So after waiting months for Dragon Age: Origins "Awakening" expansion pack, I have to say in a nutshell that it's good but bland. For those who remember their SATs, Awakening is to Dragon Age as Tribunal was to Morrowind. That is to say, it's a good, solid expansion pack, but at the end of the day it doesn't feel like anything riveting, groundbreaking and new. It's not "Bloodmoon."
The game opens with you, the High-Commander of the Grey Wardens, returning to Vigil's Keep which was once Arl Howe's land, and was given to the Grey after the end of DA:O. In a nice turn you can opt to either start a new character from Orlais, or import your old character from DA:O, assuming you didn't die in the end. This, I have to say, makes me happy because I'm rather attached to my Dalish Rogue, Arshes.
Of course as soon as you arrive you discover the Keep has been overrun with darkspawn, and nearly all of the Grey Wardens are dead. Gosh, I hope my character hadn't been pouring her sweat and blood into rebuilding the order while she was waiting for the expansion pack. What a let-down that would have been! Once again you're surrounded by darkspawn, petty politics and annoying companions.
And this is where the banality of the game starts in. Oghren makes a return appearance, joining the Grey Wardens, which begs the question: why didn't you just turn him into a Grey Warden in the first damn game if it was possible? Oh, I guess he'd be dead with the others ... Anyway, he's back as the token drunk, crude-humor aspect. While Oghren is definitely funny to listen to, and provides some good campside humor, I have a huge problem with him: I can never seem to guess what is going to get approval/disapproval with him. I know a lot of people had that complain with Sten from last game, but I always found Sten to be ridiculously easy to get along with and truthfully he was my favorite character. It was Oghren that did and continues to baffle me. Taking the nice route gains disapproval, as does the negative route. Talking to him makes me pine for the idiot-friendly system of Mass Effect 1 & 2 that clearly points out the Paragon, Renegade options. Grrrr...
You pick up an apostate mage named Anders who is already on my sh*t list for a variety of reasons. For one: I swear to God he is voiced by the same guy who did Alistair. That, in and of itself, is annoying and creepy. But the character is an amalgam of Alistair and Morrigan: he has the cocky, wise-cracking attitude of Alistair and the "I hate the chantry and Circle of Magi," "oh my God those evil templars are at it again," attitude of Morrigan. It's like they were trying to kill 2 birds with one stone and failed miserably.
Next is Arl Howe's whiney, emo son Nathaniel. He is, quite literally, the male counterpart to Leiliana. A decent rouge who's constantly promising the darkspawn and undead creatures that he wants to be merciful to them and hates the fight. Wth?! He is coming to grips with his father's evil, treacherous ways and his new role as a Grey Warden. *yawn* I foresee him spending a great deal of time at camp.
*** Mild Spoiler *** The only mildly interesting character thus far as been the personification of Justice, who is trapped in a dead Grey Warden's body. Don't ask, it's a long story. However the reason I like him is that he is basically Sten reborn; in fact I have taking to calling him Sten #2. He's stoic, confused by our world/customs/feelings, and doesn't like to waste time talking. He is also oblivious to Oghren's constant jokes. Excuse me while I bang my head against my desk.
There are no romance options in this game, either. Bioware said they wanted players to concentrate on the story rather than the interactions. Okay, if I wanted to concentrate on story and not interactions, I wouldn't be playing a Bioware game. That's the whole reason we shell out money for their product! The chance to RP it up and romance NPCs! What's the purpose of me gaining approval, giving gifts, and talking to these people if there's no chance for romance!
Oh yeah, while we're on that topic, the gifts are suddenly very obvious as to whom they belong to. In the last game you had to kind of guess, and talk and play around. Now they might as well be labeled "for so-and-so."
AND ANOTHER THING!!! It was nice to see Oghren in his Armor of the Legion from last game, but goddammit if I knew I was going to lose my inventory, I would have gone ahead and put the Warden Commander's armor ON my rogue, rather than having it sit in my pack. *grumble*
I'm about half-way through at this point, so I'll keep griping, er, updating on it. :)
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