Intro
I hadn't seen a dedicated review topic floating around, so I figured I'd make one. Besides, I really wanted to post a long review and there didn't seem to be anywhere good to put it. 
Fair warning, this is going to be long, involved, and spoil many parts of the game. It's basically everything I thought about the game, good, bad or whatever.
Graphics
Technical stuff out of the way first- I played on PC, and experienced a few of the glitches that have been posted (stuttering, occasional frame-rate drops, the annoying bug at the beginning that drops you into the fade area from the escape sequence, and you can't get out, though fortunately that only happened with my second character). Overall, though, I had a great experience on my AMD 7950 Boost GPU. I have no doubt that Mantle made up for the deficiencies of my aging AMD Phantom II x4 CPU, and I cheat because my 20" monitor only runs 900p anyway, but I got a good 50-60 FPS on the highest settings. And man, this game is damn pretty. I stopped a number of times just to look around, which is not something I typically do (my favorite area was the Hissing Wastes, which gave me chills just looking at it).
I loved the visual effects of combat and the detail put into the various outfits. I must have messed around in the armor customization crafting for hours trying to find color combinations that fit together right. Screw the stats- I wanted my inquisitor to look good. Beating people up came in second to looking snazzy, which is a first for me. That transitions pretty well into the next topic.
Combat
I played on normal and for the first half of the game as my Elven mage, it was occasionally challenging and sometimes a slog, but it never really hit the high notes of Mass Effect 2 or 3 in terms of fighting just being FUN. Fighting was what I did to get from one quest point to the next, the means to an end, but never the end itself. Then I got the Knight Enchanter class, at which point I became pretty hilariously OP, and while scything through my enemies like the Wrath of God did have a certain visceral satisfaction, it eventually wore off and combat became a chore again. I'm playing a rogue next so maybe that will be more interesting, and my brother speaks highly of Reaver combat, so I'll try that at some point.
I should note that combat isn't really a negative and it was certainly more fun than DA:O, and less immersion breaking than DA:II, but it's still missing...something, though heck if I can put my finger on what that is. I feel like combos/companion teamwork should be more of a focus, though with combat as frenetic as it usually got (I would often lose track of my party members) it would be hard to implement a competent AI for this that didn't do everything for the player. I frequently forgot I had the Focus meters, though when I did remember to drop Mark of Rift down on people it was pretty damn awesome to behold.
Companions
Now we're getting to the real meat of a Bioware game. Let's run them down, in order of favorite to least favorite.
Cassandra- I fell hard for her. I mean, I knew I would- I've said elsewhere that a badass warrior princess paladin with secret romantic tendencies might as well have been pulled straight out of my dreams -but I wasn't prepared for how well Bioware nailed me. From her surprising sense of humor, to her occasional bouts of melancholy and self-doubt that I could pull her through, to the incredibly adorable scenes regarding her smutty literature addiction, I loved everything about the character and the romance. My inquisitor and her had such an interesting chemistry that I found myself watching her scenes 3-4 times back to back just because I liked watching the two of them together. She's now my favorite Bioware romance by a good margin, and I have difficulty imagining anyone ever besting her.
Varric- My bro, now and forever. I'm starting to become terrified of the thought of a Dragon Age game where Varric isn't around. He just...makes it all fit. The everyman with a heart of gold who is just there in middle of it all somehow. I found it impossible to take him out of my party, again.
Solas- This one really surprised me, I went into the game dead certain that Solas was going to be the generic boring guy that often seems to slip into Bioware games somehow, but lo, I was very wrong. It shocked me how much I liked having Solas around. He was just interesting to talk to. Part of that may have just been playing an Elf and having a personal interest in Elven lore, but Solas was really cool.
Iron Bull- Come on, how can you not like this guy? He's hilarious, and awesome. Probably more surprising was how much I liked the Chargers, especially Krem. I know I was supposed to have to think about what I wanted more, an alliance with the Qunari or the Chargers alive, but it really wasn't much of a choice. I suppose that makes me a bad commander in some ways, but I really felt that since the Qunari had been the ones whose force estimates of the enemy were badly off, they were the ones who should pay the price. Anyway, their loss, I get Iron Bull and the Chargers as my buddies.
Vivienne- The character I loved to hate. I knew going in that my character wouldn't like her very much, with her aristocratic snootiness and naked ambition, but she was a great character.
Sera- I was convinced at first I wasn't going to be able to stand talking to her, because following her train of thought was like being dragged along by a roller coaster. Eventually I got her cadence down and took a liking to her though. She's kind of unique among Bioware companions, and she might be genuinely insane, but she's cool.
Dorian- I really thought I'd like him more, and his personal quest was pretty awesome to be a part of, but he just felt kind of there. I probably just didn't use him enough, which I plan to correct on subsequent playthroughs. I really liked his personal story though.
