Love the game, but I did note that the main story does let several missed opportunities go by without a glance. Some were concepts that were later dropped, but others are just things that folks rationally believed would be presented in some fashion, but ultimately weren't.
Maybe these opportunities were cut for time or simplicity, but I feel like the game is a bit weaker without them.
1) The Conclave
The last great chance for peace in the Mage-Templar War. A summit where nearly every major organization has some representation and is hosted by Divine Justinia as a means of putting all major issues on the table to be discussed and resolved.
And we see none of it.
The game starts after the Conclave with the intro screen showing mages and templars marching to the temple of sacred ashes before it explodes.
The writers clearly wanted to create some mystery with this event, but they also miss a great option for a good intro to the game.
This would've been a great opportunity for new players (or even old players) to start to mesh out the role of their Inquisitor and their beliefs/personality. They could meet random mages, templars and etc and debate/challenge issues involving the Chantry, the Circles, the Templars and other aspects of Thedosian life.
Then you cut outside where the temple explodes and Cassandra searches through the wreckage to find the Inquisitor as the sole survivor and then you go through the rest of the intro as it was in the game.
Another consequence of this missed opportunity is that the player never gets to know Justinia. Remember, she was a vital character in the scheme of things whose death makes an already tense situation worst. The Chantry, Cassandra and Leliana mourn her, but there's a disconnect because the PC/Player never knew Justinia. The best that they could offer is token remorse, but again, who is Justinia?
The Conclave would've been an opportunity for the PC to meet Justinia and actually get to know her. To see how she gets these different groups to at least sit at the same table without killing each other; to understand why so many are loyal to her; and to empathize with those who will miss her.
Instead, the whole Conclave is skipped in favor of an "Action Prologue".
In all fairness, Inquisition's Action Prologue was more consistent in narrative and tone than DA2.
2) The Mage Templar War
Another opportunity dropped is directly confronting the Mage-Templar War.
In the game, the Inquisitor doesn't really do anything about war as much as he tip-toes around it, recruits one faction to do whatever he wants with them and leaves the other to the red lyrium wolves.
All in the first third of the game.
Wouldn't have been more interesting if there were multiple (3 or 4) factions of the templars and mages throughout Orlais and Ferelden? Then the Inquisitor can recruit/mix-match as he pleases which cause conflict within the Inquisitions ranks. This would then lead to a moment when the Inquisitor can either side with one faction over the other (laying the seeds of potential betrayal); not get involved (which would have disastrous consequences); or force both sides to work together (diplomatically or forcefully).
Then if the Inquisitor recruited more mages than templars, or vice versa, the Inquisition would come into conflict with the other faction who starts distrusting the Inquisition and will either fight the Inquisition on their own terms or join Corypheus and become his minions.
Instead, the Inquisitor doesn't really do anything with the War. They go around it and there's never a moment when he's directly confronted with having do something about the conflict and it's effect on Thedas. The Inquisitor is able to very neatly deal with only one half of the coin and the other half is demonized into minions so that the Inquisitor doesn't have to think very hard about making the right choice or choosing the right faction.
3) The Breach
I'd say the biggest missed opportunity on this list is the Breach itself.
A giant hole in the veil between the spirit and mortal worlds that allows an invasion of demons and it creates smaller rifts throughout all of southern Thedas. What's worst is that the Breach is getting larger and in the bad future in Redcliffe, it spreads until it covers the entire sky with the Fade and Thedas merged into one twisted nightmarish world. Even the most amoral and cruel of Inquisitors should have some reason to fight against this right?
Instead, the Breach is immediately brought to a halt in the prologue and then completely stopped 1/3rd of the way through the game. Sure, there are still other rifts that need to be closed, but they were nowhere near as terrible as the one that can be seen for miles in the sky itself. This is even worst since most advertisement for Inquisition indicated that the Breach would be the major threat of the story.
Instead, it's resolved quickly and the rest of the game is focused on fighting Corypheus and foiling his plots.
Not to say that Cory isn't important, but I would've thought that keeping the Breach as an imminent threat would weigh the scales against the Inquisition. Lets say that hypothetically, the Inquisitor still seems to close the breach, but then it opens from the other side and the violent outburst of fade energy heavily damages Haven. Then Corypheus and his army show up to destroy the battered Inquisition, killing many and the Avalanche is a means of escape rather than victory.
Now, the game isn't just about fighting Corypheus, but finding another way to permanently close the breach. (hint, hint: Knowledge found in the Temple of Mythal?)
4) Skyhold
Despite spending time to upgrade the fortress...the game renders this pointless.
The fortress is never directly attacked or endangered in any way.
Remember ME2 where the Normandy is raided and not going on the rescue quick enough will result in most or nearly all of your crew members? Where not upgrading will result in party member deaths and making wrong decisions during the mission itself will lead to the deaths of more squad-mates? Where Shepard himself can die if he screws up one too many times?
This game had the perfect opportunity here and it's tossed away because nothing is done to challenge the serenity and peace of Skyhold.
Think of how much more exciting upgrading Skyhold would be when you see that Red Lyrium dragon scouting the mountains and finding it after a plot important mission. Then the advisors warn about fortifying the keep for when Corypheus finds Skyhold and after all of the story-important missions are done, Corypheus invades Skyhold.
