Awakening Expansion - Disappointment

[spyrrho]

Just my 2 cents -

Gameplay just as good as the original but it was such a short expansion.

Took about a 5th of the time it took to complete the the base game.

Also it was much less balanced than the original - I only needed health potions on the last battle... My pcs were way over powered compared to the first game.

[fitsch]

Took about a 5th of the time it took to complete the the base game.

Well... it's an addon not a full game...

[CrimIam]

Well... it's an addon not a full game...

That works until you consider it was a 40$ addon.

The 1st game cost 50$

[fitsch]

That works until you consider it was a 40$ addon.

The 1st game cost 50$

That's US pricing tho. Here it is 50€ for DA:O and 30€ for DA:A what is common for an addon. Plus prices don't show quality of games these days.

[CrimIam]

That's US pricing tho. Here it is 50€ for DA:O and 30€ for DA:A what is common for an addon. Plus prices don't show quality of games these days.

I agree I was thinking more about how short it is, the bugs in it.

[Antichrist XVII]

Plus prices don't show quality of games these days.

Ain't that the truth...
MW2 ($60) - 4 hour campaign
Bioshock 2 ($50) - 17 hour campaign

Then there is FFXIII that I guess gets amazing after the first 20 hours of it...

[NekoSamaSensei]

Price and time aside. Awakening was terrible... I was so excited. What happened to morrigan? is my baby half demon? am I still at the kings ear like i chose at the end of the game? WHERE IS WARDENS KEEP??? I mean I spent the time to clear it out... Give someone else the arling... just a disappointment...

[kennyuk]

I liked the add on yes it is short to shorts as well. buggy as well not worth the £20 i paid for it. £10 at The most.

[surreal]

Also it was much less balanced than the original - I only needed health potions on the last battle... My pcs were way over powered compared to the first game.

DA:O was everything but balanced!
If you needed health potions then it's actually more difficult than DA:O, because health potions become redundant once your mage can heal the entire party.
On easier difficulties than Nightmare you don't even need a mage after some point. Fighters alone get the job done without any health potions once you reach level 7, and even more so once you reach 14. The mobs just not strong enough to lower your health, as long as you use minimal tactics.
If you build correctly then for some builds of Warrior (and Arcane Warrior) you don't even need a party! You can actually solo the game.

[jacket13]

DA:O was everything but balanced!
If you needed health potions then it's actually more difficult than DA:O, because health potions become redundant once your
....................................


and all is well because they fixed the armour piercing calculations, the enemy gets more AP the higher level you are.
thumbs up !

anyway, I am liking it thus far, no idea why everyone moaning about it, good amount of sides quests available and they put care in hiding good loot by means of a puzzle.

interaction with your party could have been better but it is better then having no new stuff and only couple extra maps as an expansion is it not?

[zafer1979]

Price and time aside. Awakening was terrible... I was so excited. What happened to morrigan? is my baby half demon? am I still at the kings ear like i chose at the end of the game? WHERE IS WARDENS KEEP??? I mean I spent the time to clear it out... Give someone else the arling... just a disappointment...

Agree...

Totally seperated (and weird) story from the original game. Being ally with demons even this will prevent new blights. Bah! You have to be more creative while writing stories. The story should continue on the Morrigan and maybe the demon baby. That would be really great (maybe they make a new expansion about it).
But you choose the easiest way as a seller with commercial expectations. Prepare an expansion quick and sell it quick to earn money. But players want more and they are not fool. You have the same game engine (any graphical, physical,... improvements done), you don't have to make a lot of things. Just write a good story, new items, new places (maybe old places should stay), new bosses and also don't ruin the balance. Besides the game is long enough thats all the players want.

Anyways, if this is an expansion it is really short according to this price. If this was jst a DLC with low price like "Stone Warrior", "Return To Ostagar",... that would be acceptable.
Please don't deceive us :mad:

[Mynameisdamien]

I am not to happy with it also, It seem like they took all the things I liked about the first one took it out and left me with just quests.


First thing that really bugged me is not being able to save Mhairi.
So what? I HAVE to use Oggy as a tank or roll one myself. totally lame

[Klockradio]

I'm just dissappointed with the stability of it. CTD all the time.

[Kailieann]

So what? I HAVE to use Oggy as a tank or roll one myself. totally lame

Justice.

[MikeHaggar]

Bah, you people need to stop ♥♥♥♥♥ing. The only reason anyone can complain is because the bar was set so ridicoulusly high by the first game

totally worth the money. Bioware kicks ♥♥♥ and i hope they never stop making great crpgs like this

[Krazzi88]

Gotta agree with OP. The expansion was a total let down.

