Awakening

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On another note Awakening forces you to reconsider some options especially for Rogues. A very high Dexterity is indeed needed for a high level Rogue to get the high level talents. In DAO a Rogue could get away with a moderate Dexterity score (that is between 24 and 26) but in order to get some high level talents you need to pump up Dexterity to 40 or even 50 (if not 52). That actually makes for interesting choices.

@DR & Ziad: you'll probably enjoy Awakening even if you're not a hardcore DAO fan. It's a lot like the original game and I stand by what I've posted before. I like the new NPCs a lot. You get a chance to get to know them better and that is a very good thing. That being said if you're not planning to play it more than once you should wait for the price to drop.

Regarding importing characters, the "sad" ending characters are not meant to be imported. The game lets you import them (so you aren't frustrated) and will take into account stuff that went on in those games but at the end of the day it makes more sense RPwise (at least) to consider that the story is over.

The major annoyance IMO is the fact that Lelianna is absent and that if you were romancing her you don't get any explanation (or I missed it completely). One could understand that Zevran would not write (I assume he doesn't ) but Lelianna? She never struck me as that kind of girl.

 

Yep. The expansion even makes strength rogues viable now, thanks to a new specialization + several new heavy/massive armors. S&S warriors also benefit more from having decent constitution in the expansion, unlike in Origins when all it did was improve their HP. There are now two warrior specializations that are Willpower dependent (Templar + a new one) so... yeah. The expansion can be overwhelming, mechanics-wise. Story-wise its pretty good. Not spectacular, but still better than "decent".

@Carad
Leliana should be mentioned in your epilogue since Morrigan only got mentioned in my PC's ending. I think its weird no one ever mentions Leliana in the expansion, she's supposed to have ended up a famous bard. She's not that kind of girl, yeah. Maybe

 

She is mentioned in the Epilogue either travelling with the Grey Warden or moving to the Temple of the Sacred Ashes but nobody refers to her in Awakening. That is strange.

Morrigan is clearly out of the picture but that shouldn't be the case for most DAO followers.

Oghren has a really nice part in Awakening though.

 

Oghren was a bit annoying as usual. Not a fan of a party member yelling everything and overplaying at being drunk. If only Sten would've still been around ("...Qunari teeth can bite through leather, wood and sometimes metal given time")

Spoiler

Considering the various endings in DAO, I was surprised that I didn't see Leliana or Dog in Awakening either. In my case I played through it as a human noble that romanced Leliana and chose to travel with her afterwards. Expansion comes and nothing, not even my loyal dog .

 

Does anyone know if Loghain makes an appearance if Alister was killed in the original game and Loghain life was spared? I'm asking because in DAO you have that choice and I wonder how those selections impact the Awakening?

 

I haven't seen him yet but hopefully I'll find out since my current character is the one I used to side with Loghain.

 

Almost finished Awakening now, and I must say...its sucks. Bigtime. Its arguably one of the worst expansions I have ever played. Its pretty much a hack and slash module, if anything. Hardly any interactions with companions, compared to the first one as well. It also seems that because my character is at a high level, every single semi-boss drops ALOT of powerfull equipment. I killed a hurlock-alpha, and the fellow had an artifact + 9 gold coins. I think I had about 220 gold, about half way into the expansion. At that point I didn`t even bother searching corpses anyomore, unless they were some main badguy. All this expansion is, is a hastily written short story, that adds more equipment, and a few extra ways to kill about 2000 enemies. Still....its only an expansion pack. Am sure DA2 will be alot better when it comes out. I`d give Awakening a 3 out of 10. Sorry, hehe.

 

This one is in dire need of a ritual burning at the stake.

 

Just an honest "review" from an unsatisfied customer

 

Heh I would agree, except Awakenings plays too much on my powergaming weaknesses.

It is heavily lacking in "depth", or that kind of content though. I was disappointed when they introduced the Architect just like that without hinting on the roles he has played in the DA:O books. It is sad that for all the emphasis on lore they had for DA:O they didn't do as well for Awakenings. They could have indeed made the expansion better. There could've been several seemingly pointless quests that started out nonsensical but then culminated with the PC learning more things about the Architect or what the Darkspawn had been up to - it would've made the Architect a far more intriguing "grey" character, nice for people who want a more concrete, immersive RPG.
Perhaps they could've introduced other figures and snuck in interesting DA:O info into the game, like the story of Katriel, one of the most tragic characters in DA:O lore - would've been nice for that sizeable chunk of the fanbase.
For the sake of players who love intrigue they could've played on the fact that there has been heavy debate on who Alistair's mother really is (apparently Maric had several very controversial.. err... let's just say if Alistair started showing signs of having elf blood the DA:O lore community would be in a bit of an uproar).
For casual gamers they could have built a lot more intrigue, made a better ending that would've increased fan anticipation for DA:2, but instead they worked on content aimed at making the players.... happy (well it worked, somewhat). I still blame their attempts to make the game only somewhat available for console version for this.
The game needs a little more "recognizable" easter eggs. Where's my second pair of pantaloons?
For players like me, they could've added nightmare+ and nightmare++.
Anyway Awakening was nice. Somewhat. But my, will others be disappointed.

Nevertheless your heresy is unforgivable.

 

I have finished the original game 3 times, so I guess I am a fan. Same goes for mass effect 1-2. I am convinced that DA2 will be fantastic though. But i do suspect we will be playing a new character in that one. Starting off on a new game at level 30 or something, never happens. Got a sneaking suspicion that it will take place around 20 years after the first one. With Morrigan + the kid, as possible badguys. Just a theory though. will see.

 

200g is nothing in awakening, the first piece of unique armor costs 170g with a pretty awesome shield available for 42g within the first hour of gameplay. Further on there are pieces to buy for 110-300g and quest options that cost 1-50g to complete. As far as lack of content compared to DA:O - 20GB game vs 4GB expansion. Logic?

Awakening was more of an action adventure than RPG, but it had plenty of everything and I really enjoyed the never ending stream of enemies to kill with ease with very few posing a challenge 1 on 1. It's like entering a game where you would enter a movie, the good guy being epic level slashing through waves of enemies.

 

Perhaps "additional" is not the correct term. More "intriguing?" More "immersive"? More "interesting"? I mean they did manage to sneak in the "Blight Orphans" and several odd quests. I would have gladly traded some of those for a sidequest that gave you a better insight on the Architect, or on the larger backstory behind Dragon Age. And some of those random encounters would've been nice as encounters with some of the sentient Darkspawn. A challenge for those who want it.

Mechanics-wise, I've no problems with the expansion thus far. Like I said I really enjoy the powergaming aspect. For now, anyway.