreover, it also ate the protagonist's foster son and burned his pregnant wife while he watched helplessly. Soon after that, his heart was taken away and he got cursed. The in-game dragon, on the other hand, was merely content on just taking the heart as that's enough motivation for the protagonist anyway.
NO BERSERK REFERENCES
Dragon's Dogma's creators seem to be huge Berserk fans since they essentially sprinkled references to that mange throughout the entire game. There were even characters that are straight-up imitations of Berserk ones and armor designs straight out of the manga.
All of those being absent in Netflix's Dragon's Dogma is understandable since there might be some copyright issues involved. Hence a certain area and a certain witch character is missing that really could have enhanced the show's story a lot and provided much-needed exposition.
NO GRAN SOREN
Gransys is a huge place in the video game and there are only a few sanctuaries there where the players can seek shelter from the brutal world. That's the huge fortress city of Gran Soren is a sight for sore eyes and pretty much functions as a hub for the players and also as a place for side stories.
Netflix's Dragon's Dogma being only seven-episodes-long didn't seem to want to focus on the happenings in Gran Soren or didn't want to make the plot too complex by weaving in the city. There's also a chance that it might not even exist in show adaptation. Either way, the lack of a huge hub city leaves quite a void in the world-building of the show.
THE MORE TRAGIC ENDING
The ending of Netflix's Dragon's Dogma probably left a lot of viewers scratching their heads at the futility of the whole premise since it turns out that the Arisen just becomes the very thing he hates the most and the cycle continues anew. It doesn't always end up like that in the video game.
In fact, the game has a more positive and rewarding ending for any fan who stuck through with it, unlike the show. In the video game, the players could even elect to make themselves a god along with their pawn. That's a lot less tragic or depressing compared to what fate befell Ethan in the Netflix show.
THE ARISEN HAVING EXTRA POWERS
After his heart gets taken by the dragon, the Arisen's bonus is usually just the ability to hire pawns from the Rift and being ageless and unkillable except in battle as well as having a telepathic link to the dragon. The heart-taking thing was meant to be more of a curse with little to no boons. They pretty much have the same combat limitations as their pawns minus the part where they can kill the dragon.
The show took its own liberties here and in addition to all those mentioned above, they also give Ethan, the Arisen, some mystical berserker powers where he can become enraged and easily kill a hydra on his own. Turns out he was prematurely becoming a dragon himself.
NO EXTRA PAWNS
Killing a dragon and facing monsters a lot bigger than you certainly warrants a bigger party than just Ethan and Hannah's bland duo. The video game understands this and thus gives the players an option to field more pawns in their party, easily making it a standard 4-man RPG group.
Sadly, Ethan doesn't have this sort of luxury in the show and is stuck with Hannah who appears to be a Magic Archer at best and they don't exactly get along well. Quite a shame, really, more characters in the party could have meant more interesting banter or even better character development.
PAWNS ARE MORE OPINIONATED
In addition to having fewer pawns available, the one pawn assigned to Ethan in Netflix's Dragon's Dogma is a lot more talkative than the ones in the game. She also seems to have more free will and even concern for Ethan as well as the people around her.
Pawns in the game usually just blurt out situational banter about the weather or tactical knowledge during battle. Hannah's sentiments towards humans and altruism are rather refreshing to see in a pawn. It could be just an isolated case for her but it worked well in bringing character development to the show if only a little bit.
SOME MONSTER CHARACTERISTICS
Monsters also work a bit differently compared to their interactive counterparts in the video game. Not all of them function the same or have the same behavior such as the goblins being lewd or the griffin being more aggressive and openly attacking a fully-armed party.
In other episodes, creative liberties were also taken with the monsters such as the succubus which appeared to be a lot weaker than their video game counterpart. There, they're commonly just upgraded versions of harpies and can easily take out a lone fighter on their own. Such was not the case with the succubus in the show.
THE DRAGON DESTROYED CASSARDIS
In addition to the dragon being more malevolent towards Ethan and his family, it also notably leveled the whole poor fishing town of Cassardis. The beast swooped down and just started burning everything indiscriminately until it found someone brave enough to steal their heart.
It's similar to how the dragon also attacked in the game but that one mostly just aimed for the Arisen's heart and didn't cause as big of a damage as its show counterpart where the whole town turned to ash. In the game, Cassardis was still standing and highly populated after the dragon attack which was why the players were probably not as vengeful as poor Ethan the Arisen in the show.