The Inquisitor can then return from a mission to find the Venatori, Red Templars, Magisters, and Demons marching on Skyhold and depending on upgrades and power, the fort can either be holding off the invasion powerfully well like a rock against the tide; Holding, but with heavy losses; or on the verge of breaking altogether with irreparable damage already done to the castle and it's people.
Then the Inquisitor would have to get back in and lead the defenders in driving out the enemy and destroying them with a cleverly designed trap. Companions would be sent to various tasks and could die depending on how much was done to work on that particular area. (example: Blackwall is sent to the northern wall, but dies because you didn't put a watchtower there)
5) Too little to do with so much Power
Power is largely useless in the game.
Useless on the grounds that there's too much of it that will ultimately remain unused throughout the whole story.
I'm currently sitting on 167 Power after unlocking all, but the Temple of Mythal quest and I haven't even cleared out the Hissing Wastes yet. What's the point of having all of this power if there isn't thing to do with most of it?
Now I know that the developers already touched on this concept and why they scrapped it, but how about using a high amount of power (100 for human females, 200 for qunari males) to have the Inquisitor become Divine?
The developers ultimately cut this concept during development however for understandable reasons. To quote Matt Rhodes, "Another one of those moments that never saw the light of day, but made for some interesting and heated discussion internally. We thought it would be interesting if you gained enough power you could name yourself Divine. It would be twice as hard to do if you played as a male, and for the hardcore player it would twice as hard again to do it as a male Qunari. An effectively game and lore breaking act of heresy. Not even a little bit surprised we backed away from this one."
As much as I can see why the concept was cut, I can't help but feel like a great opportunity was missed out of hesitation or uncertainty. For one, becoming Divine is a utilitarian method of making Power Stacking actually meaningful apart from just unlocking story missions or new areas. (even with that in mind, you're still sitting on a huge stack of power that won't be used)
6) None of your companions can die
You are chased by dragons; Trapped in the Fade fighting a Nightmare Demon; Entering the Dance of Daggers known as Orlesian Politics; Facing off with ancient elves in a forgotten temple; and battling an Ancient Magister capable of corrupting magic itself with the blight.
But none of your companions are ever at risk of death.
Remember Origins where you had to potentially fight everyone except Alistair, Morrigan and Dog because you pissed them off or crossed a Moral Event Horizon? Remember DA2 where you had to fight companions if you picked the side opposite of them and didn't max out their rival/friend meter? Remember being able to sell Alistair and Fenris down river?
Nothing like that ever happens in this game.
Sure, your companions will walk out and leave if you ****** them off enough. You can also leave Blackwall to wolves once his dirty secret is revealed to the world.
But Iron Bull doesn't attack you for leaving his Chargers to die.
Nor does Sera assault you if you sacrifice one too many "little people".
Nor does Vivienne try to kill you for destroying everything that she's worked her whole life to serve and keep intact.
Varric won't put poison in your drink for helping Sebastian conquer Kirkwall or leave Hawke to die in the Fade.
There isn't even a moment where the Inquisitor can be a complete evil boss and outright murder a companion on a mission or sacrifice them for the greater good like in Origins with Loghain/Alistair. Though I think that I know why. The developers were scared that the players would react poorly to offing companions and cut out the option all together.
That's just a personal theory and I won't bother working hard to prove it, but it makes sense. Especially when compared to the companion offing ability that was originally in the beta for The Old Republic. But the developers noted how players often regretted killing their companions and wanted to revert that decision and so the entire mechanic was removed from the final product.
But in a game like Inquisition where your building an organization from the ground-up with various choices that have consequences for all of Southern Thedas (good and bad), why should the companions be excluded? Because it will inconvenience the player? Make things harder and force a player to make-up for offing/exiling/sacrificing a well-built companion?
7) Little to no chances of developing an evil/ruthless Inquisitor
The Inquisitor is rail-roaded into being a "savior" and an overall good hero.
Some of this initially makes sense as many believe the Inquisitor to be a savior sent by the Maker during the world's Darkest Hour. But as time goes on and the "honeymoon period" ends, the game should've given more chances for the Inquisitor to really challenge this notion.
Remember, a main theme of this game is how people will look at your actions and perceive them as well as faith and how far it can be challenged. what if the Inquisitor started doing things that the Maker may not like? Leaving villages to burn (like in the E3 Demon); Sending men to their deaths for selfish gain; Extorting tribute from the powerless refugees; Using the rite of tranquility as a punishment; and even using their power to become a tyrannic Divine.
How far would people be willing to follow an individual like that? Would he still be called a savior even after defeating Corypheus and closing the Breach? Especially when the Inquisitor is either close to, just as bad as, or worst than Corypheus?
Remember when Morrigan said, "Will you lead this world to its salvation or leave it to it's fate?"
Nope. Bioware took the "safe route" and in doing so left out a great RPG opportunity that would've built on previous DA games and their actions. Remember, Wardens and Hawkes could have been all kinds of shades of white, black and grey to where they could only be a "hero" in name only. This wouldn't be too much of a risk, why did Bioware play things safe here?
So what do you think about these "so-called" missed opportunities? Would they have made a great game even better? Dragged things out unnecessarily? Added clutter to a long list of things to do? Unnecessary and pointless? Are there other possible missed opportunities that you observed as well?
Share your thoughts.
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