The expansion part of the DKS (Flames of Vengeance) is well written and ties up the lose ends of the first game nicely. I like the compactness of the setting which works well with the theme as the game was never spread out, just lots to do in a small area. The gear is more of the same with the new armour sets looking ok but nothing sensational. The sets suffer from the problem of once you get the full set the game is nearly over. Overall its a good expansion and I was pleased with it.
However the changes that DKS has made to the original game are not so great. The flying fortresses have been dumbed down considerably and do not provide even a remote challenge any more, one of them has gone from 17 generators to take down the anti-dragon zone to 1 and none of the rest have more than 1 generator or one anti-dragon zone. The set pieces that were available and able to be completed in a single fortress area are now spread all over the game from Sentinel Island through to the Fjords and the Fortresses so now it suffers the same as the expansion making a set impossible to get before being close to the end of the game. The new low level sets are well done but again you are looking for replacements by the time you finish the set, the new weapons are not overpowered when you get them although they may seem to be. I also noticed that they had fixed the level gap between Sentinel Island and the Fjords, no more grinding up a couple of levels to take on the wandering hoards of Imps.
I scored this game a Good for the expansion but if I was reviewing the changes alone it would have a Poor, (Average at best). I highly recommend you give this a miss and buy the expansion as a stand-alone game to add to the original to avoid these “improvements”