It’s the return of Throwback Thursday! As you might remember, a long time ago I did a segment called Throwback Thursday and it basically highlighted all of the games that I played and either got the platinum trophy for or the 100% completion for before I started writing this blog and reviewing the games that I was currently playing. I loved writing this blog and going back to remember the games that I played, so I figured why not do this for all the DLC I completed. There came the birth of my new weekly segment, Throwback Thursday Review – DLC Remix. Why call it DLC Remix? Because on some of my reviews I touched base on what DLC’s the game had and all that good stuff, but now I plan on fully reviewing the DLC as I do with current DLC’s that I complete.
Onto the very first DLC that I played, which was The Exiled Prince, courtesy of Dragon Age II. Before this game I had very little interest in DLC. I didn’t need it, didn’t want it, and sure as hell didn’t want to pay for it. Like everyone else, I came to the realization that if you don’t play the DLC you could be missing out on some important stuff, bonus material that you might not see otherwise, the actual ending to the game, or whatever else these companies like to throw into their DLC’s. Not only is this the first DLC, but it also marks the first time my PS3 came online. Before than all my gaming was done strictly offline, unbelievable I know, but it’s true. Anyway, onto the review.
The Exiled Prince was a day one DLC that came with Dragon Age II. There was a catch though as it only came with the special edition of Dragon Age II that had to be pre-ordered. If not you had to pay an extra $9.99 for the character along with a Mabari that was sadly left out of the second game. Not only was this a two character pack though, the addition of the Mabari added extra scenes with your squad mates and extra conversations with your house staff and the character of Sebastian Vael. You’ll meet Sebastian early on in the game and learn that he is a once prince turned Chantry brother that needs your help tracking down the people that slaughtered his entire family. You’ll go through a couple of extra character quests for him if you so choose to and ultimately set him on the path of what he’s going to be doing for the rest of his life. This DLC also gives you an extra scene that if you don’t see will make the end and why Leliana is involved a little confusing.
While I loved the addition of the Mabari, I couldn’t understand why the hell this was left out in the first place because it was such an awesome addition to Dragon Age: Origins, I really couldn’t stomach the character of Sebastian. He’s the typical church fanatic who wears an image of Andraste over his crotch. It’s weird and it’s made fun of during the course of the game which is hilarious. Anyway, this has to be one of the very worst characters in Dragon Age as he always takes what he considers the “high” ground and looks down on everyone else who doesn’t agree with him. Will he turn out to be something more in the Dragon Age universe at a later time? I have no idea, but I’m sure he might pop up sooner or later in what will be ugh moment. The added on loyalty quests for him were bland and boring, mostly because he’s such an unlikable character though if you take the right characters along with you it does offer some funny dialogue to make up for all the boring shit you’ll have to do for him.
The playability for this DLC was right in range with the Dragon Age II game as a whole. It fitted smoothly into the game and acted like it wasn’t tacked on in any way. Like it was supposed to be there from the very start, but you just had to pay more money in order to unlock it. I didn’t have any problems when it came to the quests for this DLC or anything else to do with the DLC. Everything ran smoothly.
The graphics for the DLC were on par with the rest of Dragon Age II. I know this game gets a lot of hate, but I for one really enjoyed not only the game as a whole but also the graphics for this game. They were a huge improvement from Dragon Age: Origins and it really showed. The graphics for the DLC were no different and really enhanced the overall game play.
Trophies, there are 5 trophies for this game. That’s a lot of trophies for such a little DLC, but all trophies are super easy to get and require you to just play the DLC, become either a rival or friend of Sebastian, and make sure to give him back some property that once belonged to his family. Super simple and if you’re playing this DLC there’s no way you won’t get these trophies on the first go around.
This was a time where multiplayer wasn’t tacked on to Dragon Age, mostly because it wasn’t needed.
Overall I give this DLC a 2 out of 5.
What’s Great:
+ You can finally add a Mabari to your “merry band of misfits”.
+ Adds in some extra story that make the game as a whole make a little more sense and might lead to things that are coming up in the Dragon Age series.
What’s Not So Great:
– Sebastian Vael has to be one of the worst Dragon Age characters ever created.
– Sebastian’s quests aren’t all that exciting or really any fun to play just like the character itself.
– If you don’t play this DLC you are missing out on some key story elements which really sucks because some of them are important.
If you got this DLC with your edition of Dragon Age II, then there’s no reason why you shouldn’t play. You were one of the lucky ones that got it for free. If you didn’t get this DLC with your edition of Dragon Age II, then it’s kind of a toss up if you want to spend the $9.99 to play it. Yes, it adds some stuff in that might be important later on, but it’s really not worth it just to get access to a new character you’ll probably never use and a Mabari that should have been included in the first place.
Now for next week, we’ll continue on with Dragon Age II DLC because at this point in my gaming lifetime this was all that I was playing over and over again as I eagerly awaited this new concept of “DLC” and what it could bring. Come back next week to see what I thought of Dragon Age II: Legacy.
1 Broke Gamer Girl 