Fans celebrated when Kento Kinoshita was revealed to be the director of Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen — and that's because he had already transformed the original Dragon Dogma through the introduction of a simlar DLC outing.

There's no doubt about it: Kinoshita fully understands what makes Capcom's RPG great, and that knowledge has resulted in an excellent expansion, over two years on from the base game's release.

Much like the first Dark Arisen, the new Dark Arisen revitalises the entire experience. It's both an addition to the existing campaign, and an adventure that stands tall on its own terms.

Indeed, this is a big DLC — much larger and more in-depth than I had anticipated going in. It took me around 50 hours to get through its main story and numerous side quests, before being greeted with a full-on endgame.

In some ways, Dark Arisen feels like a sort-of sequel rather than a simple add-on. You don't need to have beaten Dragon's Dogma 2 to access it, but I'd highly recommend doing so, because the expansion deserves to be set aside as its own excursion.

It takes place in a brand new region to the north; another open world map that's surprisingly vast and impressively dense — and it's this density that makes it a joy to explore, in all of its wintery glory.

Capcom pulls off some seriously cool (no pun intended) environmental design here. Your journey begins on grassy plains, but as you venture farther into Norgan, you're greeted with frigid mountain passes and blizzard-battered snowfields.

Freezing cold temperatures and blinding weather effects play a part, as you'll need to don thermal armours and make use of items like Heatstones to stave off the stamina-sapping cold.

It's not like this is a properly hardcore survival mechanic that you need to be aware of at all times, but it adds just enough tension to your late-game jaunts, enhancing the sense of adventure that's so crucial to Dragon's Dogma's identity.

And I think that's what Dark Arisen nails. Where its predecessor presented you with a seemingly never-ending dungeon crawl through the haunted Bitterblack Isle, this second incarnation is structured like an expedition, where exploration is everything.

As the story progresses, you establish increasingly northern base camps alongside an endearing cast of secondary characters.

Yes, the DLC actually has decent characters, primarily because they reappear across main story quests, and so they're given enough time to establish some semblance of personality — a trait that was sorely lacking in the base game.

The overarching story is pretty strong as well; it's structured like a real epic, as you unravel Norgan's mysteries and the horrors that befell its now crumbled civilisation. There are some fantastic main quests on offer here, packed with memorable fights spread throughout eye-catching locales.

In general, the plot just feels far more cohesive than what you'll find in the main release. There's a much better understanding of narrative pacing, and the whole thing escalates quite nicely.

And when the story isn't pulling you along, the loot almost certainly is. Dark Arisen's loot system is randomised; you collect 'spoils' either through exploration or combat, and then have them appraised back at the DLC's central hub — a cosy settlement in the south.

Increasingly rare tiers of items and equipment are unlocked as the main quest continues, and so stepping out into a new, more dangerous region of the map comes with the excitement of stumbling upon fresh gear.

The gameplay loop becomes devilishly addictive very quickly. It's like Diablo but instead of farming the same enemies and locations for that one specific drop, you're out on an actual adventure, and being actively rewarded for both your curiousity and your combat prowess.

Speaking of combat, Dark Arisen introduces a number of new enemy types alongside what are essentially reskinned opponents. There's still not quite as much variety as I'd like, but the DLC just about gets away with it thanks to the strength of its boss encounters.

No question, these are some of the best, most involved battles in the whole game, and I suppose that's partly because the difficulty's been ramped up considerably.

Your Arisen's base stats, and that of their main pawn, matter little in Norgan. Foes are monstrously resilient, and so the only way to overcome them is by equipping new weapons and armour, which almost immediately outstrip what you'll have acquired in the main game.

There's a completely fresh avenue of progression, then, and it's exactly what most players have been crying out for since the launch of Dragon's Dogma 2, having criticised its eventual lack of challenge.

On the vocation side of things, there are no new classes to master — but the existing combat persuasions have been expanded, both through skill-altering perks of randomised equipment, and permanent unlocks gained from discovering 'Obelisks' out in the open world.

This means that there's more depth than ever when it comes to crafting character builds and the like. If you're lucky enough to get your hands on the perfect piece of gear for your style of play, it can have a profound impact. The grind never really ends, if you're so inclined.

So Norgan is pretty much the best of Dragon's Dogma 2, but what about the Lost Rites? These new dungeons, scattered across the base game's map, offer additional challenges and unique rewards.

Some Lost Rites are labyrinthian; proper dungeon crawls that can take the best part of an hour to complete. Others, however, are little more than a few rooms tied together with basic combat encounters. In other words, they're a bit hit and miss.

Still, they're well worth checking out: there's important lore to uncover, and overcoming specific challenges can be a lot of fun, forcing you to experiment with party setups and even vocations.