Dragon Age DLC

[SolGen]

I bought the game second hand so I didn't get the Stone Prisoner and Warden's Keep DLC. From those who did play those DLC's would you say it would be worth the $22 download cost? That's almost what I payed for the game in the first place.

[Lord Chaos]

Depends, I feel they're worth it as they add a nice bit of extras to the game...but if you're tight for cash, then it might not be worth it for you.

[ThreeDog]

Howdy SolGen. As a veteran rpger who managed to snag up a copy of Dragon Age for my birthday, I can give you a couple of impressions on the DLC.

Let me cut straight to the chase with a definite answer: No. It's not worth it, in the least. And I didn't even PAY for that dlc, I got it fresh out of the box.

Now, let me elaborate a little bit on each, to give you my reasons for dissuading against it. I'll try and keep it as spoiler free as possible, while still pointing out the flaws.

The Stone Prisoner (14.99): Adds the ability to gain the party member, Shale, as well as additional quests.

However, what they DON'T tell you, is that those additional quests are incredibly short, and unfulfilling. The first quest consists of actually acquiring Shale in a small town, and reactivating the golem, which you can do at your leisure at any point of time, as it adds a new location on your world map. This is roughly 30-40 minutes worth of content, give or take depending on how much poking around that you do in the town. The second quest that they give you in this DLC also concerns Shale's origin, which again is roughly 40 minutes worth of content (including fighting). Although it is slightly interesting narrative, none of the events that take place within this DLC effect the outcome of the game in the least, except during the epilogue for the game which will just take a second and point out what happened to Shale after the end, like every other character. That's it, there's nothing else in the DLC. 1 extra character, 2 one step quests. The only additional equipment that shows up in the game is special gear for Shale, which consists of various crystals that Shale uses for weapons and armor, but nothing new or interesting for your regular characters.

So all in all, you're paying 14.99 for about an extra 2 hours of content that bears no significant meaning on your gameplay, and a new character to micromanage that... you probably won't use (depending on your tastes, of course. I did use Shale a few times, and I can't say anything BAD about the character. Dialogue was decent enough). Oh, and if you're playing on the console versions (PS3 or Xbox 360), it will add 2 new trophies or achievements, which consist of acquiring Shale, and Shale's origin quest.


Warden's Keep DLC (6.99): Warden's Keep will grant players access to Soldier's Peak, two new talents and spells per class from the Power of Blood school, two new achievements, and items. In addition, Warden's Keep will include two new merchants and a Party Storage Chest that allows the player to store additional inventory.

Whoa Nelly. This DLC right here is the EPITOME of "Money Trap" if there ever was one. First and foremost, the Storage Chest referred to in this DLC was actually normal content that was CUT FROM THE GAME. Not cool at all. Second, I found TWO instances in the game where they try to GOAD you into purchasing this DLC. There was QUITE a bit of controversy surrounding this manuever, you can go look it up. Oh, and the Warden's Keep actual playthrough content? More or less about the same length as Shale's, 20-60 minutes, depending on how much poking and prodding you do, with the aforementioned few extra trophies/achievements, but nothing critical that will stop you from enjoying the game.

The first time is when you first get to your party camp, and there's another NPC there who will take you through a long series of dialogue, detailing the Warden's Keep and telling you why it's VERY important that you go there. However, you don't realize that it's a DLC advertisement until you get through the dialogue, during which one of your ACTUAL dialogue options is to quit out of the game and go and buy the DLC. Immersion = broken. This made me VERY angry.

The second time this occurs, is during a random World Map travel event, where you stumble across a burning crater in the ground with a newborn baby in it, and two elderly people are standing next to it. Doesn't that sound familiar....?

Yes. That means that SUPERMAN has shown up in Ferelden. No, I'm not kidding.

After the couple take the baby from the crater, you're able to jump in the hole and look around, after which you recover a shard from the meteor that the baby arrives in, a shard of meteor metal. After doing some quick research on what to do with it, I learned that you can take the meteor shard and go and craft it into a choice of a one-handed or two-handed weapon. The catch? The only person that can FORGE the meteor metal, can only do so in.... Warden's Keep. Meaning, if you want to go and use that item, you'll have to shell out 7 bucks on something that truly in the end game, will make no difference. Therefore, if you don't pay for the DLC, that meteor shard is absolutely worthless. So I threw it away.


All in all, if you paid almost the same amount as the total cost of this DLC, you're making off like a bandit. But my advice? Avoid this DLC like the plague. And I didn't even PAY for the dlc, I got it free and still highly advise against it. Dragon Age Origins is not a BAD game, per se... Even as a power player, it took me roughly 60-70 hours to playthrough from start to finish, the story was pretty interesting, and there were just the right twists and turns to keep me interested along the way. But falsely gouging the players with questionably priced DLC and even less for what they pay for, is NOT the way.


And that was very longwinded.

You can also review the things that I have said
here, which covers the DLC is more detail, naturally with spoilers. You don't have to take my word for it, after all at the end of the day it's your dollar spent. But I highly advise against it.

[Lord Chaos]

And that was the pessimist view.

In the end take Threedogs advice with a grain of salt. Its really cutting to the bone of it and I have both the DLCs and I enjoyed both quite a lot and would highly recommend them. Its simply a matter of whether you have the money for it or not. To me the money was inconsequential and I weigh the experience much higher.

What Threedog kinda forget to point out is that the hour times are PER PLAYTHROUGH, if you like me play many different characters, then there's a lot more content hours in those DLCs and more nuances.

I found Watchers Keep to have a very enjoyable storyline, good voice acting and good content. Shale is a very interesting NPC to have with you and to have in camp. And the quest in town can actually take quite a while depending on how long you take on the puzzles. Not to mention they're both quite different from the rest of the game.

I must say that the complaints about the DLCs are pretty weak...I don't really care if the content was intended to be in the game, its not and thats what matters. I don't care if people want to argue that its bad that an NPC pimps getting content for your game...I didn't have a problem with that (mostly because I bought the DLC right of)...and just because you can only use the meteor shard there is really just a bonus content if nothing else.

In the end its a question of whether or not you wish to extend an already enjoyable game or not...If you're ok with Dragon Age the way it is, then don't buy them, but if you like Dragon Age so much that you want every bit you can get of it, then definitely get both DLCs.

[ThreeDog]

In the end its a question of whether or not you wish to extend an already enjoyable game or not...If you're ok with Dragon Age the way it is, then don't buy them, but if you like Dragon Age so much that you want every bit you can get of it, then definitely get both DLCs.

I think this is the only truly valuable thing that you're going to glean from the both of us that we both agree on, SolGen. He presents one side of view, I present the other. He focuses on the experience, while I'm looking at it from the consumer standpoint of "best bang for your buck." I found the bang for the buck to be lacking, and don't recommend it. But if you enjoy the game that much, do it. If not absolutely rabid in love with it, avoid it. I'm a person who is in favor of DLC, as long as the content matches up equally with the cost, which I don't think happened here with the Dragon Age DLC in the least.

[Lord Chaos]

Also keep in mind that the cost vs. experience scale is different according to who you're talking to. Most take the cost in comparison to a full game. I do not. I would personally rather extend a game I enjoy than going out and getting a new game all together.