Cole- Cole was a character I had trouble getting behind, just because his voice really grated on me and his you-forget-everything power seemed like too big a game-breaker. Why bother with anyone else in-story when this guy could theoretically murder his way through a castle and no-one would be able to stop him? Just send Cole into the red-templar keep and have lunch while he kills all of them one by one, no need for an assault. Maybe this gets explained in a banter or dialogue at some point but I missed it. I thought he became much more interesting when he became a real boy later on, and his last dialogue apparently with himself was pretty mindblowing.
Blackwall- He was the only one I had trouble remembering to go talk to when I would make the rounds after story missions, and at first I didn't even notice he'd left during his story mode. He just wasn't much fun to talk to. Every time I went over there, he had some depressing story about something horrible, like a living gritty reminder that the DA world kinda sucks for many of its inhabitants. Again, maybe if he's in the party more he's more interesting, but I had trouble connecting. I did really like sentencing him though, he said something dour and typical about how he wasn't worth all this effort, and I got to tell him to SHUT UP, he's a prisoner and he doesn't get a say in whether I choose to save his butt or not. Then I did the obvious thing and made him a Warden.
Overall, a really good group. Unlike some other games, it was a challenge keeping the same group with me all the time, I wanted to hear what everyone had to say. Cass, Varric, Solas ended up being my main group, though I hope to switch that around in future games.
The Advisors
I'm separating them from companions only because it's convenient for the upcoming Lelianna section and because I wasn't sure where they fit on the above companion section.
Cullen- I liked him a lot, and I wasn't expecting to. He was competent and contemplative, occasionally hilarious, and somehow he was always the one asking my Inquisitor what he thought, which are always some of my favorite moments in games.
Josephine- She's really cute and will be my romance choice the second time through. I really enjoyed her character.
Morrigan- Wow, motherhood has mellowed her, and I for one approve. I found myself liking Morrigan a lot more in this game than I did in Origins. She's grown up a bit. Or I have. Possibly both.
Leliana- Oh boy. This one was a doozy. For about 80% of the game, she was fine, a little rougher, a little more worldly, a little doubting, but still basically the Leliana I left back in DA:O. And then all at once, so fast it nearly gave me whiplash, she just goes crazy out of nowhere and starts straight up murdering and kidnapping people, with my Inquisitor unable to do more than just kind of stand there. It was so unexpected and out of left field that it knocked me entirely out of the game. I had been playing basically for four days straight at that point, racking up a good 60 hours of gameplay, and this made me not want to play. I get the impression this was supposed be based on our decisions and conversations throughout the game, but it wasn't. I had been generally faith affirming and supportive of human life in all respects save one- at the beginning of the game I had chosen not to interfere when she put a kill order on a rogue agent who had murdered another agent and betrayed the Inquisition.
Now call me crazy, but I don't see the connection between taking out a known threat who has already committed murder/betrayal, and how that leads to murdering an unarmed woman whose only crime appears to be wanting someone else to be divine. And why my Inquisitor allowing Leliana to do the one WAAAAY back when my character wasn't even Inquisitor would somehow make it okay that she completely ignores him when he tells her not to kill someone later, when he IS inquisitor.
Without dwelling on it too much more, it rang really false for me, and it felt pretty unfair that a single decision early in the game set up a gut punch out of nowhere 58 hours later, ignoring EVERYTHING I'd said to her in the meantime. It seemed mean-spirited, and I still wonder if it's a bug or something, because it did not feel deserved.
The War Table
I freaking LOVED the War Table. Sending people on missions, following the little subplots I created, managing my time appropriately- this was one of my favorite parts of the game. All the mission results felt like logical extensions of what I had done- I never felt cheated by a mission outcome.
From my Lavellan Clan becoming co-rulers of Wycome to the continuing adventures of "The Crew," I had a blast with this feature. I hope it finds its way into future DA:I installments.
Skyhold
This was kind of a mixed bag. I loved having a castle to run around in. In a telling moment, after the end of the game I found a stairway to the wine cellar and kitchen and moldy library that I'd never seen before. However, the Castle upgrades didn't have much of a noticeable affect that I could see, the merchants did not have anything interesting to sell, and Skyhold didn't seem to change much over the course of the game. I remember during old Suikoden games, I used to love how the Castle would change each time you hit a new milestone, people would shift around as new areas opened up. The other thing is there isn't much to do there. I would have liked some mini-games to play, like a cooking mini-game in the kitchen or maybe a darts minigame at the Tavern with Varric and Bull. Just...something to DO at Skyhold besides just talk to people and sit in Judgement. Sitting in judgement was pretty cool though. Easily one of my favorite parts of the game (Avvar Goat Thrower for the win).
