More interesting gameplay than the base game, and ties in well to Inquisition
Beforehand, I had mentioned that I played Inquisition before DA2, which meant that I never really got a chance to play its Legacy add-on released a few months after its launch. This also means it was another case of seeing someone in a future entry (in this case, Corypheus) in their debut DLC, which like, really stings when you think about it. At least with Anders he was a companion that sported a drastic - and worse, but we'll... unpack that in the main review - personality change, Corypheus is the main baddie that's just plopped into the next game with preceding no fanfare or elaboration, so it's just another Bad DLC Practice scenario that were infesting the early-mid 2010s... but I digress. From the looks of it online, this is best played after the completion of the All That Remains questline in Act 2, which I can agree with due to the contents of the story here. I had a pretty adequate time overall, mainly due to feeling like the DA team making one big apology lap for all the crap decisions regarding DA2's gameplay. I'm saving the full brunt for the main review, but to briefly elucidate and foreshadow, you are
• No longer dealing with inflated health pools, a majority of the enemies here have their stats feel just right.
• No longer having to deal with random enemy reinforcements cropping up when it should've been over already, instead being done if it feels contextually necessary.
• Solving two or three puzzles that do a bit more than the bare Go To X Then Activate Y queries, and even those ones have a smidge more going on like with the Altar Of Dumat and Malcolm's Will side quests.
• Witnessing actual colors, lighting, and other mood setters instead of all the stock presentation plaguing the majority of the base game's dungeons.
• Partaking in fights, both major and minor, that are much, much better designed. The secret fight against Malvernis, especially, had more involved tactics and command planning than literally everything I had brute forced against prior, and it was right around the time I picked up on various cross-class combos too.
As for the rest of the package, they're well enough. Codices are more intriguing this time around, though DA2's lineup of them were already decently handled to begin with. The dungeon dwelling here still doesn't hit quite as much as they do in Origins, but it's also a step above the norm due to all the things I mentioned prior. While I'm not totally into the story being told, especially since Corypheus himself is just a water downed version of The Architect from Awakening (...which now that I'm saying this, also had watered down interactions of the Grey Warden stuff from there too in the form of Janeka and Larius), I will still give credit since it at least delves into and elaborates upon the Hawke Family, doubly so if you decide to bring the Sibling character along for the plot. Good for me, since I'm barely struggling to care about Hawke as-is in this point of the game's narrative. There's a couple of items here that makes the previously-alluded stale combat take up less time and making you bulkier, but a good number of items in other DLCs do an equal or outright better job, especially since these ones are scaled meaning they're potentially worse if you do this too early. At least Hawke's Key has a hilarious exploit, though!
Nothin else to really go over, just a rather solid add-on in the entire Bioware repertoire of these. Any other complaints would be akin to what I have with most: feels too under budgeted in accordance to the main meat within.
• No longer dealing with inflated health pools, a majority of the enemies here have their stats feel just right.
• No longer having to deal with random enemy reinforcements cropping up when it should've been over already, instead being done if it feels contextually necessary.
• Solving two or three puzzles that do a bit more than the bare Go To X Then Activate Y queries, and even those ones have a smidge more going on like with the Altar Of Dumat and Malcolm's Will side quests.
• Witnessing actual colors, lighting, and other mood setters instead of all the stock presentation plaguing the majority of the base game's dungeons.
• Partaking in fights, both major and minor, that are much, much better designed. The secret fight against Malvernis, especially, had more involved tactics and command planning than literally everything I had brute forced against prior, and it was right around the time I picked up on various cross-class combos too.
As for the rest of the package, they're well enough. Codices are more intriguing this time around, though DA2's lineup of them were already decently handled to begin with. The dungeon dwelling here still doesn't hit quite as much as they do in Origins, but it's also a step above the norm due to all the things I mentioned prior. While I'm not totally into the story being told, especially since Corypheus himself is just a water downed version of The Architect from Awakening (...which now that I'm saying this, also had watered down interactions of the Grey Warden stuff from there too in the form of Janeka and Larius), I will still give credit since it at least delves into and elaborates upon the Hawke Family, doubly so if you decide to bring the Sibling character along for the plot. Good for me, since I'm barely struggling to care about Hawke as-is in this point of the game's narrative. There's a couple of items here that makes the previously-alluded stale combat take up less time and making you bulkier, but a good number of items in other DLCs do an equal or outright better job, especially since these ones are scaled meaning they're potentially worse if you do this too early. At least Hawke's Key has a hilarious exploit, though!
Nothin else to really go over, just a rather solid add-on in the entire Bioware repertoire of these. Any other complaints would be akin to what I have with most: feels too under budgeted in accordance to the main meat within.
Always trust the crazy guys with infected blood
Idk I think this was kind of stupid. I only came back to this after playing Inquisition (for obvious reasons) and it was kind of baffling seeing such important details be treated so... cheaply? Idk.
Straightforward dungeon exploration content that is fun to play as long as one hasn't gotten tired of the combat yet.
+ better environmental design than the main game
+ minor backstory about the protagonist's family
- rehashed — in a worse way — player choice from DAO: Awakening concerning the final antagonist
+ better environmental design than the main game
+ minor backstory about the protagonist's family
- rehashed — in a worse way — player choice from DAO: Awakening concerning the final antagonist
cool lore while you explore a 6 floor dungeon (all of them look the same) but it's worth it.
hawke family lore :)
If you've already played da2 you should play this too.
It has some new ideas, features gray wardens, dark spawn, hawke's father and sets up inquisition.
It has some new ideas, features gray wardens, dark spawn, hawke's father and sets up inquisition.
A very solid expansion. Although it is repetitive like the base game and it may drag on, it has a very interesting story and it sets up a future villain for the series. He ended up sucking, but that's not this expansion's problem.
This felt like an apology for some of the underbaked/crunched aspects of the base game. One of the only times I actually had fun playing DA2 (as opposed to just liking the characters).
I don't remember anything about this except for the final battle with the final boss of Dragon Age 3, a character no one gives a shit about.
Loooooove when they hide pivotal characters inside tiny DLCs... such intelligent choices
You're telling me my human warrior's dad was a BM?!?!?
Legacy has Hawke travel to the Vinmark Mountains in search of dwarven members of the Carta who, in turn, seek "the blood of the Hawke". There, Hawke (and their sibling, who should absolutely be taken along) finds out more about her father and his past.
Myself, I'm a sucker for more Hawke sisters banter, so I'll shill for this any day. Plus, it got me interested in the lore of Dragon Age really hard, pulling me harder back into a Dragon Age obsession than even DA2's main game managed to. I expect to finally play Inquisition soon.
Myself, I'm a sucker for more Hawke sisters banter, so I'll shill for this any day. Plus, it got me interested in the lore of Dragon Age really hard, pulling me harder back into a Dragon Age obsession than even DA2's main game managed to. I expect to finally play Inquisition soon.
Solid RPG, but definitely the weakest one in the series.
The dungeons are all on the same maps, which gets pretty boring pretty quickly. The story is rather weak. It was hard for me to even get through my first playthrough, and I've never gone back.
The dungeons are all on the same maps, which gets pretty boring pretty quickly. The story is rather weak. It was hard for me to even get through my first playthrough, and I've never gone back.
i'm a proud monsterfucker but corypheus is a mosnter i would never fuck
A solid piece of DLC that sets up Dragon Age: Inquisition surprisingly well. Other than that, it's unremarkable.