378 réponses à ce sujet

[Rrend]

Reverie wrote...

I don't hate the game, but I don't love it either. I like some of the new companions (still can't stand Oghren though) and the new adventures are fun, but it feels like something is missing. I'm only about halfway through right now. So I guess I can't say too much just yet.

The new way conversations are done is interesting, but I think I'd like a mix of the old with the new. Not a huge fan of it right now. I like asking my party loads of inane questions!

Can't stand Oghren?????  He, Alistair and Shale are the only comic relief in the game.  When Oghren starts ranting about the pants monster called scheets I almost fell out of my chair laughingf!!!

Also, when he belches loudly after drinking the darkspawn blood with no apparent negative effects, it was priceless... particularly the look on the senechel's face.

[Jukesbox360]

I played through the Awakening twice now, admittedly in a hurry to discover the bulk of the story.

This is not an Epic Fail. I believe this expansion was worth the 40 US dollars.

As an expansion to the main story it was done well, however, I'd like to caution new players to seek out and complete all the side quests and explore the entire expansion world.

This expansion to the main story is all about War, Hard choices, and Survival, there is no room for selfish love relationships when you as the Hero of Ferelden have many Bann's depending on your success. As the Commander Grey Warden equal to an Arl / Arlessa and responsible to save the world by Duty and as a servant to the very ones that come to you for help.



Origins was a huge success for me because of the history that gets unfolded, the attachment to the character by means of heroic deeds, and the accolade thats rewarded for it. It was nice to see the Camp and the side romances unfold because it helped to immerse me into a story and gave me an "attachment" to the characters involved.

Awakening has only one attachment to keep me involved and that would be Vigils Keep.

It's a fortress that is crumbling and in it's current state might as well be equal to an old abandoned house that should have been razed to the ground years ago.

When on the battlefield,.. No Man Left Behind attitude is what I sensed when I chose to rebuild the Fortress as my home and is, in a sense, a companion.

This Fortress is the only attachment I could sense in this expansion so it became my main focus.

This expansion is setting the stage for what is to come in the future of Dragon Age so it's understandable that the last battles were not Epic battles and as such, you don't need the constant reminder that you have a blight to defeat with the slaughter of one creature or two so as to keep you focused on your purpose and not on the love and romance aspect.



There is plenty of variety of Darkspawn to slaughter and ponder over their existance at all... it all unfolds for you as you progress through the story.



I'd like to point out again that your only real attachment that will keep you playing is your Fortress and like any relationship you will be tempted to visit your thrown room to get advice or check on the results of your actions as you go along... but be warned.. the deal breaker is in checking on the status of your Fortress and doing so too frequently... especially if you don't complete all the side quests, will result in a short story or the feeling that you spent too much money for an expansion pack.

If Dragon Age - Origins veterans are expecting a continuance of a romance or closure to a relationship, you'll be dissappointed since thats not what this pack is about.

If the same veterans are looking for a purpose to buy this expansion, then I would tell you that there is plenty of Darkspawn to slaughter, a Fortress awaits with your name on it as promised to you from Origins, and your mission is to succeed at all costs... it won't be an easy task and you will be challenged with many fights, especially for those that like to micro manage every battle... those Darkspawn come from the ground, from thin air, and from every corner... essentially your ambushed at every turn. Very refreshing change over the mindless slaughter of predictable darkspawn for sure.

[Shinji Ex]

2000MP or $25 is more of a fare price



Yes the price of content always plays a major role

and that's one of the issue with this expansion



For $10 or $20 extra you could buy a whole new game that you've been wanting to check out?

[TheMadCat]

If the same veterans are looking for a purpose to buy this expansion,
then I would tell you that there is plenty of Darkspawn to slaughter, a
Fortress awaits with your name on it as promised to you from Origins,
and your mission is to succeed at all costs... it won't be an easy task
and you will be challenged with many fights, especially for those that
like to micro manage every battle... those Darkspawn come from the
ground, from thin air, and from every corner... essentially your
ambushed at every turn. Very refreshing change over the mindless
slaughter of predictable darkspawn for sure.

