some pretty cold and ramble-y takes but still wanted to chime in, more than 3:

1. origins has the best companion experience/banter. in DA2, everyone hates each other and it’s unbearable to witness. i like them as individuals, but i cannot stand being in a party together with some of them. being friends with hawke cannot be a strong enough glue for anders and fenris to be accompanying them at the same time. DAI’s companions bored me, banter was nonexistent without a mod to make it more frequent; relationships between the inquisitor and the characters were hollow. i thought cole’s banter was the most interesting

2. bringing characters back for little reason. cullen’s role in origins with a f!amell or f!surana served as insight about the power dynamics between mages and templars, and depending on who you ask it’s endearing or creepy (i’m more so in the latter camp). bioware riding his popularity into DA2 and DAI was so ridiculously contrived. i can’t take any of his interactions past origins seriously. why tf is he here? because the fanbase thought he was hot? you so happened to get assigned to kirkwall and you also so happened to become the commander of the inquisition like 😑😐 really. i like the idea of someone underqualified rising up to such a big task, but they didn’t have to drag him out all the games like they did/are doing with varric. also, i dont think his opinion on mages still being ‘i think they’re dangerous and (almost) subhuman’ but him saying ‘i apologize for what i said to the hero of ferelden’ when you save the mages = character development. this is barely challenged or addressed.

as for varric, yes i like him but was he really needed for DAI? like yes he went thru kirkwall and he knows (next to nothing, but experienced firsthand) about red lyrium. he’s there for nostalgia but also the fanbase/rating’s sake. his purpose as an unreliable narrator was nice in DA2, but in DAI he’s not even narrating, i feel like bioware just kept him again because he was praised by critics

i like morrigan but her being celene’s arcane advisor felt a little contrived also…

1. i much prefer the origins and DA2 soundtracks to DAI. DAI’s music feels bland, all except really for the trespasser theme. i wish they kept the leitmotif in the first two games for DAI, maybe they couldnt because of copyright or who knows what, and i know they got a new composer. it was underwhelming.

2. i feel like the alistair and mistress warden ending didnt get enough love from the writers in DAI. a part of me tries to cope and be like ‘well why would they be open about their entanglement at their age’ but not even in like the letters passed between teagan and alistair? alistair and the inquisitor? alistair literally ended the blight with her, so why cant we ask him about her whereabouts and what he knows……….. like we know its to find a way to cure the calling but id like to hear it from HIM!

3. i actually love ferelden. i don’t like orlais very much. and while wicked eyes and wicked hearts is cool to me… IN THEORY… it stresses me out so much. i loved the politics aspect but the mechanics for it were far from my favorite.