The story for this expansion is very nice. Intricate, complicated and with choices where there isn't a clear right or wrong choice. In other words it makes you think. The companions are also an interesting bunch, but they are unfortunately let down by the new dialogue system that Bioware decided to try out. There could have been a lot more companion interaction but there wasn't. This expansion is also buggy as anything, there are a few patches out now that fix some things (but not all) so be sure to download those and save frequently in new slots so you don't have to do a lot of backtracking in case you do run into a bug. Certainly worth playing despite the bugs though, I found the story better than the original campaign.

Bioware released patch 1.03, which makes changes to the engine, to prepare PC users for running DA:Awakening. It is included in Awakening but unfortunately many people have discovered that a series of bugs in it make the game unplayable. The changes affect both DA:Origins and DA:Awakening once Awakening has been installed.

If you can run patch 1.03 without crashes you shouldn't have any problems running Awakening. If you experience crashes you should wait for a new patch before buying or you will be disappointed.

As to the expansion itself, I was disappointed. It expands playing time but does not add to the story. If you liked the dialogue system in Dragon Age:Origins you may find the changed system unwieldy in Awakening. Unlike Origins, you cannot initiate conversation with your party members, instead, you click on items in the world and wait to hear if any current party member has something to say about it. This can lead to a lot of back-tracking with different party members to get the dialogue, most of which is needed for the storyline.

If you want a filler just to keep you occupied while waiting for new DLC for Origins then you may find this game is fun. Just don't expect it to behave the same as Origins, or for it to add anything to the story. It's more like a standalone quest than an expansion to the original game.

Quite intriguing. Plenty of replay potential using the new skills and talents. Personally, I really enjoyed the puzzles, but you can skip them if its not your thing. I still havn't finished it, so more surprises to come, including the Architect!