So, played a bit and here my feedback:
Gameplay Mechanics:
-Combat is incredibly clunky and unresponsive. No auto-attack is a big, BIG No-No. Having to constantly press (or keep pressed) the attack button whilst shuffling your character within striking distance is an absolute chore.
-Tactical camera is a joke. Doesn't zoom out nearly far enough and if you do, you have to manually adjust the angle to see anything that isn't standing right next to your character.
-No character tactics like in DAO/DAII is likewise a major stepdown. No idea why that system got scrapped, but it is definately detrimental having to rely on the horrible companion AI.
-Movement is sluggish, especially in combat. Characters feel like they're walking through a tar pit. It is also not helping when you have to keep melee characters within striking distance thanks to no auto-attack.
-Free movement system around the map is completely unnecessary. Predefined walkpaths would've worked just as fine without incentivizing climbing every damn hill because there might be some Elfroot on it.
-Tying in with the above point, why the jumping? It looks silly and serves no purpose other to visually block possible routes that you can take anyways. It also messes up companion pathfinding if you dare take a shortcut.
-Unintuitive levelgated areas. So you get to an area, start exploring and suddenly you run into an enemy encounter you can't win. Well, no biggie, you can retreat, right? NO! Sluggish movement means it's nearly impossible to run away from combat. Likewise, the levelgates also only excerbate the no-healthregen mechanic, meaning if you get into a levelgated fight and even IF you run away, you are still penalized for it.
UI and controls:
-It's a known complaint that m/k controls feel like an afterthought that has been hastily thrown at the finished game. That simply has to change, no ifs, no buts. Alternatively, give out free console controllers with each copy. Don't care much which way you go, but I want to be able to play the game, not fight the controls.
-Searching/Highlighting is hindered by the screen cluttered with graphics. Tough luck trying to find that Elfroot amidst a bunch of tress if you didn't know where it is. Stuff should be properly outlined/highlighted against the background for a longer period after using the search function. Alternatively, give indicators on the minimap after using search.
-Menues are likewise a bother to manouvre through.
-When assigning ability points and switching between ability trees, the select highlights disappear.
Game stability/functionality:
-Horrendous. My PC exceeds the recommended system requirements, yet I am plagued by frequent crashes, screen freezes and black screens after loading. Still playable, but certainly detracting from the experience. That is singleplayer by the way.
-Loading times are looooooooong on HDD and I dare not install the game on my SSD unless various performance related questions about Denuvo have been answered.
-MP stability is hardly deserving the name. Should be called MP instability. Completely unplayable. If the game doesn't freeze upon loading, it crashes. If it doesn't crash, it loads into a black screen. If it doesn't load into a black screen, I spawn under the map. If I don't spawn under the map, I spawn with my quickslot bar erased (no abilities available). If I spawn with abilities available, the whole party is stuck in their spawn and can't move. If we can move, it's in slowmotion and with severe rubber banding. And if by some godly grace everything appears to be working fine .... YOU LOSE CONNECTION TO THE SERVER!!! Of all the matches I attempted, I actually got to play three or four. How that passed QA is completely beyond me. The frequency and severity of those issues can hardly be pure bad luck on my part.
Is there anything I like about DAI?
Well, the graphics are pretty and the soundtrack appears to be quite good.
Refunded the game in accordance with the EA Origin GGG. Will be watching out for patches. If the game at the very least runs stable and m/k controls are sufficiently integrated, I will consider getting the game again. If not, you won't be seeing my money. This is literally the first time I ever was significantly dissatisfied with a BioWare game to the point where I wanted to return it.
I expect games that are released to work properly. I don't mean bugfree. That is impossible with nowadays game's complexity and scope. But this right here is a bloody mess and I do not pay for broken products.
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