Must say, when the first thing someone brings up as a reason to buy a Bioware game is "plenty of *blank* to kill", I am not overly thrilled. Not the selling point I'm looking considering there are plenty of games that do that far better.

I'm curious, as you're one of the few saying the story was well done. Did it feel fleshed out to you? Did it feel rushed or seem like things for unfolding far to quickly? Same with the companions, did they feel fleshed out?

[Blue_dodo]

Eurypterid wrote...

Shinji Ex wrote...

Lets say I star a new Origins game from scratch right so can I jump to Awaking an jump about from the original areas an the new areas back and forth? that is what a expansion is supposed to be!

You couldn't do that in SoU or HotU (NWN expansions). Those are BioWare examples. Can't do that in NWN2's expansions either (Obsidian examples).

agreed and if you say..don't mind having to wait a coule more months for dao and it being maybe two disc (because you know disc do have a limited capacity)  the yeah by all means.

but I like the the expansion, I didn't have to spend a single doller thanks to in store credit from selling games and an additional 20% off  because thoes were sold on the same day as the game baught

[MassEffect762]

Sounds like they screwed up the personal side of cameos agian from reading a few posts here.

I'm still just starting awakening but the second I met Alistair I knew they had dropped the ball.

Bioware,  WHY?!?! is it so hard for you folks to add that personal touch and emotion into cameos?

[Sanzee]

I'm liking it so far, I just can't believe BioWare charged me 40 dollars for it. It's good but I want to know when it was decided that 40 dollars would be the price. That's 2/3 the price of the game on console. So why didn't I get 2/3 of what Dragon Age was? More like 1/4 of DA:O. I've got a bad a feeling about EA. I knew once they picked up BioWare, BioWare would get all "corporate" on us. Why? Why did you charge me 40 dollars for this? In no way am I saying that it's bad, it's just not enough content to equal 40 dollars. It's lack of quanity, not quality here. If you had included more content, even more of what you already have in there, I'd be fine. But it's content to price ratio is way off. I'm dissapointed in BioWare... first the whole Cerberus Network thing, now this. 1200 MS points for Zaed and some weapons. And Kasumi isn't included with that? Even 20 more weapons wouldn't equal 1200 MS points. It's not a compelling enough reason to go back to Mass Effect 2 every day... fortunately I'm a huge fan so I'll go back to it anyways, but for those who've already beat it and moved on... what is the compelling reason? A flying vehicle? A mercenary? An Arc Projector? More armor that hides my face so I'm not going to wear it anyways?

BioWare isn't the same BioWare from 2003, or even 2007, I can tell you that.

Modifié par Sanzee, 18 mars 2010 - 11:46 .

[CSick]

sanzee, i agree.
the main reason i didnt like awakening is cuz origins is so good. it exceeded all my expectations. maybe they just set the bar too high. i think if i waited a couple months for the price to drop, then i would be satisfied. but i just feel like $40 should get me 2/3 of a full game based on the price.

Modifié par CSick, 18 mars 2010 - 11:51 .

[Faewren]

Epic Fail.

No romance - seriously? And BioWare's only explanation for it is they want us to "focus on the task at hand". But when Shepherd has to go on a suicide mission they reserve a spot for nooky.



No transferring of DLC loot. - This one I can kinda understand, since people may or may not have bought the goods. But then what is the point of putting in emotionally charged equipment like Duncan's weapons or Cailan's armor? My main DA character had Duncan's weapons as a memorial to the man that saved her life! They went poof! And still BioWare's only explanation is "It was only meant for Origins".



Lack of continuity. - I'm sorry, your character died, they held a nice funeral, erected a statue, and poof now you're leading the Grey Wardens? Say what now? BioWare says "it is assumed that your character simply did not make the 'ultimate sacrifice'". Gee BioWare, way to make an ASS of yourselves.