Imo it was so easier than DA:O I waltz through nightmare only using a handful of potions and only having to retry like 2 times and that was only because I went back to a previous save and tried to rush through mobs to get to where I was faster.

Too much gold
Mobs are so predictable and easy
Puzzles are too easy and too few
Practically no interaction with companions
No difference to the story/anything really from the decisions I made in origins
Took 1/5 of the time to complete
Not enough content
Companions are not as interesting as in origins
Bugs

Just a lame ♥♥♥ expansion for a great game.

[Mogir]

Well i am also a bit disappointed, even though i didn't expect much. It took me around 9 hours to complete on normal and i didn't even have to struggle with anything.

This expansion was way way to easy, i know i was playing on normal but by reading comments from players that play on harder levels it didnt seem to be that hard.

I was also hugely disappointed by the party interactions, it is not even worth mentioning tbh. The story was good but not worth the price.

I hope that next time they make an expansion or a whole new Dragon age game that they spend more time and give us more to do and a longer main campaign.

I would rather see that they take their time and make a long and epic game rather than some buggy half finished game. I hope they won't destroy Dragon Age by pushing out crap just to get the $$$.

But Bioware has always been a good company and i have trust in them.

[Mynameisdamien]

Justice.

to this I also say boo, Perhaps im just to picky.

[Larry1212]

Price and time aside. Awakening was terrible... I was so excited. What happened to morrigan? is my baby half demon? am I still at the kings ear like i chose at the end of the game? WHERE IS WARDENS KEEP??? I mean I spent the time to clear it out... Give someone else the arling... just a disappointment...

God damn... I've not gotten around to playing the expansion yet(I have an obsession where I need to bring my old save over to the expansion) because my old save is stowed away on my currently broken laptop.

I really wish people would LEARN TO USE THE SPOILER TAG!! :|

[Numnums]

God damn... I've not gotten around to playing the expansion yet(I have an obsession where I need to bring my old save over to the expansion) because my old save is stowed away on my currently broken laptop.

I really wish people would LEARN TO USE THE SPOILER TAG!! :|

Im in the same boat but my save was corrupted with the Loghain ghost bug so im replaying a speed run so i can have my charterer for the expansion.

[Kailieann]

I lost all my old saves in a hard drive crash.
It's not that hard to just make a new character for Awakening.

[zafer1979]

Bah, you people need to stop ♥♥♥♥♥ing. The only reason anyone can complain is because the bar was set so ridicoulusly high by the first game

totally worth the money. Bioware kicks ♥♥♥ and i hope they never stop making great crpgs like this

First read critics then make such a comment. Almost %90 of the DAO players complain that lame expansion. Such a short game doesn't worth that money. Most of the improvements has changed the balance of the game. Mediocre story even they had a nice one at the first game. Character interactions are not sufficent. I don't mean this is a bad game but worse than the first one and totally disappointment. Tell me which side of the expansion is really better than the first one and if you have paid for it does it deserve that price?

[Larry1212]

I lost all my old saves in a hard drive crash.
It's not that hard to just make a new character for Awakening.

Doesn't it carry over if you bring a save from DA:O to DA:A? Like, wouldn't certain decisions on your part in Origins have somewhat of an effect in Awakening? That's the impression I was under... If it's a simple matter of "Oh yeah, you can use your hero but it doesn't change squat in the actual game" I may aswell start DA:A right now.

[Deviate]

Well, I don't see any reason for complaint. It's length was fine, for an Expansion. Expansions aren't supposed to be full games, after all. Hell, they're rarely even a necessity for sequels to make sense. I didn't mind the story either, honestly. What I've come to expect from Bioware, really. Excellent gameplay, storyline and execution.

A little too easy on lower difficulties, but just ramp up the difficulty to where you feel a little challenged, and you're good to go.

The only actual complaint I have is that I miss my dog, and that's just a personal silly thing. Besides, it allowed me to imagine that Mutt went after Morrigan, giving her a bit of company until I hunt her down once more.

[MikeHaggar]

First read critics then make such a comment. Almost %90 of the DAO players complain that lame expansion. Such a short game doesn't worth that money. Most of the improvements has changed the balance of the game. Mediocre story even they had a nice one at the first game. Character interactions are not sufficent. I don't mean this is a bad game but worse than the first one and totally disappointment. Tell me which side of the expansion is really better than the first one and if you have paid for it does it deserve that price?
None of it is better then the first game, but its still good and long enough to be worth the money by far. That was my entire point.

