It's hard to find much of anything about Inquisition that I would call disappointing. But I was sad that BioWare didn't bring companion-specific specializations forward from DAII. Unique companion specializations did so much for that game. For starters, they added more variety to the gameplay. In Inquisition, no matter what spec you choose, there will always be a companion with the same specialization, making that companion feel less important. In DA II you could pick, say, the Rogue's Duelist specialization without making Isabela seem redundant. Her Swashbuckler spec was different enough from the Dualist that you could still have variety. At the same time, the similarities between the companions' specializations and those available to Hawke helped introduce the player to the different specialization options. Playing as Anders, for example, might make the player decide to try Spirit Healer for Hawke.
But I think the most important benefit was that they tied the narrative and the personalities of companions to the way they behaved in combat. This really helped make the game feel like a more coherent whole. I have to believe the gameplay designers wanted to bring this feature forward, and only scrapped it because of time or budget constraints. The specializations are already there in each companion's personality and background, they just never got implemented in-game: Cassandra isn't a Templar, she's a Seeker. I imagine her "Seeker" specialization as a one-off of the Warrior's Templar tree, including the ability (which she actually describes to the player in a conversation!) to "set the lyrium in a person's blood aflame." Vivienne isn't just a generic Knight Enchanter, she is (or was) First Enchanter. Her character deserves a specialization that reflects this. Same with Cole: he's more than just an Assassin. He should have a specialization that reflects his spirit nature as well. Iron Bull even tells the player in conversation that he's not a true Reaver, he just fights in a similar style. So his specialization could have been based off the Reaver, but with elements that reflect his background as a mercenary leader and Qunari spy.
BioWare said they're planning to add more features over time. I couldn't be more excited about this. I hope companion-specific specializations are among the features they'll consider for a future patch.
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