Gameplay:
-The old holy trinity of RPG (tank healer & DPS) is still present but the ability to respec a character makes a hugely positive change. In any RPG stories are important, Awakening gives you the ability to experience that story with the characters who's personality you like and who's background stories intrigue you, not just whoever makes a effective setup. This is a huge step in the right direction.
-The new skills & sub classes make far more play styles viable, and noticeably multi-target and controlling abilities which were before limited to certain classes are now more spread out.
-Exploring the companions stories has been made easier by some minor refinement to the gifts system, with more hints being given about the character's preferences.
-Crafting is improved by the addition of runecrafting but the ability to not create a party in the games safe 'camp' area and access crafting skills at the same point where the resources for them can be found is annoying.
Story:
-One negative issue is that some very important plot decisions are made very early with little information and are irreversible.
-Overall I would say the voice work and writing are actually stronger than the original, Sigrun is my favourite, witty, humane and believable.
-Noticeably none of the characters are as pivotal to the main plot as some in the original were and this is generally for the better. Awakening maintains feels more like being part of a rag tag band rather than a group of all star hero's.
-The pacing of the story isn't quite right, it builds and builds then climaxes suddenly without resolving much of what it set in motion.
- A issue I had with the original and which continues here is that the credits roll too fast. Origins gave us a chance to chat with the companions after the main quest finished and offered some closure but Awakening skips even that. After being immersed in such rich world I wanted to see in game how decisions had affected it but instead the credits rolled the moment the final boss hit the floor. This adds to the feeling Awakening should have been the 1st act to a longer story & who knows perhaps in time it could be.
Verdict:
-This is half a great story. You wont regret what it gives you ,but you may be frustrated by the amount.
-The old holy trinity of RPG (tank healer & DPS) is still present but the ability to respec a character makes a hugely positive change. In any RPG stories are important, Awakening gives you the ability to experience that story with the characters who's personality you like and who's background stories intrigue you, not just whoever makes a effective setup. This is a huge step in the right direction.
-The new skills & sub classes make far more play styles viable, and noticeably multi-target and controlling abilities which were before limited to certain classes are now more spread out.
-Exploring the companions stories has been made easier by some minor refinement to the gifts system, with more hints being given about the character's preferences.
-Crafting is improved by the addition of runecrafting but the ability to not create a party in the games safe 'camp' area and access crafting skills at the same point where the resources for them can be found is annoying.
Story:
-One negative issue is that some very important plot decisions are made very early with little information and are irreversible.
-Overall I would say the voice work and writing are actually stronger than the original, Sigrun is my favourite, witty, humane and believable.
-Noticeably none of the characters are as pivotal to the main plot as some in the original were and this is generally for the better. Awakening maintains feels more like being part of a rag tag band rather than a group of all star hero's.
-The pacing of the story isn't quite right, it builds and builds then climaxes suddenly without resolving much of what it set in motion.
- A issue I had with the original and which continues here is that the credits roll too fast. Origins gave us a chance to chat with the companions after the main quest finished and offered some closure but Awakening skips even that. After being immersed in such rich world I wanted to see in game how decisions had affected it but instead the credits rolled the moment the final boss hit the floor. This adds to the feeling Awakening should have been the 1st act to a longer story & who knows perhaps in time it could be.
Verdict:
-This is half a great story. You wont regret what it gives you ,but you may be frustrated by the amount.
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