Dragon Age Awakening Impressions
Edited By Wemibelle
I just finished Dragon Age Awakening a few days ago and had a really good time with it. Continuing the story of my Warden (who I had just finished the main game with, my second playthrough) was really neat and I feel that the story was interesting overall. Of course, for people who had their Warden die at the end of Dragon Age: Origins, it must have been irritating having the game retcon your ending and ruin that choice. Lucky for me, this playthrough was the one that I allowed Morrigan to make her demon baby and leave my party so it made sense enough for me. The actual points of the story were a little silly as well, what with the talking darkspawn and crazy Mother character.
I felt that this pack was WAY easier than the main game as well. My first playthrough was with a DPS warrior and I had a very hard time with a few spots. Most of it was probably me being dumb and not having strategies but the game kicked my ass pretty hard. I ended up changing the difficulty to Easy near the end of the game just to get through it. My second playthrough (this one) I decided on a tank and I also read a few more tips. Holy crap, was it so much easier. Being up in enemies faces with taunts let me gather things better and having two mages with Crushing Prison was a godsend. None of the fights in Awakening gave me nearly as much trouble as some of the ones in Origins.
The new characters are different and interesting. Of particular interest to me was Nathaniel, having greater importance to me as a Human Noble. Here was the son of the man who killed my family and took my life away and I had the option to kill him. I had to ponder this for a few minutes and think about what he had said. I decided to bring him along and see if he was like his father. Learning how Nathaniel didn't know anything about what his father had done and seeing him slowly stop blaming me for his father's death was great and made me glad I hadn't just killed him from the get-go.
Overall, I enjoyed my 15 hours or so with Awakening. The game moved at a much brisker pace than the original and the smaller map made the quests much more manageable and enjoyable for me. I actually finished each and every one of them, a task I wouldn't feel up to in Origins. If you've finished Origins, I highly reccommend playing Awakening. If you haven't even finished Origins yet, go do it now!
I just finished Dragon Age Awakening a few days ago and had a really good time with it. Continuing the story of my Warden (who I had just finished the main game with, my second playthrough) was really neat and I feel that the story was interesting overall. Of course, for people who had their Warden die at the end of Dragon Age: Origins, it must have been irritating having the game retcon your ending and ruin that choice. Lucky for me, this playthrough was the one that I allowed Morrigan to make her demon baby and leave my party so it made sense enough for me. The actual points of the story were a little silly as well, what with the talking darkspawn and crazy Mother character.
I felt that this pack was WAY easier than the main game as well. My first playthrough was with a DPS warrior and I had a very hard time with a few spots. Most of it was probably me being dumb and not having strategies but the game kicked my ass pretty hard. I ended up changing the difficulty to Easy near the end of the game just to get through it. My second playthrough (this one) I decided on a tank and I also read a few more tips. Holy crap, was it so much easier. Being up in enemies faces with taunts let me gather things better and having two mages with Crushing Prison was a godsend. None of the fights in Awakening gave me nearly as much trouble as some of the ones in Origins.
The new characters are different and interesting. Of particular interest to me was Nathaniel, having greater importance to me as a Human Noble. Here was the son of the man who killed my family and took my life away and I had the option to kill him. I had to ponder this for a few minutes and think about what he had said. I decided to bring him along and see if he was like his father. Learning how Nathaniel didn't know anything about what his father had done and seeing him slowly stop blaming me for his father's death was great and made me glad I hadn't just killed him from the get-go.
Overall, I enjoyed my 15 hours or so with Awakening. The game moved at a much brisker pace than the original and the smaller map made the quests much more manageable and enjoyable for me. I actually finished each and every one of them, a task I wouldn't feel up to in Origins. If you've finished Origins, I highly reccommend playing Awakening. If you haven't even finished Origins yet, go do it now!