Lack of Interest Hooks - gah. I am forcing myself to play Awakening. Yeah fixing up the castle is nice, but where is the motivation? And you kill off The Withered? Wait, so what was that big lead up to the DARKSPAWN WHO TALKS? And then you off him in the first 30 minutes of the game.



Wah. Did all the creativity go to Mass Effect 2? Give DA the goods BioWare!

[Jukesbox360]

TheMadCat wrote...

If the same veterans are looking for a purpose to buy this expansion,
then I would tell you that there is plenty of Darkspawn to slaughter, a
Fortress awaits with your name on it as promised to you from Origins,
and your mission is to succeed at all costs... it won't be an easy task
and you will be challenged with many fights, especially for those that
like to micro manage every battle... those Darkspawn come from the
ground, from thin air, and from every corner... essentially your
ambushed at every turn. Very refreshing change over the mindless
slaughter of predictable darkspawn for sure.

Must say, when the first thing someone brings up as a reason to buy a Bioware game is "plenty of *blank* to kill", I am not overly thrilled. Not the selling point I'm looking considering there are plenty of games that do that far better.

I'm curious, as you're one of the few saying the story was well done. Did it feel fleshed out to you? Did it feel rushed or seem like things for unfolding far to quickly? Same with the companions, did they feel fleshed out?

I only meant that veterans of Origins would appreciate the hordes of darkspawn that ambush you  because it adds to tactical play style.. atleast thats how it felt worthy to me.

I mentioned that the Fortress is your new concern, likened to a relationship in that it has to be built and cared for, since there is a lack of any romance... and because your focus will be on the Fortress, I found myself checking in with Feral frequently for status... It was this regular checking in for status that caught me in the short story version.
The Nobles that stood in the room were the remaining Nobles that didn't want me dead and it was at this point that I had continued to talk to Feral for a Status check, just to discover that my options were limited and so chose to go to war at that point... This is what brought on the short story version for me. ( so I replayed the game ).

I played Origins multiple times to unlock the achievements, I still have a dozen or so left to do.
After awhile of playing the game you know where the darkspawn are going to attack from, I know roughly how many there will be and being tactful to kill them eventually gets old.. Awakening Swarmed me with Darkspawn from ambush and made me stop to think more about the closer threat and more about how to go about winning.
There are no real Epic monsters to kill, so I guess there was no need to constantly remind me that I have to resolve an issue with the architect or deal with a broodmother.. neither of them would compare to the Archdemon.

Fleshed out isn't how I would relate my experience with the game expansion,... In trying to stay positive in opinion I warned about checking in at the Vigil with Feral and the treasurer because my first run through caught me by surprise that I was ready for battle already.. even while i had many quests left undone.. I went to war anyway when the option arose and I got the short version of the story.
In this respect I think the game could have reminded me constantly to prepare for war soon, or remind me about the Blight a million times ( like in Origins ), to keep me focused on the task and not on the love relationships.( in this case the love relationship would be the rebuilding of a Fortress and not a companion ).
It's just this one point in the entire expansion that I felt I could have had more forwarning that while checking in for Status update, that I might be forced to go to war. Aside from feeling that I wasn't forwarned that my next visit may result in few options but going to war.. I feel the game was well done, all in all.
I played the expansion twice now, and I still feel satisfied with the cost... But perhaps mileage varies depending on your personal play style and your expectations.

I just wanted to add that I didn't expect much if anything to port into the expansion, I read the posts about items that wouldn't make it into Awakening and I wasn't surprised or let down. I was actually feeling a bit overwhelmed with the huge variety of awsome gear to choose from.

Modifié par Jukesbox360, 19 mars 2010 - 12:45 .

