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Dragon Age II: Mark Of The Assassin DLC Impressions
BioWare unleashed the second major piece of DLC for Dragon Age II today (the first was Legacy). Despite many gamers' complaints about Dragon Age II in general, I enjoyed the base game, and was excited to play through Hawke's big heist. Unfortunately, Mark of the Assassin ultimately left me disappointed.
The story revolves around a new character, an elf assassin named Tallis. If you've been paying attention to your Dragon Age-related news, you probably know that Tallis is voiced by nerd darling Felicia Day. Tallis even looks a bit like her real-world counterpart...which isn't surprising considering the character is also in the Dragon Age: Redemption web series.
If you were thinking of downloading Mark of the Assassin solely to have a digitized Felicia Day to command and romance for the whole plot in Dragon Age II, I have two things to point out: 1) Gross. 2) Tallis is only a member of Hawke's party for the duration of the DLC.Once you complete the quest, Tallis vanishes and is no longer accessible. The time she does accompany you is well-spent, though; the little bit of backstory you learn about her is interesting, and she can hold her own in combat. Since she's a rogue, you should consider letting Varric and Isabella sit this mission out to avoid redundancy.
You can activate the quest from your safehouse, once you have one. I started it very close to the beginning, shortly after Hawke and his family arrive in Kirkwall. I feel like this was a mistake, since low-level characters don't have as many options in battle, even if the encounters are supposedly tuned to your level. A few of the battles early on were too hard for me to complete on normal difficulty, and I had to bump it down to casual. However, as I leveled up and started investing in new skills and getting better gear, I had fewer problems. In fact, the final boss of the DLC hardly made Hawke break a sweat. Considering how the difficulty curve evened out for me, I'd recommend waiting until level 9 or 10 rather than starting Mark of the Assassin right out of the gate.
The intrigue begins with a cut to the Seeker asking Varric about "the Qunari," and Tallis is wrapped up in that tale. Hawke meets her when she helps him (assuming your Hawke is male like mine) out of an ambush, and she enlists him to recover a valuable gem called the Heart of the Many. The heist involves showing up to a dinner party, posing as nobility, hunting a wyvern, and other assorted hijinks. To explain too much about the course of events would spoil the story, and I don't want to do that, because the story is about all this DLC pack has going for it.
The majority of the gameplay is the same as the core Dragon Age II experience. Run around until you find something lost in the forest. Solve some simple puzzles. Touch an alter, then fight off a crazy cult because the exits all have forcefields around them. These tried-and-true activities aren't bad; I had a good time doing them in the base game. But here, they feel like they are being used to pad out the experience rather than add engaging moments. I will say that I didn't run into any recycled environments, and the pacing was handled well in terms of keeping the action moving forward. Mark of the Assassin took me a little over 3 hours to beat, but most of that time was spent doing the same old song and dance rather than breaking any new ground.
An exception to that statement is the stealth sequence, which is sloppy and dull...but at least it isn't difficult. On one hand, I'm glad BioWare tried to change things up a little bit. On the other hand, different isn't always good, and in this case, the creeping around doesn't add any entertainment to the package.
What do you get as a memento of your time with Tallis? Even though she doesn't stick around, I picked up a nice set of armor (I was playing a warrior), some decent accessories, and an amulet with good attribute bonuses attached. I also gained a bunch of levels, not to mention about 20 gold (which goes a long way when you're trying to save up for the Deep Roads expedition).
No part of Mark of the Assassin feels broken or awful. It does feels like a missed opportunity to try some new things with the formula, though. It's more Dragon Age II, and that's tough to complain about. However, why pay $10 to do more of the same stuff that is abundantly available in the main game? If you think about that and your answer is still "But...but...Felicia Day!", then this DLC is right up your alley. Otherwise, take a pass.
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