# Dragon Age: Awakenings? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 1, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dragon-age-awakenings/534612 "2010-04-01T18:31:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dragon-age-awakenings/534612/1 "2010-04-01T18:31:49Z")
This seems to have hit the streets without much fanfare, and with a price nearly as much as the game itself is now selling for. I recall some references to it being in the works, but otherwise nobody seems to be talking about it. Has anyone bought it? Is it worth the price? ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dragon-age-awakenings/534612/2 "2010-04-01T18:32:41Z")
I’ve heard the addon is really good, but it’s more of the same. If you liked the original quest and what not, you’ll dig the new one. If you’re hoping for something different, it’s not. …A price as much as the game itself? The DLC is what, $20? ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dragon-age-awakenings/534612/3 "2010-04-01T18:44:10Z")
$40, I think - it’s being sold as a full expansion, rather than as DLC. I’ve also heard really good things about it, but there’s so much else out right now that I’ll probably wait until that price drops a bit. ---
**Author:** ![badlyburnttoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@badlyburnttoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badlyburnttoast)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dragon-age-awakenings/534612/4 "2010-04-01T19:00:17Z")
Yeah, it’s going for $40. I’m not sure how long it is, I’ve read it’s only around 15 hours or so which seems kind of poor deal for almost the price of a brand new game. I’m planning on holding off on it for now too. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dragon-age-awakenings/534612/5 "2010-04-01T19:21:17Z")
I seem to remember 15 hours as the extra gameplay they used to promise for a supplement that cost $20. Am I just being billed in the future for all the extra fun I got out of Throne of Bhaal? ---
**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dragon-age-awakenings/534612/6 "2010-04-01T20:12:41Z")
It’s alright but it’s a bit short for the price you pay. The new powers you get are completely broken. I took a level 23 rogue into the game and destroyed everything on nightmare difficulty. Out of the entire expansion pack I only used health potions on 4 fights. They’ve clearly balanced it more towards starting at level 18. So the pluses are: Better main villain that interacts with you more over the story More of the same gameplay if you enjoyed the original. The respec book really should have been in the original Minuses: Way too short for the price companion interaction has been toned way down and is pretty weak a little buggy with certain quests Either way: Broken powers that make the fights funner but suck the challenge out of the game. ---
**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dragon-age-awakenings/534612/7 "2010-04-01T20:28:40Z")
Oh BTW I did beat it in 15 hours. At least 2 hours were wasted by wandering around a city trying to figure out certain quest chains. So I bet if I took the same character back through I could have it down to 10-12 hours. I imagine it would have been much slower going if I had started a new character. To give you an idea of the broken abilities you get I had a power that lets you backstab everything in an area over a couple of seconds. You also get an ability that drops a decoy down that distracts enemies. I would run up to a group of monsters hit the backstab button after that ran out I’d hit decoy then I would run around and backstab everything to death that was focused on the decoy. I hardly needed my party aside from the healing mage. I also used the respec book to get the other new rogue abilities that make him more resistant to damage but I never used those powers. I actually had more or less forgotten them during boss fights where they might have been useful. I haven’t really explored much with the other classes but it looked to me like every class got its own set of broken abilities and prestige classes. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dragon-age-awakenings/534612/8 "2010-04-01T20:51:25Z")
Purchased it but haven’t played it yet - I lost my original save so I’m playing through the whole Origins plot over again first - 60 hours so far, got another 6 or so left to go. Heard good things about it as well, with the main issues being that it was a bit short for the money, and a bit buggy. It was on sale on Steam 33% off last week, no doubt it will be on sale there soon enough. ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dragon-age-awakenings/534612/9 "2010-04-01T21:04:36Z")
I’ve liked it so far. The storyline is engrossing, though it does seem noticeably easier than the main game, especially if you import a level 20+ character. 15-20 hours sounds about right to me, I’m right around 18 right now and I think I’m winding down. (I’ve also found I tend to take things slower that most gamers it seems.) The point about broken abilities is absolutely spot on however. My sword and shield warrior has two new abilities… One allows her to completely negate damage for something close to 10 seconds, she’s pretty much invincible when it’s activated. The other is an area effect attack that automatically crits every enemy who’s close enough, (and the ‘area’ is notably longer than melee range.) She’s went from being a high powered tank to a harbinger of death. Playing on normal. ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dragon-age-awakenings/534612/10 "2010-04-02T00:08:50Z")
Not related to Awakening but… I just logged onto the game and discovered there’s April Fool’s Day DLC available (and it’s cheap!). This should be interesting. 😃