Gameplay carried over the basic battle and Pawn companion systems from Dragon's Dogma while incorporating features of the MMORPG genre.

[1][2] The Arisen uses a character class, which unlock different combat and support options to use in battle, in addition to giving passive abilities.

Like the Arisen, the Pawn is a customizable avatar summoned into the world at the beginning of the game, assigned a gender, general appearance and class.

If allowed to completely pass out, they are removed from the battlefield and retreat to a place in the world where Pawns gather, where the player can summon them again.

[7][10] The initial phase of the story focuses on the Arisen confronting the failure of a key defensive fortress that has kept monsters and demons at bay for centuries.

It is eventually revealed that an evil alchemist called Diamantes has recreated the Golden Dragon as a weapon for the monster army.

Infiltrating the ruined city of Margoda, the Arisen and their party defeat both Diamantes and his Golden Dragon, stalling the monster invasion.

The Arisen helps a young amnesiac girl named Cecily, defending her from a black knight who seeks her death.

Cecily eventually regains her memories, revealing herself to be an Arisen serving the Spirit Wilmia, guardian to the neighbouring realm of Findam.

While the Great Tree is purified, the Arisen's party are forced to kill the despairing Wilmia to encourage the birth of a new dragon.

The Arisen and their companions are kidnapped by the power, arriving to find Acker Chelan in a state of apathetic despair after years under the evil dragon's rule.

Acker Chelan's last hope is Ned; as an Arisen and last surviving prince of the land's royal line, he is destined to become the next Fire Dragon.

The Arisen works with Ned and Acker Chelan's surviving resistance force to overthrow the evil dragon and its monster armies.

Capcom received a lot of comments from players who wanted to play together using a full multiplayer option, which was not present in Dragon's Dogma despite it sporting online elements through its Pawn sharing systems.

[11] Due to the development efforts invested in Dark Arisen, an expanded version of the original game, production on Dragon's Dogma Online had to be halted.

[11][14][15] The scenario was written by Kazushige Nojima, who had gained fame due to his writing work on the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts series.

While a monthly fee was considered, Capcom decided to make the game free-to-play so as to increase its potential player base.

[21] The game was Capcom's first MMORPG, which led to several issues creating a sustainable online server and multiplayer structure while also preserving the gameplay systems of Dragon's Dogma.