I actually disagree, the expansion had an interesting story, sure, but I liked DA2's WAY better because they did something completely original with the wizards and templars theme and did it great. Along with the Qunari I felt they did much better with the story in the new game.Awakening is a good expansion. You're right, it does take some interesting turns with the talking darkspawn. A very deep story. Things like this just make Dragon Age II all the more disappointing. The story didn't have nearly the depth that even this expansion did.
@Jay444111 said:
@MisfitToy said:I actually disagree, the expansion had an interesting story, sure, but I liked DA2's WAY better because they did something completely original with the wizards and templars theme and did it great. Along with the Qunari I felt they did much better with the story in the new game.Awakening is a good expansion. You're right, it does take some interesting turns with the talking darkspawn. A very deep story. Things like this just make Dragon Age II all the more disappointing. The story didn't have nearly the depth that even this expansion did.
What was original about Dragon Age 2's story? Everything it did has been done in movies, books, and TV shows which you view as inferior to games.
I stand by my opinion that if the money and time wasted on DA2 was put behind Awakening that it would have been much more effective as a sequel.
My memories of Awakening aren't terribly clear, but I recall feeling like things flashed by much too quickly, and perhaps they would have done better to reprise more of their cast. The one reprisal who did occur, Oghren, was practically a different (and more annoying) character entirely. I wasn't best pleased with it, overall.
Movies have barely even touched anything anywhere close to that, TV shows is a no and most book about fantasy stories are shit at best. What dragon age 2 did was finally get it fucking right in a very original way.@Jay444111 said:
@MisfitToy said:I actually disagree, the expansion had an interesting story, sure, but I liked DA2's WAY better because they did something completely original with the wizards and templars theme and did it great. Along with the Qunari I felt they did much better with the story in the new game.Awakening is a good expansion. You're right, it does take some interesting turns with the talking darkspawn. A very deep story. Things like this just make Dragon Age II all the more disappointing. The story didn't have nearly the depth that even this expansion did.
What was original about Dragon Age 2's story? Everything it did has been done in movies, books, and TV shows which you view as inferior to games.
I stand by my opinion that if the money and time wasted on DA2 was put behind Awakening that it would have been much more effective as a sequel.
Also, movies are inferior to videogames, I would rather consider videogames closer to books than the shit that is the movie industry. But let's not derail a topic like you wanted to.
@Jay444111: Clarify what was original then. The rags to riches story? Immigrating to a new land in the face of your home's destruction? The subjugation of a group of people for being different? A corrupt arcane object that controls people's minds? Do I really have to list examples of these? Hell, you can probably list a ton of games with the same plots.
Just because it wasn't "Save the world" doesn't mean it was original. Even in that case, this was just buildup for "Save the world... in Dragon Age 3!"
How was this better than Lord of the Rings (the books or the movies)? That's just one example of fantasy that I'll put out there for you to work off of. For a TV show, how about Game of Thrones.
How they did it was original, not the ideas themselves. You call yourself a writer and don't understand that it is all in the execution? All ideas have been thought, what we need is execution to create great stories. Videogames are a far more capable medium at handling this than the movie industry ever will. Original ideas are dead my friend. It is all in the execution that things are done in amazing fashions. They are what create new classics.@Jay444111: Clarify what was original then. The rags to riches story? Immigrating to a new land in the face of your home's destruction? The subjugation of a group of people for being different? A corrupt arcane object that controls people's minds? Do I really have to list examples of these? Hell, you can probably list a ton of games with the same plots.
Just because it wasn't "Save the world" doesn't mean it was original. Even in that case, this was just buildup for "Save the world... in Dragon Age 3!"
How was this better than Lord of the Rings (the books or the movies)? That's just one example of fantasy that I'll put out there for you to work off of. For a TV show, how about Game of Thrones.
Also, the LOTR books are not well written in the slightest, they are the most padded out books in existence. I am not joking on this fact. I am sorry but if I am unpopular for not liking a book that takes about 25 pages to explain what a hobbit birthday is like then it is just made for the money IMO. Now, the movies kickass. But it is still a save the world story in a nutshell where DA2 is about a regular guy becoming a champion and changing the fate of a nation in a very extreme way in his lifetime. Not even close to save the world story.
