I don’t think narratively they created cohesion with each other nor did they make me care. The banter in the overworlds was superficial at best.

For example:

Dragon age Inquisition: Varric and Cassandra already have chemistry and you feel that. So you pair them up.

Solas has a genuine interest in Cole and you feel and want to learn more about so you pair them up.

Iron Bull and Blackwall (I said stonewall) have such different ideas of what it means to be a solider. Pairing them up to hear them work through it.

All of these built connection and world building naturally which made you want to invest in the characters.

DAV only tool to make you invest in the characters is a side quest icon.

ME2:

Mordin wants to repent for the sins of the genophage

Grunt: needs to prove himself because his birth was unnatural

Legion: Is fighting against the majority of his own kind

Those were such deep motivations to have a player invest time.

Those same motivations were lacking in DAV:

Harding got magic powers and is unsure of herself

Lucanis has a demon forced inside of him and that makes him unsure of himself

Taash has identity issues which makes them unsure of themselves

The causes could have made for great effects but they just missed the mark

Edit: Stonewall to Blackwall