14 DAY TRIAL // The Awakening expansion for Dragon Age: Origins was launched about two weeks ago. Having completed my first run through it last night, I believe there's a lot to like about this traditional expansion but that the characters it tries to build around the player persona don't have enough time to be developed to the same extent as true Origins characters.
The standout of the bunch you get to fight alongside is definitely Justice. Early in The Awakening, you get a few clues about Kristoff, a fellow Grey Warden who escaped the initial attack on Vigil Keep and went out to seek the darkspawn deep in a marsh where the Veil that separates the Fade from mortal realm is permeable. After a few quests, a Spirit of Justice from the Fade comes to inhabit the body of the now dead Kristoff and the player can ask him to join the party.
Despite just two or three conversations that a gamer can have with Justice, he makes a clear impact on the experience. He's the ultimate outsider, knowing nothing about the real world of Ferelden or about how to interact with its inhabitants, beyond just slaying darkspawn and demons. He slowly discovers the beauty surrounding him and begins to understand what mortals feel and understand of the Fade. He's both resigned to never going back to his original home and eager, in a very mild manner, to know more about where he currently resides.
And his most poignant moment comes when Justice meets Aura, Kristoff’s wife. BioWare really managed to capture the hope, the despair and the rage that flow through the woman as she understands that this is not her husband returned to her but another creature inhabiting his body. The writers also succeeded in capturing the surprise and the lack of reaction on Justice's part, confronted with such strong negative emotions (he even gets to be called a demon, something he has fought against his entire existence) created by his simple presence. It's a short scene, which leads to a pretty forgettable quest but it does offer something The Awakening otherwise misses: a window into how the entire world is changed and shaped by the invasion of the darkspawn and choices made by the player.