I still find it odd that they basically relied on people reading the books. I read both TME and Asunder and for the life of me, I have no idea how people who didn't read them let alone new fans whose first DA game was DAI to even care what was going on in Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts. The whole time, I was thinking to myself- thank gawd I read the books, or I would be lost right now. I would have no idea who this Briala girl was or why I should care who ends up ruler of Orlais.
I couldn't agree with you more. One of my pet peeves about bringing in EU characters is how much is lost between the two mediums. Even going back to Origins, I would have never known that Loghain was an honorable war hero. I would have never known that he had some good, if not extreme reasons for what he did in the game. In the game, he's pretty 2-dimensional, unless the player makes him a Warden. That was fairly minor to me, since he's the secondary villain, and an optional party member.
When I was playing Inquisition for the first time, I can't tell you how many times I said, "I'm so glad I read Asunder and TME first." Otherwise, sadly, some chunks of the story make no sense to the player. What's worse is that many times that it seems like the writers expect that the player to have read the source material. Cole's story about being locked in the cupboard sounds like nonsense (or worse, a Harry Potter shout-out) unless you read Asunder. The final sparks of the mage/templar war as well as Wynne's death are in there as well. Shoot, I keep wondering where one of the major anti-heroes of Asunder, Adrian, was. The entire story of the civil war in Orlais is in TME. It also gave hints about Briala being given an orb at the end of the book, with zero mention of that in the game.
Ugh, sorry for the rant there. Quick, someone post a hottie from Spartacus or Vikings to lighten the mood!
I could have sworn there was a passing blink-and-you-miss-it referrence to Michel's heterosexuality. I admit, I had my fingers crossed that they would at least leave him a blank slate in that department. He was amazing in the book. Too damn bad he was so flat and forgettable in the game.
Also, I pictured him being in his late 30s to early 40s based on his combat experience etc. To me he just seemed way too young in DA:I.
Yeah, I thought so too, but I'm not 100% sure. I think he finds Briala attractive, or something like that.
As to your second point, to be fair, a lot of the NPCs and companions in this game look younger than their years. Leliana is 39 at the youngest, and Varric's age is confirmed at 40 as well. Alistair is also 40, and Cullen's gotta be getting close to it. Cassandra is at least 38-40 years old as well. Shoot, I think Loghain is pushing his late 50s and still looks really good considering. I think the Frostbite engine is part of the reason why.