Leliana's Song DLC Announced for Dragon Age

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Many players of Dragon Age were quite let down when their favorite bard did not make it into Awakening. Bioware has finally announced new download content focusing on none other than Leliana:

Assume the role of Leliana, a young bard involved in a criminal ring that deals in political secrets. Accompanying her mentor Marjolaine on a high-risk mission, Leliana soon finds herself entangled in a game of intrigue that she cannot escape with just her beauty, charm, or stealth. The only way out of this game is to kill or be killed.

Features:

* Explore Leliana's dangerous past and why she joined the Chantry
* Fully voiced cinematic experience brings the characters to life
* Unlock a unique reward that transfers into your Awakening and Origins campaign
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Leliana's Song will be available on July 6th for $7 US. If you'd like to see the official post, click on over to BioWare's Dragon Age: Origins website!

 

Oh, crap...

I knew there was a DLC featuring Leliana that had been planned for a while but I hate how this is looking.

Fleshing out Leliana's past is ok I guess but it means either low level adventure (given Leliana's level in Lothering) or no continuity with DAO and it also means that this DLC will have no relevance to the main game: "Unlock a unique reward that transfers into your Awakening and Origins campaign" -is that supposed to mean that Bioware has reached the conclusion that players collect extra items and that there should be an extra item with each and every DLC now?

Don't get me wrong, that is much more interesting than Darkspawn Chronicles, it's just that if it's as long as other DLCs (and there is no reason to think that it could be any longer given the price tag) then where's the point? RTO has some replay value because players can play it in other runs through the game. What is going to be the point of replaying the Leliana DLC?

I don't get the appeal of standalone DLCs. Bioware seems to be catering to the needs of more casual players and that is probably a mistake as the real fan base isn't going to toss the game away after finishing it once or twice which means that to these dedicated fans replayability matters.

Anyway, let's just hope this DLC will feature at least two hours of gaming time and some dialogue (which seems to be the case since they've pointed out voice acting).

I really think that they could come up with DLC ideas that would make the original game better or explore some unexplored areas (there is room for a lot of extra content in the main game and they have the resources that modders lack).

Well integrated DLCs would at least offer some replayability but it seems that all we are to expect from Bioware now is a new DLC that is going to be another one-trick pony...

EDIT: The E3 trailer

 

I'm more likely to get this than I am Darkspawn Chronicles (which I plan not to get), but I still don't know. I can somewhat deal with Bioware's short, somewhat unsatisfying DLCs when they are connected to a larger game runthrough, as is the case with RTO and Warden's Keep.

But paying $7.00 to play a 90 minute, self-contained story just doesn't do it for me. Sure, I'd love to get more of a glimpse into Leliana's past, but a written short story could accomplish that more than adequately. I'll definitely be waiting for some reviews before I make a decision on this.

 

I'll be picking it up for two reasons... one, with what they state as far as what you'll be doing as Leliana, I have a feeling it might end up being longer than 90 minutes. Two - I'll be checking out every possible aspect of that DLC so I can write a review for the site as well.

 

Nice idea! I'll be waiting for your review to compare notes then.

 

Just remind me to take screen shots!!

 

No problem.

 

Personally, I think they should go back to DLC more akin to the premium modules of NWN. In that respect, both Darkspawn Chronicles and Leliana's Song seem to be (on paper) steps in the right direction.

Problem is, they all seem too small. Instead of releasing little DLC's at $5-7 each, they should release a solid module with a few hours worth of gameplay and a cohesive story for $15-20.

 

I will deffinatly get this one when its out. Looks fun, besides Leliana is one of the better characters in the game. Would be cool if they did a prequel DLC for all the NPC`s actually. Taking place a month or two before the game starts.

 

One for Shale as well? Taking place a month before Ostagar. That would be an awesome action packed DLC adventure.

 

Hehe yeah. Could be an arcade game where you controll the birds, trying to hit Shale`s face with droppings.

 

Hehe... Shale and her hatred of birds just cracks me up.

 

Aw; I got semi-excited when I saw this, but while I like the idea of further backstory it never seems to compare to when I have everyone together. I love when character back story is expanded upon (ala Canterbury Tales-esque progression), but the venue chosen seems to be a bit of an afterthought to me. Personally, I would have loved something like a little origin for each of the characters in the main game; but that style of story telling is more of an omnipresent narrative than a 'first person narrative,' but I've found that games who take the omnipresent narrator approach give me the feeling of a much grander story. Sure immersion is good, but the Baldur's Gate Trilogy, PS:T, etc all took a more narrative approach to the story while still immersing me into them.

This approach offers further insight into the inner-workings of various characters and I think if the developers had decided to put more backstory (even if not along the lines of my "origin"-for-everyone idea) into the game, it would have made it a much richer story. The method that BioWare is taking almost reminds me of the War of the Lance series; the main story was finished first, and then the prelude novels came out (short novels that tell the story of what each member of the main cast did before the war). I loved loved the prelude novels, but I felt if they would have came out first, my appreciation for the characters in the main story would only have been heightened. For example, Riverwind was a cool character in the main story, but he would have been much more developed if his story from the preludes had already been established. His prelude was definitely one of my favorites, and made me like a character I otherwise didn't really give a second thought.

Surely this is very difficult to pull off in the manner I stated, as just throwing a bunch of preludes about random characters at the beginning of any story might seem a bit offish; but I think it could work. Though, don't get me wrong, I think the lore of Dragonage is quite good, especially the mage towers and the lands surrounding Fereldan (excuse the spelling!). The characters backgrounds were expanded upon quite a bit compared to what we have gotten in recent years; in my opinion however, if more, like the Leliana's Song DLC, back ground had been released with the game itself, it would have been pushed to higher grounds. Honestly, BG1 didn't get that much of a following; it was the second game that really made it popular. If Dragonage 2 makes the story even more epic, and we get some of our favorite characters back/they expand more upon the stories of other characters that we get, then it could quite well be a spiritual successor to baldur's gate.

I'm just hoping that their release of back story for Leliana indicates a willingness to spend more time creating depth in their heroes.

 

Hehe, this might work as the intro:

Dragon Age fans get ready!! You've played as the Gray Warden. You've played as the Darkspawn. But now get ready for the best DLC for Dragon Age: Origins yet!

You are the commander of a squad of pigeons, and there's a frozen golem in Honnleath that's just asking for a reaming. Load up on bird seed and get ready to smother that rock-encrusted b**** with all the birdy fecal matter your tiny bowels can muster up!

"Cut away to some screen shots with "This is the New S**t" playing in the background!!

 

Terrific!

 

Oh that was just the icing on the cake that was my day. I was just asked to keep it down from the others trying to sleep, I was laughing so hard! Good one Marceror! Epic win!

 

It makes me laugh every time I read it. This is the new sh!t indeed!

 

Thanks Cara and CD. I'm glad you got a laugh from it. That was the intent.

 

Well it sure did work, that line makes me laugh everytime.

 

Found a clearer version of the trailer for the new DLC. I figured I'd post it since I know I had problems trying to see and understand some of what was going on from the video someone probably took with their camera phone at E3, so if anyone else had a problem, this should clear it up a bit.