I was hoping the original game was packed with the expansion, and sure enough it was. That got a big ole grin, since I had stored my personal copy in the garage amongst the hundred or so boxes stacked there. Installing the game was fast and easy, and there weren't any graphics problems once I had it running. As a side note, those graphics looked even better then when I first played the original, but then that was on an older computer.

The first thing you get on game creation is that Aranna can be played as a stand alone, or you can import your old characters from the original game. Since I had to delete everything because of hard drive problems I needed to start all over. Character creation is very easy, but you still have limitation choices on the type of race that you start with. In other words, it's strictly of the human persuasion. Personalizing the character is simple, with a good selection of choices in facial features and body types. This is one important aspect I like, since some games come with stock figures making for poor character immersion. I prefer a bit of variation in looks when playing a character.

I always encourage people to read the instruction manual before getting too far into the game. There is nothing like being surprised by something which could have been resolved quickly, because you didn't bother to read the book. There are a number of changes that have improved game play a bit. The inventory area can be auto-sorted, including adding packs so you can store even more on the character. The original had sections on the inventory screen which needed clicking to open up. A lot of time was wasted looking for something special, when the sorting feature put your important items back in the last section, instead of up front where you needed them. This feature delays the need to buy pack animals till you really need them. If you're looking to add more non-player characters to the party this will be a big plus. There's a tool tips popup which some players may not like, but I've found it comes in handy when playing, as it saves on always clicking items to find out what enhancements they may have.

Let's get back to the pack animals, by the way. We have two types in the expansion; pack mules and walking lizards called traggs. One nice thing about having them in your party is, their ability to fight back when attacked. The pack mules usually stood around dying quite a bit. This required numerous saves, as they usually dropped everything on the ground upon death. The traggs can carry nearly as much as a mule.

There are new spells, weapons, armor and monsters added. And also a new way to fly that is basically a new way of traveling from one place to another location. That got me scratching my head, since I couldn't remember flying in the original one. You still are required to hoof it to both pads to activate them before they can even be used.

When it comes to completing missions, I personally have this bad habit of standing my ground while in a mixup with the baddies. That normally means a fast death and reloading of the last saved game. If you are of the same persuasion, then I highly recommend frequent saves to keep you from the headache of replaying through several screens again. That was the case when having to clear out a cave, and the end boss had a few minions to help in wiping me out. I had to replay from the beginning of the town gate back to the cave again. The second time was better, since I remembered to save at the cave entrance.

Speaking of standing your ground, sometimes it's a good idea to run for it and get your enemies separated. That was the case when dealing with the giant and his golem minions. The first time I was stupid and stood my ground, which resulted in a messy death. Rethinking my strategy led me to lure and kill the lead monster, then run some distance away to cast direct damage spells and use my archers to shoot at range. Monsters will continue to chase your team instead of returning back to their starting point. This makes for easy pickings, since the faster ones get ahead of the slower moving types. You can also apply this tactic to enemy casters which stand their ground. By moving out of their casting range you will get them to move, then it's a matter of rushing back in and overwhelming the lead caster before they can set up as a group.

When it comes to treasure, it's best to sell off most items you pick up. Coinage is at a premium since really good items are extremely expensive, especially when trying to outfit your team and the group is large. Be careful when selling though, because you may sell something that could be part of a complete set, or imbued with a special ability. This treasure type was added to the expansion. Complete sets will give enhanced abilities over and beyond what the standard fare is. There are new spells as well, along with the standard fare from the previous game. Some of these new ones are mentioned in the manual, but there are more that you will come across as loot or in a shop. Some of the nice ones are summon spells, which bring different monsters to fight for your group. That comes in handy when you might be out numbered and could use some additional muscle.

As with everything in any roleplaying games, you have to level your character and his abilities. When I played Dungeon Siege I tried to make my characters do everything, which resulted in everything being lower then if I had specialized just one or two abilities. When your character goes into combat they will have four slots. These will be for a melee weapon, ranged weapon, combat magic and nature magic. My advice when it comes to magic is to have a character specialize in one of the two magic types and a support weapon, either melee or ranged. Use the other magic type as back up, but don't concern yourself with trying to level that one up.

For example, you might have a combat mage with nature magic as a backup, just using heal spells for the fourth slot, and for support maybe a melee weapon when the attacker closes in. Another character can specialize in nature magic and use combat magic for self defense, or to help finish off a nasty enemy. Why would I say this? To make your spells stronger requires that type of magic field to be leveled. If you're switching back and forth between both magic fields then each type will level, but at a slower pace then if you concentrated on one main field. The same applies to weapons as well.

Last on my list is to buy lots of health and mana potions, and use the auto share button so each team member has a decent supply of each. Make good use of the space bar, since that will pause the game, but will give needed time to issue commands before you return back to the action. Remember that Dungeon Siege is a real time simulation game and the action never stops. If you're wondering about multi player games, know that nothing has really changed there, and you can play with all your online friends.

When it comes to creating scenarios and wanting to test your skills, then you will enjoy using the creation utility that comes along with the game. I'm not a mod maker, but I tried my hand at using a simple tutorial, and must state that I understood the instructions. I enjoyed messing around with it and the DS site provides a "university" where you can teach yourself to use the tool set. I enjoyed playing the expansion as much as I did playing the original game, and if you are one of the many fans of Dungeon Siege, then I think you'll like this as well.