[NekoSamaSensei]

Awakening was not worth the money at all. The execution and storyline were terrible. If we let game designers think we are happy with this level of game even as an expansion then this and worse is what we will get. They made no attempt to improve the previous game in the slightest. If they weren't planning on connecting the storyline form the previous game to this one then the should have made that clear. That this was a separate story. Perhaps that your character was the one in charge of the arling while the Commander arrived. Not having the import feature. I mean in all honesty your characters "previous actions" have practically no affect on the storyline in a major way. I hate having to say these things about any game but awakening more than deserves it.

[Wivvix]

Awakening was not an expansion. They might have called it that but likewise, just because I tell people this calculator is really a sentient supercomputer, doesn't make it one.

Awakening was an instance-based DLC, fluffed out to 10+ hours. I say fluffed, because it mostly lacked substance. In fact, probably the most content and lore-rich part of the whole experience was the ending, in which the player clicks the mouse and is revealed the story's potential progression in the future.

I guess that's all that matters though, right? As long as the ending is good, it justifies all the rubbish they use to fill the in-between with? Origins serves as a perfect example of how and more importantly why, that is not the case.

The reason this felt like a disjointed chapter was because it is. It wasn't worked on by the Origins team, it was created by the same guys who did the warden's keep DLC and Cerberus network for ME2. There's an interview on Gametrailers (http://www.gametrailers.com/video/gdc-10-bioware/63258) by Ray Muzyka which attests to this.

So there you have it, direct from the horse's mouth. This was NOT an expansion, but DLC fluffed out to an expansion.

[MikeHaggar]

So just because it wasnt made by the same dudes who made the original game its fluffed up DLC?
That doesnt make sense, sorry.

[Wivvix]

So just because it wasnt made by the same dudes who made the original game its fluffed up DLC?
That doesnt make sense, sorry.

Perhaps not to you, but it is hardly my fault your comprehension skills are so lacking. You should watch the interview 5 or more times, perhaps then it'll sink in that I am not making this assertion, it was in fact admitted by Ray Muzyka that the expansion content was derived from DLC content produced by a team who were separate from the Origins main content team.

The mere fact this "expansion" was conceived by a separate team to the Origins crew, goes a long way to explain why it felt nothing like an expansion to Origins should have. It didn't resemble the quality of experience of Origins in the slightest. Granted what else Muzyka mentioned about future "expansions" aka costly DLC for Dragon Age, I would wager that every so-called "expansion" between now and Dragon Age II, i.e. the next true chapter done by the Origins team, will bear the same unfortunate resemblance of disjointed story development that defined Awakening.

[Washell]

Nice, this only strengthens my resolve to hold off on buying all DLC's and expansions until there's a collectors edition. :)

[sleepydragy]

Price and time aside. Awakening was terrible... I was so excited. What happened to morrigan? is my baby half demon?

who says they have forgot about her? she might return in a sequel also are you aware that women dont give birth straight away? she would still be pregnant at the time of this expansion. Besides that was only a choice in the game it doesnt mean that bioware followed that path with their storyline.

[jacket13]

yeah some people tend to think that bioware isn't going to do anything with what happend allready but morrigan has given birth to the baby as 1 year passed before you assume control of the new warden hot spot.

so let us al wait for the new expension ~!

[Exotac]

yeah some people tend to think that bioware isn't going to do anything with what happend allready but morrigan has given birth to the baby as 1 year passed before you assume control of the new warden hot spot.

so let us al wait for the new expension ~!

I forget where exactly it was, but somewhere on the Dragon age
Wiki, one of the devs (I think it was Sheryl Chee) was quoted
stating that "We haven't seen the last of Morrigan".
Unfortunately, it appears that statement was taken down.

Also, I'm not sure if this was because my character
stated he intended to find Morrigan at the end of Origins, or
if it just happens no matter what, but in the epilogue of
Awakening, it tells you The Commander left the keep abruptly
and told nobody where he was going, but his allies suspect he
left for Orlais to track down "The Black Haired Sorceress who
traveled with him during the blight". I'm assuming this means
that will be a heavy plot point of Dragon Age 2.

As for the expansion, I'll have to agree it was a letdown.
Honestly, I enjoyed the story myself, and liked the characters,
though I hated the lack of depth allowed to be put into them
which I solely blame for why they come off as less interesting
then Origin's party... Cept' the Elf, she was just annoying :P.

