Sorry friends, I haven't read too much of this thread but thought I would contribute a little bit - I've been playing TW3 for a while now and have been thinking about this topic a LOT.

DAI grips my imagination more (I mean really gets into my head - I think about it a lot when I'm not even playing it). It's the characters, and the relationships your personal character can have with them. I don't find myself caring much about any specific characters in TW3 (though I find the overall themes really amazing), and I obviously would have also liked to create my own character.

However TW3 is, in my opinion, the better made game. What really makes me say this is all the many, MANY little cutscenes - every quest, no matter how small, is accompanied with a cutscene - Geralt speaking with someone, characters getting emotional, I mean it's just incredible. It makes every little quest feel important and interesting. I can feel how much work went into this. By comparison DAI just seems lazy, and this is coming from someone whose favorite game of all time IS DAI. I appreciate the thought behind minimal cutscenes in DAI, where you could enter and leave a conversation seamlessly. But I'm not sure if that method really paid off in the end.

I thought I would feel lonely as Geralt tramping around all on my own, but there's constant music - all. the. TIME. I remember going through all these tips and tricks to get SOME music, or companion banter, going in DAI. There is still an element of loneliness to Geralt, but it feels like it's meant to be that way - his loneliness is part of who he is, not a result of some no banter/no music glitch within the game. In DAI I ran around a beautiful but essentially empty world...

There are so many more things I love about TW3. Honestly, I'm surprised. 

Yet still, DAI is what I will remember longer. Gah. I just hope future Bioware titles improve. Like, heaps. There's some amazing competition out there.

I want this more than anything. Particularly since that latest patch came out.

I think Mass Effect did it PERFECTLY. Each new game, you got a certain number of extra skill points at the very start. It made a HUGE difference.

Sure it'd be nice to have NG+ a la Dragon's Dogma as well, but really I just want a handful of extra skill points dangit!

 Now the last significant exploit was the respawning loot, and even then we needed to put in significant time grinding just to get Deft Hands, Fine Tools so we could even use the exploit. And now that is taken from us as well. Not just for the Amulets of Power. The loot system in this game is not friendly to players who are looking for specific armor/armor upgrades they want their Inquisitor to have, and often players do not get the armor/upgrades or schematics they are looking for because loot is completely random. The loot exploit was the only reliable way for players who had done almost everything the game has to offer to find the loot they really wanted. And now  that has been taken from us, too.

 

NO!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've played all the way through 3 times. Why in god's name can I not just reap SOME benefits of having done previous playthroughs and just get some extra skills points from the start??? WHY?? Honestly this should have been a feature from the beginning, a la Mass Effect... I was SO happy with the respawning treasure as an alternative... GRRRR.

Wow this pisses me off. I am not downloading this patch if I can help it.

I've done both, and personally I think drinking from it yourself is by FAR the more fun choice - consequences be damned. 

If you drink yourself, you get to fight and tame a dragon. That is COOL. Nevermind the fact that your Inquisitor instantly gets way more interesting.

Sorry but I really felt like Morrigan's huge cameo was unnecessary, and giving her this power - which in the end will likely mean nothing, just like the OGB - just sounded ridiculous to me. Some mage advisor that your character doesn't know, joins your party toward the end, and demands all this power? NAH.

I had an elf who romanced Solas drink from it (she was the first of my characters to do it), and the implications of that made her personal arc awesome. 

I'm this huge symbol, Herald of bloody Andraste, I will drink from that well every time.

Yikes I thought male human was bad enough (my Inquisitor's buttons are just about ready to pop off), but that is horrendous!!! 

I too am very grateful to Bioware for this game, and the series in general.   I LOVE me some Dragon Age. I've have relatively minor issues on ps4, and apparently none have been big enough to lessen my enjoyment as I'm on playthrough #4 and going strong!

Welcome to the differences between media with branching narratives and ones with a single story arc. If the DA franchise were confined to novels or movies or even linear action/adventure games, the OGB likely would have developed into something with much more significance. But because his existence depends on choices the player has made, his impact in the story has to be relegated to something relatively inconsequential. There's something rather ironic in the fact that more choices lead to less freedom on the devs' part to craft a story along traditional paths.

 

Sorry I only read a little bit of this thread, so apologies if this has been mentioned... I really agree with you there in terms of what effects the existence of choices have on future games where devs end up being limited. Having said that though, players had the choice to kill off Leliana in DAO and here she is in DAI as a nearly central character. (Okay that may be an exaggeration. But she's got a HUGE freaking role.)

If they could do that with Leliana, why not just take the plunge and do something similar with the OGB, which could potentially be more interesting than a hardened/softened spymaster bard. 

Love KE! I just love being a squishy mage until about level 10 and then BOOM - that guy who thought he'd get within close range for a laugh? CHOP - there goes his head.

I don't think any of the VAs are particularly exciting. I found them all really really bland compared with the characters around them. I want to say that this was done on purpose, to make the Inquisitor more generic to allow players to more easily project themselves onto him/her?