Overall, a solid first try. I hope Bioware will try to improve on this with the next game, it has a lot of potential. I'd like to see more done with the support characters. Maybe the Bard in the tavern has a checkered past, or the cook used to serve in Orlais. Not huge, but small things that make the Castle seem like more than just a home for you and your friends. I loved being able to talk with Dagna and Harding and the other bit-players, I just wish I'd been able to do more with them.
Story
Stories are interesting beasts. People want different things out of them, but they're the core of any Bioware game. For me, I remember moments. And there were a lot of great moments in this game. I'm going to run down my personal favorites-
-The beginning. I loved the set up with not knowing how you got your powers, the faith-centered questions everyone is asking themselves, the feeling of us-against-the-world there in Haven.
-Redcliffe. Or, as I like to call it, the "You did WHAT?' moment of the game. There was a certain amount of idiot-balling for the mages here, but I really enjoyed that sense of stunned disbelief in the party. It could have been jarring, but my party members all sharing my reaction made it intriguing and interesting instead of unbelievable. I thought the moment worked really well.
-Back to the Future. Time travel is cheesy, but it worked. I was motivated by my vision of the apocalypse, and I hated that Venatori guy's guts.
-Corypheus Curb-stomps you, or "You didn't really think it would be that easy did you?" One of the best moments ever, not because it was unexpected, but because it was so well done. Staring down Corypheus and his Dragon there at the catapult, I felt menaced in a way that few video game villains have ever managed to achieve (Sephiroth and Luca Blight are the only ones that spring immediately to mind). It's a hard thing to do, convincing a player they are threatened without coming off as unfair or cheap.
-The Song in the Snow. I cried. That's about all I need to say.
-The Entire Cassandra romance. I said it before, but I'll say it again- I enjoyed everything about this romance. Even with Cass becoming divine at the end, I still love it, because you guys left it open whether or not the romance continues even after she becomes divine. I choose to believe it does.
-Inquisition Card games. I get the feeling the devs know some scenes are just going to be more awesome than others, and this was one of those scenes. I loved getting the opportunity for my Inquisitor to tell a story about himself.
-Avvar Goat Thrower. I must have laughed for a full minute after watching that goat slam into the Skyhold wall. I loved this, and I liked that we had the option to send them to Tevinter.
-Reunion with Hawke. I loved seeing my Hawke again. It was great, and I'm really glad Bioware went to the effort.
-Stopping Solas from murdering a bunch of fools.
-Dragon fighting with Bull.
-Making cookies with Sera
-Meeting The Chargers
-Post-Adamant winding down with Bull. ("So that really does it for you?" "Yyyyyup.")
-Temple of Mythal. This was so interesting, especially for a Dalish character.
-Morrigan and Flemeth Family Reunion. Oh man, so much subtext in this scene, Morrigan's instant decision to sacrifice her own piece of mind for her son...it was really amazing to watch this after Morrigan drank from the Well. This is easily one of my favorite moments in any of the Dragon Age games, which is kind of interesting since it has almost nothing to do with the Inquisitor.
-The Showdown. The final confrontation with Corypheus felt a bit rushed, but was still quite satisfying.
-Sherlocking the Orlesian Court. This was my favorite mission, and my favorite moment of the whole game, and maybe in the whole series. I LOVED this mission. I wish we could do more like it. And HOLY CRAP, that ending, taking the floor like a boss and just verbally wrecking the Grand Duchess, followed by wrecking the three most powerful people in Orlais. As a player who really wanted his character to be smart and politically savvy and able to do EXACTLY these kinds of things, I had to stop playing for a moment and do a victory dance. And you even let me dance with Cassandra at the end of it. Just an incredible job on this.
PC Characterization
For all the other things, the biggest question of any RPG and really any story is can you get the audience to invest in the main character...and oh man, did I ever invest in this character. Part of it was that, as I said, I wanted to play a Chessmaster, a strategist...someone who was mentally up to the task of leading an organization like the Inquisition. Hawke and the Warden had been primarily brawlers, I wanted this character to be fundamentally different...and you let me do it. Lazlo was smart, funny, and knew how to get things done. He started out an Elf clearly out of his depth but willing to help and transformed believably over the course of the game into someone who could magically overpower Corypheus and lead the most powerful organization in Thedas. He was EVERYTHING I wanted him to be, and for that Bioware, I thank you. Lazlo Lavellan has risen through an elite pantheon of my created characters from pen and paper roleplaying to video games to fiction I've written to become one of my favorite created characters ever. I know some people felt like their Inquisitors got boxed in, but I couldn't have asked for more.
TL;DR-
Highest of the high- Outfoxing the whole Orlesian court like a boss.
Lowest of the low- Leliana going insane because I didn't stop her from doing her job at the beginning of the game.
Overall- I really, really enjoyed it. I've gone through one 80 hour playthrough, and I've got three more planned.
But enough about me. What did YOU think? Post your TL;DR review here.
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