My beef is how abruptly it ended, I won't spoil anything but I
will say I was disappointed by how it was just like "Bam,
it's over! Have an epilogue!", and yes, it was far too short to
be considered a real expansion. It was more then a DLC, but
nowhere near a full game and not worth $40, I'd put it $25 at
most.

As a big Dragon Age Fan, I'd say if you're like me, pick it up.
But if you just started playing and have the urge to "complete"
everything you can, hold off till you beat Origins and see if you
have an urge for more.

[jacket13]

I forget where exactly it was, but somewhere on the Dragon age
Wiki, one of the devs (I think it was Sheryl Chee) was quoted
stating that "We haven't seen the last of Morrigan".
Unfortunately, it appears that statement was taken down.

Also, I'm not sure if this was because my character
stated he intended to find Morrigan at the end of Origins, or
if it just happens no matter what, but in the epilogue of
Awakening, it tells you The Commander left the keep abruptly
and told nobody where he was going, but his allies suspect he
left for Orlais to track down "The Black Haired Sorceress who
traveled with him during the blight". I'm assuming this means
that will be a heavy plot point of Dragon Age 2.
.................................................. .......
.

but you can't tell me that they have not picked your curiosity for what is about to come, the story hasn't suffered in my opinion at all.

[JKflipflop]

Doesn't it carry over if you bring a save from DA:O to DA:A? Like, wouldn't certain decisions on your part in Origins have somewhat of an effect in Awakening? That's the impression I was under... If it's a simple matter of "Oh yeah, you can use your hero but it doesn't change squat in the actual game" I may aswell start DA:A right now.

Go for it.

I've been through Awakenings with my Mage and Warrior, and I'm almost done with the Orlesian Warden. There's a couple of conversations that are different, but it's only a handful. The rest of the expansion plays out the same.

[Mouseraider]

Someone compared RPG to FPS campaigns. I have no idea how I am supposed to explain to you that these are two compleatly different things.

FPS rarely have a solid story besides plowing down your enemies, where RPG's tend to focus on creating a solid story.

Better graphics and extreme polygon counts tend to shorten the game length quite a bit, since the developer hardly have time to focus on creating content.

I have no idea when this changed, but I have been playing games for nearly two decades, and when I think of RPG expansions then I tend to think of them as full games that are build on the existing story. Anything beneath 1/3 of the original game is by default mearly an addon or DLC as we now call it.
A good example would be the expansions of Baldurs Gate and Neverwinter Nights 1/2.

When an expansions for an RPG is created, 20 hours or less is hardly enough time for someone to bond with new characters. If they had used the characters from the original game then 20 hours might have been enough, but even then it would feel like a mere addon.

[TinkerToyz]

I for one am not disappointed with Awakenings. Although, there are some areas in which it could have been better, I'll grant you that, however, I believe it was a solid addition to DA. I wish there was a bit more play time, it did feel pretty cheap for a $40 expansion. The voice acting is splendid, as with all Bioware games, and the story and its composition is not quite as good as it was in the original game, but very good none the less. Anyway, just my 2 cents, Awakenings was worth my money and I'm satisfied with it.

[stray06]

What I really hate and disappointed about are the bugs that's in this expansion. Even during DAO's length, I didn't experience my game crash. I hate those quest that I'd wanted to finish. Also that part in the Silverite Mines, I had to redo it because my items got lost. /rant

[Megaxtar]

Just my 2 cents -

Gameplay just as good as the original but it was such a short expansion.

Took about a 5th of the time it took to complete the the base game.

Also it was much less balanced than the original - I only needed health potions on the last battle... My pcs were way over powered compared to the first game.

Well I'm convinced. I'm not buying. Thanks to the O.P. 1-rep, you saved me money.

[Ecoste]

Ain't that the truth...
MW2 ($60) - 4 hour campaign
Bioshock 2 ($50) - 17 hour campaign

Then there is FFXIII that I guess gets amazing after the first 20 hours of it...

Dragon age - 128 hour campain + 50 hours addons.

[TheRyanx2]

I'm not gonna buy it right now, I'm sure it will go on sale during the holidays and then i'll pick it up.

[kozzy420]

31 hours it lasted me, tahts great for an expansion pack.
I enjoyed Awakenigns a heck of alot, whats there is jsut as good as origins if not better, its just half the length.

Awesome game is awesome.

[Slappers]

2 problems

1. Too short
2. Once you get past a certain point in the expansion there is no going back so you may miss out on some content like me which puts emphasis on 1.

What this game really needs is a co-op mode, then Dragon Age could truly be a classic.