I have yet to watch the game of thrones series. How are they?
@Jay444111 said:
@Wrighteous86 said:How they did it was original, not the ideas themselves. You call yourself a writer and don't understand that it is all in the execution? All ideas have been thought, what we need is execution to create great stories. Videogames are a far more capable medium at handling this than the movie industry ever will. Original ideas are dead my friend. It is all in the execution that things are done in amazing fashions. They are what create new classics. Also, the LOTR books are not well written in the slightest, they are the most padded out books in existence. I am not joking on this fact. I am sorry but if I am unpopular for not liking a book that takes about 25 pages to explain what a hobbit birthday is like then it is just made for the money IMO. Now, the movies kickass. But it is still a save the world story in a nutshell where DA2 is about a regular guy becoming a champion and changing the fate of a nation in a very extreme way in his lifetime. Not even close to save the world story. I have yet to watch the game of thrones series. How are they?@Jay444111: Clarify what was original then. The rags to riches story? Immigrating to a new land in the face of your home's destruction? The subjugation of a group of people for being different? A corrupt arcane object that controls people's minds? Do I really have to list examples of these? Hell, you can probably list a ton of games with the same plots.
Just because it wasn't "Save the world" doesn't mean it was original. Even in that case, this was just buildup for "Save the world... in Dragon Age 3!"
How was this better than Lord of the Rings (the books or the movies)? That's just one example of fantasy that I'll put out there for you to work off of. For a TV show, how about Game of Thrones.
Fine, I'll point out one way in how this being a game ruined the execution. Mages are second-class citizens in DA2. They're practically slaves and kept under close watch. Your character and his party can be mages, walking around in mage robes with mage staffs doing magic right in front of Templars, and the Templars won't say a thing. On the odd chance someone does mention they have suspicions of you being a mage (no matter how blatant your showing of magic has been), they're easily brushed aside. How is that good story execution? If you can justify that, I'll drop the point and agree to disagree.
Aside from the Qunari thing, what exactly does Hawke accomplish? It seems to me that Anders is the one that "changes the fate of a nation". Hawke just happens to be there. Nothing world-changing happens in DA2 until the very last moment, and Hawke had little-to-no-effect on that change. This is the kind of stuff that usually happens in-between games in most series, and there's a reason for that.
Game of Thrones is pretty awesome, having never read the books.
I didn't like Awakening. The story was pretty non-existent for the majority of the game, I spent most of my time going from random encounter to random encounter. The characters introduced were bland and two dimensional, the inability to talk to them meant I had zero investment. Should I pick the silly blonde/Alistair clone, or the snarky, human hating wild witch/Morigan clone?
The only thing I think it did well was when I had to choose which place to defend, and pick which on my companions went where.
@Jay444111 said:
@Wrighteous86 said:Movies have barely even touched anything anywhere close to that, TV shows is a no and most book about fantasy stories are shit at best. What dragon age 2 did was finally get it fucking right in a very original way. Also, movies are inferior to videogames, I would rather consider videogames closer to books than the shit that is the movie industry. But let's not derail a topic like you wanted to.@Jay444111 said:
@MisfitToy said:I actually disagree, the expansion had an interesting story, sure, but I liked DA2's WAY better because they did something completely original with the wizards and templars theme and did it great. Along with the Qunari I felt they did much better with the story in the new game.Awakening is a good expansion. You're right, it does take some interesting turns with the talking darkspawn. A very deep story. Things like this just make Dragon Age II all the more disappointing. The story didn't have nearly the depth that even this expansion did.
What was original about Dragon Age 2's story? Everything it did has been done in movies, books, and TV shows which you view as inferior to games.
I stand by my opinion that if the money and time wasted on DA2 was put behind Awakening that it would have been much more effective as a sequel.
