BioWare's Dragon Age Games

In Origins, you play a Grey Warden, one of the last of an ancient order of guardians who have defended the lands for centuries. Betrayed by a trusted general in a critical battle, you stand as one of few who know the truth of what happened to bear witness against his lies and machinations. His lust for power divides the nation in civil war when attention is most needed against a greater threat. As you fight your way towards the final confrontation with an evil nemesis, you will face monstrous foes and engage in epic quests to unite the disparate peoples against this common enemy.

Players can play as either gender and choose one of six Origin stories that will lend richness and depth to their gameplay experience, affecting how the gameworld sees their character and their character's outlook on that world. Within the Origins, the player will find much freedom to roleplay their character however they see fit. Those Origins cover noble and commoner backgrounds and draw from three races within the world of Thedas: elf, dwarf, and human.

Along the way, the player will attract companions to their cause, all with backstories and motivations of their own, which form a realistic basis for reaction to the player's deeds. Certain companions can even fall in love with the player-character, or out of love with them, from dialogue and story choices or actions.

Companions have customizable AI allowing player control of their behavior in a fight without having to micromanage them, but can also be selected individually for more control as desired.

Accessed Within Origins:

Warden's Keep - Players can explore and reclaim an old Grey Warden base in Northern Ferelden. Clearing the area gives a party storage chest and two new merchants. Soldier's Peak offers unique loot, a couple of achievements, and the potential to pick up new special abilities for each class based on the "Power of Blood". Adds one or two hours of playtime.

The Stone Prisoner - The companion Shale, originally intended to be part of the core game, is added through this content pack. She is unlocked by completing an adventure in the village of Honnleath, and her companion quest adds the lost dwarven thaig of Cadash. Adds two to three hours of play time and offers two new achievements as well as unique items.

Return to Ostagar - The Warden, Wynne, and Alistair are given the chance to return to Ostagar for a little closure, complete with revenge on the darkspawn that felled Duncan and King Cailan, and insight into the motivations behind Loghain's betrayal. Unique weapons and armor belonging to Duncan and Cailan are recoverable, and players who didn't recruit Dog earlier are given a second chance. Adds one to two hours of play time and a new achievement.

Feastday Pranks and Gifts - these two packs each add 10 new gifts, great for bonus fun with your companions and allowing players to massively use and abuse the approval system.

Further Adventures for your Warden:

Golems of Amgarrak - The Warden is asked to assist in the investigation of Amgarrak, where an expedition recently vanished searching for secrets related to Golem construction. Three new achievements are available, which unlock their own unique items in Origins and Awakening. Adds one to two hours of play time.

Witch Hunt - Your Warden is on the hunt for Morrigan, out of whatever motivation fits your Origins play: revenge, friendship, or love. New areas are explored, others revisited, including some you may know from an Origin story. A little more of Morrigan's motivation and future plans are revealed. Offers four new achievements, its own unique items, a possible new "ending" for your Warden, and adds one to three hours of play time.

It is possible to play a single character from Origins into Awakening then into Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt.

Standalone Adventures:

Leliana's Song - The events of Leliana's Song do not quite match what she claims is her history in Origins, which is interesting in itself. The player takes the role of Leliana through a night of roguish mischief in Denerim and then into her betrayal and first attempt at revenge. Two to three hours, play time. Offers three new achievements and a potential powerful and unique roguish armor for your Origins and Awakening games.

Darkspawn Chronicles - the player takes the role of a Hurlock Vanguard to protect the archdemon against the assault of the Grey Wardens. Darkspawn Chronicles is especially interesting because it gives the player a look at "what might have been" had they never joined the Wardens or died in their Joining. Have a certain party member you've always really wanted to feed to the darkspawn? Here's your chance.

In Dragon Age 2, we take on the role of a refugee from Lothering, a village destroyed in Origins. Unlike Origins, we can only play a human. Players can choose to play as a mage, rogue, or warrior of either gender.

Through the story told by the storyteller Varric, the game covers about a decade of the adventures of our hero, Hawke, from his or her escape from Ferelden into the Free Marches to eventually become the Champion of Kirkwall.