[Tuleron]

No, but the ppl (including Bioware) give to him to much expectation and and "raise" him to much for what it is.
I remember a day after the annoncement of the development of Awakenings i enter on the site of DAO and i saw a wallpapper of a world map and it was enormous and i said "WTF?!" and these last months when i spected the expancion pack i believe it that this map was Awakenings, and when i start to play it i saw the map and it was "omg...what a crap", but the game still nice .
So ppl of Bioware, don't do this to me again! (?) 8D.
But now i have a doubt, this giant map that i saw, what is it? I know that is the entire world map, but i hope in the deep of my dreams that it's going to be used on the next game/expancion/dlc/thing and we're going to be able to play it all.

Modifié par Tuleron, 19 mars 2010 - 05:26 .

[William e]

From reading the post I know I will not buy the game, they should have followed up on the orginal to me and moved on from there like they did in NWN, this just sounds like a over priced DAO 2 to me, which would make sense if it was moved ahead and was a full game like NWN 2. But like NWN 2 they screwed up when they did SOZ and MOWG, not spending the money again on a short expansion that does not follow the orginal storyline. I hope they don't do this in ME 3, but I will watch the forums to decide if I will contine buying bioware games. I don't have a problem if they want to create a new game, but make it worth the bucks and if it is an expansion to the orginal then follow the storyline. Right now I am playing ME 2 and DAO for the 3rd time I like the storyline and like both games. I will just wait and see if there is another witcher or elder scolls 5. Sorry bioware but I don't understand why you people insist on takeing a good game and screwing it up.

[Farahot]

I would call it a fail, it's slightly overpriced. I could get Dantes Inferno for the same price which means more bang for the buck. Why do I have to download 2 gigabyte of data from the PS store because someone somewhere screwed up their research on future game releases vs Sony. If Bio wants me to pay the price of a full new game, I atleast want a case to put up in my shelf. If the guy on Ps EU blog that update the community on released content has to double check this friggin price, my guess is that the price surprises many.

[NoAngel89]

I always thought expansions were more of an add on, harder monsters and challanges, so your current character can grow higher in lvl. And you would need all your current items and abiltities to fight these creatures and challanges, because they're supposed to be ten times harder. Maybe I'm thinking too much of WoW. Though thats what I think expansion packs are, well for online RPGs. But this one doesn't really feel like an expansion pack, it feels alittle weird. Since it takes away the DLCs and has a choice to start with a Orelisan Warden, it kinda feels more like a new game instead of an expansion, since you in some ways start out fresh/noobed,new or nude lol XD. Kinda like a small prequel until DAO II comes out.

Guess I can say its kinda a hybrid of both, but ME2 does it better.

Playing it in my friend's house was wicked on the console, me getting ME2 for PC for sure. But Awakening...... on the console, well was abit rough. Its...... ok...

Modifié par NoAngel89, 19 mars 2010 - 06:47 .

[Lillymon]

Where is my mabari dog?? He is suppose to be so loyal and faithful, so why did the kick him out the game? I am not really happy with the add-on... Romances and conversations are missing too. We can only hope DA2 will be more like the original again.

[sonofalich]

i didn't hate it, but it could have been better

[Revan312]

My friend got it and after watching him play through it for a while with his import I wasn't impressed, either was he.



Like everyone else has said already, 40 bucks? seriously... for this? Wow, that's sad. Bad continuation, no ability to use the new specializations/weps/armor/talents/spells in the original game is so lame I can't even come up with a coherent way to show my disappointment. Also, he was having some fps issues which he never had with the original. None of the original companions minus the least liked one of the bunch. No LI's, no DLC carry over which is ridiculous. He said he finished it in 15 hours which is basically 1/5th of what he spent, time wise, on the original game, for ten bucks less... lame.



Id say epic fail when you take the price into consideration. I won't be buying it, I know that. I didn't buy RTO either because I heard it was super short and sort of pointless. I don't even know if I'm gonna get the Kasumi DLC for ME2 as I'm pretty much done with that game and thus far the dlc's presented for either of these games have been lackluster at best, downright laughable at worst.



