[REVIEW] Tracing the bloodline: Dragon Age 2: Legacy

Dragon Age 2 was, in my opinion, a mixed bag of a game. On one hand, there's an epic storyline that runs throughout (something we've come to expect from a BioWare game), beautiful scenery, and some of the funniest companion dialogue since KOTOR's HK-77. On the other, however, it's marred with repetetive  side quests, copy/paste map areas, and plot choices that didn't quite fit with the character you'd been playing throught the game. Also, with essentially only 2 endings, there wasn't much in the way of replay value.

Thankfully, that's where the latest DLC, Legacy, shines.

The storyline for this DLC is an aside to the main questline, so having completed DA2 a couple of times already, I loaded up a finished save with my Warrior Hawke (2-Handed Swords... is there anything more badass?), and proceeded to take the next step on my Journey. The Hawke family (only me by this stage.) are being targeted by the Carta, and I wanted answers.

Why are they never happy to see you?

It unfolds that there's an ancient Darkspawn trapped in a Grey Warden prison, underneath the Vimmark Mountains, and the Carta are out for Hawke blood to release it. Obviously, this is what is known in Adventure RPG games as a Bad Thing, and it was my duty to stop it.

That's probably as far as I can go without starting to leak spoilers, so instead I'll talk about the good points.

Every area in Legacy is completely new, huge, and, even more importantly, not repeated (except where plot makes it permissible). It really does have the sense of a new adventure, and there's quite a lot inside it (Three extra side-quests). The biggest highlight for me though, is the class-specific weapon that you receive. In my case, it was a HUGE 2-Handed sword (of sorts), and looks like a weapon of terror. More so, as you progress through the main questline, you're given the chance to upgrade the weapon as you go... but here's the kicker: You get a choice of 4 options each time! I know that doesn't sound like much, especially when there's only three times you get to choose, but it really makes it your weapon, suited to your play-style, and that's a big thing for me.

More beautiful scenery, but not a glimpse of the sun in sight.

There were, of course, a few negatives. Luckily only a few, and nothing that majorly sours the experience. I found the DLC a little short for my liking, and knocked the whole thing over (including side-quests) in just under four hours, which means that it costs about 200MSP an hour. In comparison, the Fallout:NV DLC generally adds another 6-8 hours of gameplay (not counting the time it takes to reboot once it crashes...), and runs a few hundred MSP's cheaper. The side-quests as well seemed slightly tacked on, not overly revealing any extra plot information, or adding items that made them worth doing, and were placed at points that meant you would encounter each section (and complete them) along the way anyway, without much backtracking, searching or exploring. If I'm honest, half the time I thought I was exploting, I was actually following the main path, unaware that the hallways I'd decided to go back to were actually blocked off.

In short, Legacy brings a few new things to the table, and the storyline fits nice and snugly in with the canon. I'd be interested to see how it plays out at different points in the story, especially with the way it ended. If you liked (or loved, as I did) DA2, or were annoyed by the repetitious maps, then Legacy is a worthy purchase... but I'd probably wait till it inevitably goes on sale.

DA2: Legacy is out now on XBLA (800MSP), PSN ($9.95), PC & Mac (800 BioWare Points)