The growing tensions between the Mages and the Templars play a big role in the plot as your Hawke tries to survive, keep your family safe, and build a future for you all in Kirkwall.

Romance continues to be one of the fun optional aspects of the game, with the confirmed love interests and short stories about them appearing in this thread on the official forums. Unlike DA:O, all of the love interests among the standard companions in DA 2 can be romanced no matter your Hawke's gender. To the Romance/Friendship system they've added another important new change: Rivalry. With rivalry, you can oppose a companion's overall agenda, or they yours, while still respecting each other's skills and working together for mutual benefit. Rivals who are love interests can still be romanced.

As far as game style goes, Dragon Age 2 is a much more action-oriented and console-focused rpg than DA:O. Combat is fast-paced and heart-racing, and tends to get into button-mash-fest territory quickly, particularly noticeable in the console demos. (I tried both the Xbox and PC demos, then bought my full version on PC, preferring the combat there.)

Players with save files from Origins can import them so that their new game reflects the choices made. Those choices affect some of the NPCs your character will meet and available quests, as well as rumors and ambient chatter. From my experience, this is handled in a manner that is satisfying to players of the original, yet subtle enough it's not going to detract from the game for those who haven't played Origins.

Here are the preset histories new players can select to cover key points that would have impacted DA 2 from Origins:

"Hero of Ferelden" - The Warden killed the archdemon and survived, leaving Alistair on the throne.
"The Martyr" - The Warden was a Dalish Elf who gave her life to destroy the archdemon. Alistair and Anora rule.
"No Compromise" - The Warden was a Dwarven noble who allowed Loghain to redeem himself, leaving Anora as ruler and Alistair in exile.

Includes cameos from: Alistair (exiled, king, or Grey Warden), Bann Teagan, Zevran, Leliana, and Nathaniel Howe (from Awakening, if he was recruited and survived).

Flemeth is a returning character, as are Anders, Merrill, and Isabela.

Finally, whether DA 2 is as good as DA:O is a raging debate. While Origins could be played dozens of times and still have new things to discover and new roles to play, DA 2 lacks that depth and longevity. If you like fast, flashy action games, DA 2 is more your speed. If you're looking for a lingering, deep role playing game, DA 2 is going to disappoint. That said, they seem to be swinging the pendulum back the other way and correcting many of the flaws of DA 2 in the DLC, so, down the road, an ultimate edition will probably be a fine game whatever your preferred flavor.

Legacy is the first storyline DLC for DA 2. I had some things I really did not like about DA 2 (recycled environments, over-use of delivery quests, weak motivations, feeling forced down the path and a spectator in the stories of your companions, without meaningful choices). After good reviews for Legacy from the players on the Bioware forums, I bought it. I was not disappointed.

In Legacy, Bioware gives us what I wish DA 2 had been throughout: a good story well told, and quality game play. The environments were beautiful and well done. The banters, interactions with my Hawke's love interest and her party members, and Hawke's reactions to the story were perfect. I enjoyed every minute. This is the DA I fell in love with in Origins. I took my time, trying to explore everywhere, but still managed to miss things, so my three hours of play time could easily have been longer.

The basic storyline is: Hawke, and his/her sibling, if alive at that point of your game, have been attacked by Carta thugs. Investigation into why leads them to a lost Grey Warden fortress. Inside an ancient evil slumbers, imprisoned. There are ties to Hawke's family, and only his/her blood holds the key to unlocking very old secrets.

In Dragon Age Legends you create a new hero in the Free Marches to investigate a mystery surrounding an ally's son and to track down a darkspawn threat. Like the other Dragon Age games, you can take your choice of genders and the mage, rogue, or warrior classes.

You build and upgrade a castle as your homebase, ranging into the countryside to battle and uncover lore as you try to fulfill your quest. I was impressed with the range of customization options for our characters and their castles. The game gives you several potential party members of the various classes to choose from to help you in battle, which you can choose at the start of battle to best fit the threat you face.

Five interesting in-game items for Dragon Age 2 can be unlocked by play in Legends. Check out this Phat Loot post on the Legends blog for pictures, lore, and more details on these items.