I had high hopes for the game so I'm disappointed. For the DA2 haters....Kirkwall's story was very interesting. You were invested in Kirkwall and your little group, terrorist in waiting and all. Dragon Age Origins had a GREAT story and a cozy little Scooby Gang you took with you everywhere--including Scooby. Gaider at his uncynical best. I felt like Joss Wheden wrote it, I mean, it was that frickin' good.
I think the fan love for the series clouds the judgment, my opinion now, so don't hit me like I'm generalizing about everyone. Just I see a lot of excuses flying on here for why it's awesome when...even our villain
. Seriously?
We have elements of greatness. Dorian rocks. Josephine is very cute, but take away the accent and she's less cute. Varric is like one of the best characters in the entire series and we don't get that much dialogue with him which blows. The Iron Bull is cool but he shouldn't be Qunari. He is like the antithesis of everything we have ever known of the Qun. It's just like they're big warriors, not the near Soviet Baddies they once were. The rules of the Qun changed--sorry, got "clarified"
Cassandra's okay, I guess, but nothing to write home about. Vivienne is cool but again, I'm not going out of my way to visit her once the Inquisition is over. Leliana has changed into someone I want to literally pimp slap most of the game and tell "snap out of it you crazy *itch". Cullen is cool, where's the goatee? He looks COMPLETELY different and his personality is less conflicted. He might as well not be Cullen and just another former Templar. Sera's actually pretty neato but since I don't have in-game dialogue really with anyone much less her and she's like upstairs and in that Cubby I don't chat that often. Blackwall is another hike to talk to at Skyhold so unless I'm romancing him I don't talk to him. Solas ticked me off with the comment on the Dalish and after that I was like: Done.
So really I don't like my companions as much as the other two except Dorian and Sera and Bull if I forget his a Qunari.
In DA:O I liked everyone in the circle. Alastair was funny as hell. Zevran was basically Puss in Boots so I was in love. Leliana and the shoe stories was cute. Oghren was funny. Morrigen was my everything. Shale--OMG--Shale. Even Wynne was funny when she flirted with Alastair or when Zev flirted with her.
I'd go into the banter of DA2 between Avangeline and Isabella or Varric and everyone but I really want to say and why this game is nowhere near as cool as the other two, and I can sum it up in one word what it's missing:
ENCHANTMENT!