A Victorious Return from the Dead

The archdemon commanded a devastating blight that threatened Ferelden and possibly all of Thedas.  Only a Grey Warden could strike the final blow to slay the beast and destroy it's immortal soul.  But who should do it?  Alistair, the former templar and future king of Ferelden?  Or your character, in my case a Dalish elf archer?  Or maybe the traitor Loghain?  Alistair was going to be king...even if he does seem like a disaster.  My brave elf scooped up a handily placed sword (even though he was an archer) and dispatched the beast thus eliminating the threat of a darkspawn invasion in Thedas.  The scene cut away to the now king Alistair giving a moving eulogy over the now dead carcass of my hero.

Alas, my hero lives on thanks to the import function!  It makes no logical sense, but hey, it's a game.  I've been re-playing my way through Dragon Age:  Origins and the oddly fun expansion Awakening.  It's a fact that I've now played every available origin story.  Which one is the best?  I think my favorites were the dwarf noble story and the circle mage.  If you're diving into Origins for the first time or re-playing it for laughs go with one of those.  Now, I'm making my way through Awakening with my re-animated elf hero.

The Mother--your new foe in "Awakening."

In re-playing Awakenings, which I've only played through a few times, I am remembering why I enjoy this weird expansion of the core game.  The characters are fun and mostly interesting, there is a wider variety of darkspawn to murder, and there is Ser Pounce-A-Lot.  My party of misfits includes an apostate mage who loves cats, a drunken dwarf, and a dead body reanimated by a "friendly spirit."  Sounds like a group of winners, huh?  You also manage to pick up the son of a former traitor who you kill in Origins, a homicidal elf mage who killed a large group of humans to avenge the murder of her fellow elves, and a dwarf rogue who is actually kind of boring.  It's these characters that make Awakening memorable and worth playing.  The story isn't too shoddy either.  Despite killing the archdemon (and, in my case, being dead!) the darkspawn are continuing to ravage Ferelden.  And they've apparently grown functional brains in a short timespan so that you can have a meaningful conversation about recipes or whatever the darkspawn talk about.  As you progress you learn that these talking darkspawn are caught in the middle of a factional conflict between those darkspawn who follow the mage-like Architect or those that follow the boobalicious (BioWare has a boob fetish just like Blizzard has a poop fetish) "Mother."

There are parts of Awakening that seem pretty authentic to the story.  As commander of Vigil's Keep, the Grey Warden stronghold in Amaranthine, you must also take on the duties of a liege lord and watch over your vassals.  They want to kill you, but you can still listen to them.  It's goofy, but I like it.

I'm planning to soldier through Awakening right into the notoriously bad-mouthed Dragon Age II.  I've always liked the second game but it has been oft bashed for the repetitive environments and small playable world.

As a sidenote I also made the tragic choice to finish my collection of Origins DLC.  Stupid DLC!  I always know it's overpriced but I'm a sucker for side stories.  If you're thinking of going for the total package here's my advice--skip "The Golems of Angarrak."  The story isn't that great and I mostly yelled at the screen because the combat was so frustrating with my archer (it might be easier with a different class).  Skip "The Darkspawn Chronicles."  Playing as a darkspawn is pretty bleh and there really isn't a story...it's just you playing on the other team.  Purchase "Leliana's Song."  You gain some insight into the story of this central character and the events that led her to set aside her life of crime for the life of a nun.  Purchase "Witch Hunt."  The story of how you seek out Morrigan after she leaves your party is actually entertaining.  Skip "Feast Day Pranks."  You get some gifts and goofy pranky things and some new dialogue, but it's not really worth it.

Earlier this year EA was giving away Dragon Age:  Origins as one of it's "on the house" specials.  It's a great RPG that has weathered the test of time.  If you can pick up Awakening to extend your Dragon Age fun time.