Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen vs Mount & Blade
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen casts you into the role of an adventurer leading a band of three AI companions (a.k.a. Pawns) as you set off into a huge and gorgeous open world in search of fame, glory and treasures. One of the main selling points in this game is the incredibly well-designed combat system where you'll actually need to approach your battles and your opponents strategically rather than simply rush head-on. Find out the weaknesses of your enemies and attack them at their achilles' heel.The game also has some of the most amazing AI learning systems in place where the combat style of each Pawn will change depending on the traits learned from the player. In other words, you can literally train your Pawns to fill in the roles you need them to be. Whether you'll train them as a versatile fighter or to play a very specific role in your group... well, that's entirely up to you. Players will even have a ton of options to choose from when it comes to customizing their characters.
Despite the slightly weaker storyline, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen is one of the best monster-hunting and slaying RPGs out there where the action-based gameplay feels smooth and realistic enough to immerse you completely during intense battles with monstrous creatures. If this sounds just like a game you'd like to play, be sure to give the game a try!
Mount & Blade
Mount & Blade is the first game in a highly popular game franchise that boasts of being an RPG with one of the most sandbox-like gameplay ever. In this game, you can play as anyone you like be it a lone adventurer, a military commander or even the "mayor" of a small town in Calradia. The game also provides a rich and open world, allowing you to travel anywhere you like and discover all manner of points of interest ranging from farm villages to massive castles. You even have the freedom to interact with hundreds of characters, some of which will likely be hostile towards you. Due to this, the game provides you with an intuitive combat system that includes both sword-fighting and fighting on horseback that you can use to dispose of the hostile.Mount & Blade is an old game, and as such, its graphics may be a bit dated and its controls feel rather clunky. Thus, the game by itself might not be worth the money, but if you can get it along with Mount & Blade Warband or Mount & Blade With Fire and Sword - the two other and much better games in the series, then it'll be worth getting it.