I'm reeaallyy hating the new direction all these game companies are taking concerning "additional content". I hate being nickel and dimed after spending 50-60 greenbacks on a title that for all intents and purposes is incomplete on day 1 (I'll say DA:O wasn't, but ME2 seems weak on time played for the price)



Really, in all honesty, I think I'm just getting tired of single player rpg's as one, the stories have been regurgitated so many times, from sources in the past that did them better, and two, the price per hour spent is pretty pathetic, for me at least. After going through, let me see, probably 16 RPGs over the past ten years I'm just getting bored. I really can't justify spending the money anymore.



I apologize, I've been ranting for a ways now, I'll just leave my comment with DA:A = so not worth the 40 dollars... there.

[Anoif]

I enjoyed it... actually felt sincerely conflicted about some of the choices you have to make. A game with the ability to evoke real decision-making angst is a winner in my books.



I was originally kinda upset that the DAO companions weren't going to be included as playable characters in Awakening, but then I started playing and the new characters swiftly eased that hurt!



And frankly, if I hear one more person boohoo about not having the DOG, I think my head will explode. Of everything/everyone that happened/appeared in DAO, you want to tell me that the dog was the most important character?



Anyway... definitely worth the (relatively minor... $40 hardly breaks the bank) investment, imo. Except that now I have to wait almost a full year for the next installment...! *dramatic sigh!*

[cmessaz]

I don't think people are necesarily upset about losing the dog as much as complaining about the lack of continuation. There is no explanation as to where he even is! (Or most of the other characters in fact.) It IS a fun game, I just feel like it is just that, it's own game, not an expansion. The only way it really expands on your story is if you are a human noble who married Alistair or Anora, and even then not much. The characters are awsome, but they took out romances (which I can live with) but also took out the ability to just speak with your companion. You can't get to know them as well as you could in Origins. I don't regret buying this, but it could have been better. It feels like they ran out of time/money and rushed it.

Modifié par cmessaz, 19 mars 2010 - 07:39 .

[Wrath of Bong]

Just thought I would let you guys know that Shinji Ex has been going around other websites like G4tv.com and Gamespot, creating "DAO Awakening An Epic Fail" threads. I think Shinji Ex is one of those bitter FFXIII fanboy who didn't like people hating that game so he decided to take it out on DAO Awakening.

[Dodco]

No transferring of DLC loot. - This one I can kinda understand, since people may or may not have bought the goods. But then what is the point of putting in emotionally charged equipment like Duncan's weapons or Cailan's armor? My main DA character had Duncan's weapons as a memorial to the man that saved her life! They went poof! And still BioWare's only explanation is "It was only meant for Origins".

The equipment you refer to, is from Return to Ostagar and ports over fine.  So they shouldn't have gone poof at all.

Modifié par Dodco, 19 mars 2010 - 07:40 .

[Pen-N-Paper]

I always find it useful to define terms, even common ones, at the beginning of discussions like this one. It gets everyone on the same page and makes fair comparison possible.



So would a few of you kindly school me on what is the definition of an "expansion" in game industry terms, please? What does it (should it?) expand? Where should the focus be in creating an expansion? Are DLC also expansions? (Awakenings has been compared to DLC; is it a fair comparison?)



Once I comfortably know what an expansion should be, then I can decide for myself if the price-to-value measures up. The cost of Awakenings is in the range of new games at retail, and very near the market price for DA:O itself. I would certainly welcome an official answer from Bioware if such a person reads my question.

[StuBurn]

The biggest problem I have with the expansion is that for us EU PS3 owners it is only available as DLC, no boxed version and it costs £32 from the PSN store. Now to me that is puzzling. The XBOX and PC have a boxed version and the XBOX version is only £25 boxed. I will not be buying this until a boxed version is released and / or they drop the price to a sensible level!

Modifié par StuBurn, 22 mars 2010 - 12:19 .

[Feraele]

Synk wrote...

