This review is different from usual the gameplay from Origins is basically the same so I will not be going over gameplay because I already did that for a review of the base game. Giving gifts and keeping Companions approval up is back. There are a number of bugs in the expansion that can prevent you from even starting Companion Quests in one playthrough I couldn’t even trigger Velannas and accepting a quest makes Sigrun’s impossible. As soon as you figure out how to navigate the quests in this game there is still a chance Velanna’s won’t show up as it is tied to a Random Encounter that doesn’t spawn often. A bug also causes Ogren’s approval to rise slowly if you recruited him in the base game.

Awakening, Witch Hunt, and Golems takes place several months after the events of Origins and sets things up for Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition. Here you meet characters that have minor to major roles in Dragon Age 2 and many rumors in Witch Hunt reference Kirkwall the area explored in that game and set up Flemeth as an enemy. Awakening introduces Anders and Justice as companions and this is later important context for Dragon Age 2. While Golems isn’t referenced in future games as much as the other two and the base game. It does show varying effects of Lyrium and shows off the Harvester this would also not be important till Dragon Age 2 and the introduction of Red Lyrium. So while the expansions are small they do focus on the overall plot more. You can skip them and not much will change other than more knowledge of the characters backstories and in a game series like Dragon Age where the plot and characters are the focal points.