However I really think this had the opposite effect. If I'm picking an "emotional" option, I want my Inquisitor to sound emotional. Otherwise what is the point of the fist/tears/thumbs up type of dialog icons.

I think overall the male British was the best in this regard. British female had her moments for me (that last scene with Solas... omg). American Female was pretty much a plank of robotic wood, which I came to love in the end. ("Cul.len. I. Love. Y.ou. 0001. 00111 11100.") Still not sure how I feel about the American male. 

I don't mind the bedroom, but I do mind that ridiculous staircase you have to climb to get there. If they're going to do a transition via a door, they might as well just do it at the top of the stairs and get it over with.

That staircase place freaks me out. It's this big expansive creepy nothingness, and I can't jump over the railing to check anything out. Those ravens there are going to peck my Inquisitor's eyes out one fine day, I just know it. 

You can't even jump off the balcony!

I was disappointed with that, too.  Would have been some epic ankle-breaking!

I always did like how we could change our casual outfits with the armor locker on the Normandy

I found those outfits (particularly in ME3 if memory serves...) boring as all hell. But at least we had options! Those buttons look ready to POP on my male Inquisitor.

Almost feels like it was meant to have more purpose but the team ran out of time or what have you. It does feel a bit like an empty shell. I mean you have to go through a friggin loading screen to get to it - and for what? 

Yeah the option to remap this would be awesome. Hearing stories of the L3 button actually breaking is concerning.  I don't want my new controller to break over loot scanning!!

That gave me a terrible shock when I first saw him up there (because he was in the little back room) and I'd bee hoping to see an LI instead...

Teehee I thought it was the funniest thing! A little odd that the Inquisitor would just freaking play along... I mean he could have been an assassin or something!

I truly hope they will drop this 3rd person, far away view for conversations in the future. Not having cutscenes really made me feel completely disconnected from the worlds and the NPCs.

 

Yeah this SUCKS.

I appreciate being able to leave conversations easily and whenever I want, so I don't mind this when talking to random NPCs. But speaking with companions? Hate it.

Man I know exactly which area you're talking about. Normally I just kill a few things for XP or loot or whatever, then RUN THE HELL OUT OF THERE. Of course I run SLOWLY because being in combat turns you into a snail but eventually the companions follow me and we turtle our way out.

I would freaking love this. Honestly, some of those brows are atrocious. I would have liked less wooly mammoth brows and more unique hairstyles instead.

Yeah I mean I appreciate having the choice to look ridiculous, but SO MANY WOOLY MAMMOTH brows! I mean ONE or TWO would be plenty! Same with the shaved heads. 

I always got the impression it was Flemeth taking over Solas's body rather than the other way around, only because she says "I'm sorry, too" in that typical way people do in movies or what have you before they kill the person they're talking to. 

Garr.

I LOVED in previous games that I could turn to one of my companions while questing and start a conversation with them, rather than have 'all' these interactions happen at Skyhold/Haven/Normandy.

 

This is what I miss THE MOST. 

That and zooming in on the companions' faces while interacting. The DAI system is fine in this respect I suppose, but would be better if you could zoom properly in with the camera.

Rolled new character (4th playthrough) and no banter in the Hinterlands after 5 hours, with a newish party composition as well. I might start over again... I notice that every now and then I'll roll a character who seems to have more issues than others, so if I catch it early I have to start over.

Omgggg hahaha! I love how it pans out a bit when he says that line! Ahhhh!!! I should be more brave with the "less nice" dialogue choices, man...

Dragon's Dogma's archery felt pretty convincing to me. Might be worth a look if you haven't yet played it.

THIS.

Dragon's Dogma archery was beyond awesome. BEYOND.

My heart deflated a wee bit when I picked up the bow with my first Inquisitor, but... I cheered up when I realised it was still better in Inquisition than in previous Dragon Age games. 

Come on, someone PLEASE shamelessly copy Dragon's Dogma combat!!!

Well frequenting this forum in the months leading up to DAI, I've come across a LOT of Varric love from people. But I feel more or less like you, that he's kind of... meh? I mean there's nothing wrong with him, but I get this sense that someone is trying to shove this character down my throat. Like Leliana. Like Morrigan. 

I didn't think it was the greatest idea to make him a companion, AGAIN. At least Leliana and Morrigan were in different roles this time around. 

I wouldn't be surprised if he was a companion yet again in DA4.  Him and the "real" Bianca.

People should try dating in real life. You're more likely to get the results you desire.

What great advice! Because it's not possible to date someone in real life and also enjoy the romance part of this game. *looks at own real life engagement ring* *looks at desktop wallpaper of Cullen* *grins*

Anyway...

I would have loved a bi Cullen as well. ALL of my Inquisitors get along so well with him... he's so damn likable. However I must admit a part of me enjoys the pining/unreconciled romance my male Inquisitor is going through.