Something else is, as someone who just bought Dragon Age:Origins about 10 days ago and recently completed it ( on hard ) I was really looking forward to playing it through again on nightmare. Well not anymore, after realizing all of my choices in the first game are simply going to be taken away and dont matter at all moving forward I realy don't want to play origins again, which would have given me a lot more playtime. I just went and looked at my playtime in awakening ( this is after doing every sidequest I could find ) ... 10 hours ... TEN hours. I think I had nearly 50 or 60 in origins. Complete waste of cash, so unless you have played origins 2 times, I would highly suggest not buying this game, because it will ruin whatever you did in origins.

THAT all depends on you the player...my first run-through yesterday, was 23+ hours..(23 hours and some minutes)  

But I am the type to try to do all sidequests, all exploration..etc.   At ten hours in,  I wasn't even halfway through.

And when I finished, I hadn't done all the puzzles, and had five quests left over that I couldn't hand in because I jumped the gun to the end story..the end battle.

As the Devs stated on this issue before...your mileage may vary...it all depends on you the end user.

**edit:  Oh and I hadn't done any runecrafting either..which I hear takes up time as well.  hehehe

Modifié par Feraele, 19 mars 2010 - 09:01 .

[SphereofSilence]

Jukesbox360 wrote...

I played through the Awakening twice now, admittedly in a hurry to discover the bulk of the story.
This is not an Epic Fail. I believe this expansion was worth the 40 US dollars.
As an expansion to the main story it was done well, however, I'd like to caution new players to seek out and complete all the side quests and explore the entire expansion world.
This expansion to the main story is all about War, Hard choices, and Survival, there is no room for selfish love relationships when you as the Hero of Ferelden have many Bann's depending on your success. As the Commander Grey Warden equal to an Arl / Arlessa and responsible to save the world by Duty and as a servant to the very ones that come to you for help.

Origins was a huge success for me because of the history that gets unfolded, the attachment to the character by means of heroic deeds, and the accolade thats rewarded for it. It was nice to see the Camp and the side romances unfold because it helped to immerse me into a story and gave me an "attachment" to the characters involved.
Awakening has only one attachment to keep me involved and that would be Vigils Keep.
It's a fortress that is crumbling and in it's current state might as well be equal to an old abandoned house that should have been razed to the ground years ago.
When on the battlefield,.. No Man Left Behind attitude is what I sensed when I chose to rebuild the Fortress as my home and is, in a sense, a companion.
This Fortress is the only attachment I could sense in this expansion so it became my main focus.
This expansion is setting the stage for what is to come in the future of Dragon Age so it's understandable that the last battles were not Epic battles and as such, you don't need the constant reminder that you have a blight to defeat with the slaughter of one creature or two so as to keep you focused on your purpose and not on the love and romance aspect.

There is plenty of variety of Darkspawn to slaughter and ponder over their existance at all... it all unfolds for you as you progress through the story.

I'd like to point out again that your only real attachment that will keep you playing is your Fortress and like any relationship you will be tempted to visit your thrown room to get advice or check on the results of your actions as you go along... but be warned.. the deal breaker is in checking on the status of your Fortress and doing so too frequently... especially if you don't complete all the side quests, will result in a short story or the feeling that you spent too much money for an expansion pack.
If Dragon Age - Origins veterans are expecting a continuance of a romance or closure to a relationship, you'll be dissappointed since thats not what this pack is about.
If the same veterans are looking for a purpose to buy this expansion, then I would tell you that there is plenty of Darkspawn to slaughter, a Fortress awaits with your name on it as promised to you from Origins, and your mission is to succeed at all costs... it won't be an easy task and you will be challenged with many fights, especially for those that like to micro manage every battle... those Darkspawn come from the ground, from thin air, and from every corner... essentially your ambushed at every turn. Very refreshing change over the mindless slaughter of predictable darkspawn for sure.

Your description of what Awakening was about  was good, and it convinced me to purchase it despite my initial doubt and skepticism on the value of Awakening's offerings. Thanks. It's refreshing to see someone give his/her impressions on the game AND reasons and whys to back them up.