[velimirius]

nothing is not finished yet,there was like huge world map that some1 posted somewhere on dragon age forum before,and only ferelden is used so far.

Awakening took place in small land between Denerim and Grey Wardens Keep that is ex Arl Howes land,so i guess this was just finishing off the darkspawns and start of wardens rebuild.

I guess that in latter expansions they will probably add two other big regions and maybe war with qunari people along with another blight or something.

So there is still much things to be look after.Just patience.

[Mouseraider]

So after playing through DA:O (this time as a female noble) I ended up as queen or soon to be one atleast, but not a single soul in DA:A mentions it.

I have heard people claiming that being the commander of the grey wardens is aparently more important, but I could care less since that was the exact same role I played in the first game.

At one pointe some guard said "Don't you know this is the warden commander" and I was instantly looking for the option to scream at him pointing out how he was a guard and I was the freaking queen of Ferelden, but alas there is no such option.

The expansion is alot better presented if you play it without becomming royalty.

Bioware had better make sure that they use the original team in the creation of the next game.

[Kailieann]

You don't get to be queen. The Origins epilogue says quite clearly that you're just the king's consort.

[surreal]

The expansion is alot better presented if you play it without becomming royalty.

Bioware had better make sure that they use the original team in the creation of the next game.

1. Most decisions from DA:O were cut in order to focus on the story in the best manner.
For instance, a noble dwarf might return to Orzammar and become a Paragon. Why on earth the warden would get back to the surface just to be the commander of the Grey Wardens? This effectively means that the warden gives up the Paragon title and becomes caste-less once again.

2. If you're hoping to see that in DA2 your decisions from DA:O will be acknowledged, then forget about it. Most of them will be cut.
This isn't the ME series. I personally think, that ME2 suffered a great deal in the content department because of those "acknowledged" decisions which will continue to be acknowledged in ME3. If most of those decisions would've been cut, there would've been more original content in the game.

[Mouseraider]

You don't get to be queen. The Origins epilogue says quite clearly that you're just the king's consort.

When you first meet Alistair in DA:A he clearly refers to the protagonist as his wife.

Here in Denmark we have a royal family, and even though one does not become king/queen mearly by marrying someone of royal blood anymore it was like that mearly a few centuries ago.

Now Bioware may have tossed that out the window, but then I ask you, why was Anora queen while Cailan was alive and why did it change when Alistair became king?

1. Most decisions from DA:O were cut in order to focus on the story in the best manner.
For instance, a noble dwarf might return to Orzammar and become a Paragon. Why on earth the warden would get back to the surface just to be the commander of the Grey Wardens? This effectively means that the warden gives up the Paragon title and becomes caste-less once again.

2. If you're hoping to see that in DA2 your decisions from DA:O will be acknowledged, then forget about it. Most of them will be cut.
This isn't the ME series. I personally think, that ME2 suffered a great deal in the content department because of those "acknowledged" decisions which will continue to be acknowledged in ME3. If most of those decisions would've been cut, there would've been more original content in the game.

1. I am fairly sure that the story would have made perfect sence even with some explanations regarding some actions that were done in the first game. It is afterall an expansion that is build directly upon the original story.

2. If I am to use my character from DA:O with people referring to me like they did in DA:A then ofcourse I expect that my exploits are remembered, why else would I use an old character.

Bioware chose to have the npc's refere to the protagonist the way they did in DA:A, so it is only fair that they follow it through.

[Simbosan]

I just finished and my Simbosan rating is "meh"

Very short, very easy, way overpriced. It was $10 worth of game.

The dialog scripting was poor compared to the first, some of the dialogue in the first game was surprisingly funny for a rpg, but this one was verging on lame. It was almost a self parody.

I enjoyed it, but it was all of a sudden over and I was feeling "what... was that it???"

It wasn't bad, but it wasn't $40 worth of game, not even close. Shame on BioWare for milking their customers like this. I will probably not buy the next DLC and like others have mentioned, wait for a bargain compilation that will be better value for money.

[Bluemanze]

My major annoyance with this expansion is how easy/imbalanced it is. My main character is an Arcane Warrior/Spirit Healer/Battlemage, and I was able to completely solo the game on Nightmare, including all side quests and the extra bosses. In the first game I had to actively tweak my party's AI, equip special gear for certain fights, and press f5 before every room. In Awakening, my main character was an invincible juggernaut who could take an Elder Dragon without using a potion.

I realize balance is one of the lower priorities for single player RPGs, but this is just ridiculous.