DA took a huge chunk of it's inspiration from movies and books. Lord of the Rings has been a major inspiration for countless fantasy movies, books, and video games. Books will always be superior in storytelling in comparison to games. Read more and you'd realize that.
someone obviously hasn't read enough fantasy. someone obviously didn't read 'a song of ice and fire' (of which there is an amazing hbo adaptation of the first book in the series - game of thrones) series, which is way more original than the dragon age series in the story itself and the author's execution of telling the story.@Wrighteous86 said:
Movies have barely even touched anything anywhere close to that, TV shows is a no and most book about fantasy stories are shit at best. What dragon age 2 did was finally get it fucking right in a very original way. Also, movies are inferior to videogames, I would rather consider videogames closer to books than the shit that is the movie industry. But let's not derail a topic like you wanted to.@Jay444111 said:
@MisfitToy said:I actually disagree, the expansion had an interesting story, sure, but I liked DA2's WAY better because they did something completely original with the wizards and templars theme and did it great. Along with the Qunari I felt they did much better with the story in the new game.Awakening is a good expansion. You're right, it does take some interesting turns with the talking darkspawn. A very deep story. Things like this just make Dragon Age II all the more disappointing. The story didn't have nearly the depth that even this expansion did.
What was original about Dragon Age 2's story? Everything it did has been done in movies, books, and TV shows which you view as inferior to games.
I stand by my opinion that if the money and time wasted on DA2 was put behind Awakening that it would have been much more effective as a sequel.
@Jay444111 said:Too bad it will never be finished :)someone obviously hasn't read enough fantasy. someone obviously didn't read 'a song of ice and fire' (of which there is an amazing hbo adaptation of the first book in the series - game of thrones) series, which is way more original than the dragon age series in the story itself and the author's execution of telling the story.@Wrighteous86 said:
Movies have barely even touched anything anywhere close to that, TV shows is a no and most book about fantasy stories are shit at best. What dragon age 2 did was finally get it fucking right in a very original way. Also, movies are inferior to videogames, I would rather consider videogames closer to books than the shit that is the movie industry. But let's not derail a topic like you wanted to.@Jay444111 said:
@MisfitToy said:I actually disagree, the expansion had an interesting story, sure, but I liked DA2's WAY better because they did something completely original with the wizards and templars theme and did it great. Along with the Qunari I felt they did much better with the story in the new game.Awakening is a good expansion. You're right, it does take some interesting turns with the talking darkspawn. A very deep story. Things like this just make Dragon Age II all the more disappointing. The story didn't have nearly the depth that even this expansion did.
What was original about Dragon Age 2's story? Everything it did has been done in movies, books, and TV shows which you view as inferior to games.
I stand by my opinion that if the money and time wasted on DA2 was put behind Awakening that it would have been much more effective as a sequel.
@suckafree said:The next book will be out in a few days. Even if Martin takes another 10 years to write the final two he will only be 72 by the end of the series. Here's to hoping he doesn't get hit by a car.@Jay444111 said:Too bad it will never be finished :)someone obviously hasn't read enough fantasy. someone obviously didn't read 'a song of ice and fire' (of which there is an amazing hbo adaptation of the first book in the series - game of thrones) series, which is way more original than the dragon age series in the story itself and the author's execution of telling the story.@Wrighteous86 said:
Movies have barely even touched anything anywhere close to that, TV shows is a no and most book about fantasy stories are shit at best. What dragon age 2 did was finally get it fucking right in a very original way. Also, movies are inferior to videogames, I would rather consider videogames closer to books than the shit that is the movie industry. But let's not derail a topic like you wanted to.@Jay444111 said:
@MisfitToy said:I actually disagree, the expansion had an interesting story, sure, but I liked DA2's WAY better because they did something completely original with the wizards and templars theme and did it great. Along with the Qunari I felt they did much better with the story in the new game.Awakening is a good expansion. You're right, it does take some interesting turns with the talking darkspawn. A very deep story. Things like this just make Dragon Age II all the more disappointing. The story didn't have nearly the depth that even this expansion did.
