I bought Dragon Age: Awakening from a brick-and-mortar shop mid-week, and thus far have managed about an hour of game time or so. Before I walked in to the shop for my purchase, I had to fight a burning desire to simply re-purchase the Steam version of Dragon Age Origins, which I already own on CD, so that I could buy the expansion digitally too, and do away the annoying CD check each time I launch the game.

My mind gripe with Awakening is that it carries over poorly from the Origins. Rather than being a continuation of my adventures from the previous game, this feels more like a separate add-on. Within minutes of starting the game, seeing my character naked, and a bit of Google-ing around, followed by the stark realization that none of the gear, except for one particular dagger which I was wielding, I was left with a sour feeling. My Blood Dragon armor didn’t carry over, neither did my Starfang sword.

Although replacements were found soon after, it was not after at least ten minutes into the game. If first impressions count for anything, mine was spent battling hordes of Darkspawn naked, with a dagger and a random heavy shield that I liberated from a crate. Not the most impressive way to start off a game.

I have deep respect for BioWare, and I hope that this an issue that would be addressed in the near future rather than an intended consequence. It’s a poor way of integrating the game experience otherwise.