6/10
Anders (why not make a completely new character if his personality does a total 180 since awakening), repeating maps, and the last chapter sour the experience of what could have been a 9/10 game. I still enjoyed he game a bit, and characters like Varric, Sarcastic Hawke, Isabela, and Balthier the magic tattoo elf were awesome. What drops it to barely above average for me is also in the story related details below.
SPOILERS
Things like Leiliana going from running away with the hero of Fereldan never to be seen again to magically being a high-profile Chantry Seeker sucked. My Anders in Awakening was a charming wise-cracking wizard who was far more likely tell a Templar a joke than blow him up. This disregard for established character paths and in-game illusions of choice really hurt game as well. Make a tough choice in a quest or story path? Don't worry, it ends in nearly the exact same thing the completely opposite choice would give you. In the first Dragon Age your choices seemed to affect the world more, even if some essentially boil down to what troops you have in the final battle and the epilogue text after you complete that story branch.
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