What was original about Dragon Age 2's story? Everything it did has been done in movies, books, and TV shows which you view as inferior to games.
I stand by my opinion that if the money and time wasted on DA2 was put behind Awakening that it would have been much more effective as a sequel.
@suckafree said:@Jay444111 said:Too bad it will never be finished :)someone obviously hasn't read enough fantasy. someone obviously didn't read 'a song of ice and fire' (of which there is an amazing hbo adaptation of the first book in the series - game of thrones) series, which is way more original than the dragon age series in the story itself and the author's execution of telling the story.@Wrighteous86 said:
Movies have barely even touched anything anywhere close to that, TV shows is a no and most book about fantasy stories are shit at best. What dragon age 2 did was finally get it fucking right in a very original way. Also, movies are inferior to videogames, I would rather consider videogames closer to books than the shit that is the movie industry. But let's not derail a topic like you wanted to.@Jay444111 said:
@MisfitToy said:I actually disagree, the expansion had an interesting story, sure, but I liked DA2's WAY better because they did something completely original with the wizards and templars theme and did it great. Along with the Qunari I felt they did much better with the story in the new game.Awakening is a good expansion. You're right, it does take some interesting turns with the talking darkspawn. A very deep story. Things like this just make Dragon Age II all the more disappointing. The story didn't have nearly the depth that even this expansion did.
What was original about Dragon Age 2's story? Everything it did has been done in movies, books, and TV shows which you view as inferior to games.
I stand by my opinion that if the money and time wasted on DA2 was put behind Awakening that it would have been much more effective as a sequel.
Fuck, it's not even fun arguing with you anymore. You ignore everything that proves you wrong and blatantly try to piss people off. You were a much more subtle troll before... now you're just obvious about it.
Dude, the guy who writes the damn stuff is so slow that the universe will come to an end LONG before he actually finishes his damn book series. he is fatter than hell and old too. chances are that the series won't get finished. I am not trying to be mean, I am just stating a fact that you shouldn't even try to get involved in the guys work because of the high probability that he is going to die soon. hell, the only thing slower than the guy is dial up speed computers. That IS sad.@Jay444111 said:
@suckafree said:Fuck, it's not even fun arguing with you anymore. You ignore everything that proves you wrong and blatantly try to piss people off. You were a much more subtle troll before... now you're just obvious about it.@Jay444111 said:Too bad it will never be finished :)someone obviously hasn't read enough fantasy. someone obviously didn't read 'a song of ice and fire' (of which there is an amazing hbo adaptation of the first book in the series - game of thrones) series, which is way more original than the dragon age series in the story itself and the author's execution of telling the story.@Wrighteous86 said:
Movies have barely even touched anything anywhere close to that, TV shows is a no and most book about fantasy stories are shit at best. What dragon age 2 did was finally get it fucking right in a very original way. Also, movies are inferior to videogames, I would rather consider videogames closer to books than the shit that is the movie industry. But let's not derail a topic like you wanted to.@Jay444111 said:
@MisfitToy said:I actually disagree, the expansion had an interesting story, sure, but I liked DA2's WAY better because they did something completely original with the wizards and templars theme and did it great. Along with the Qunari I felt they did much better with the story in the new game.Awakening is a good expansion. You're right, it does take some interesting turns with the talking darkspawn. A very deep story. Things like this just make Dragon Age II all the more disappointing. The story didn't have nearly the depth that even this expansion did.
What was original about Dragon Age 2's story? Everything it did has been done in movies, books, and TV shows which you view as inferior to games.
I stand by my opinion that if the money and time wasted on DA2 was put behind Awakening that it would have been much more effective as a sequel.
GAME OF THRONES ABSOLUTELY FUCKING OWNS
NOT OPTIONAL
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