62 réponses à ce sujet

[FredLC]

Ok, after finishing the DLCs, and getting the trespasser bits, I begun thinking about things I wish went through different routes in the game, story-wise.

Beginning with a mechanics/design option though, I wish they dropped the open world/fetch quests, and gave us more focused set pieces (like the fade mission)... but this is an overall point that I think would allow for better storytelling.

Story-wise, I hoped for a different angle altogether. I mean, DA2 was entirely to set up a major war between mages and templars, and position us on the Qnari perspective. Even the opening scene of inquisition is a peace talk going awry. And the topic of an inquisition is perfect for a witch-hunt themed game.

So, I fully expected this game to be about an unfocused, and tragic, civil war, maybe with the looming threat of a Qnari invasion if things are not sorted out, with a new organization desperately trying to revert spiraling chaos. Instead, we got a generic villain, and he wants to conquer the world... Like all other villains in all other stories in the world.

And the villain is also underwhelming. He was ok as a DLC antagonist, but felt sooooo generic as the main threat. I feel he could even have shown up as the manipulator behind the scenes - or perhaps even better, be unleashed as a desperate attempt of the loosing side on your civil war to destroy their enemies - though I admit that it would take a major re-write with the plot point of Solas being the dread wolf.

But I wanted a game about that war, and I will never get it because we stormed the camps of both sides in the first area of the game and ended the conflict that was so largely set up before we are halfway to get the specialization. What should have been the major plot of the game was reduced to a minor side quest, and even the more meaty set pieces about either mages or Templars had more to do with Corypheus than with them....

I liked the idea of the veil being artificial; great device, I would not touch it... But I didn't like the idea that it was what caused the elves to age. I liked the notion that the contact with humans caused the quickening, and that a vastly more apt and advanced civilization was downed by a natural factor, and eventually overrun and enslaved by less intelligent and capable beings, that took pride on something that ultimately was not their merit.

To me, it likened the relation of elves and humans to the relation of humans and dark spawn, the quickening being the elven blight, and It made the dark spawn more tragic, emphasizing that they cannot help what they are. Though Infight being crucial to the elven defeat being, also, important, to function as a cautionary tale to the humans, the dropping of this explanation altogether feels like missed opportunity to me, because now the parallels do not work anymore, and the world feels less unique.

Now, reading all this will sound like I didn't like that game, and that is not the case, I liked it plenty. As this thread is about what should be different, IMHO, evidently it will focus on negatives. Anyways, I wanted to know other people perspectives on what should have been done different to make the game's flavor spicier.

[Darkly Tranquil]

I wanted a much larger resolution of the Mage/Templar War and a much more in depth presentation of the Orlesian Civil War. I felt like they spent all this time building up these big conflicts, and then resolved them in a really perfunctory and unsatisfying way. I think DAI could have been a really interesting game just focused on the political conflicts wracking Orlais and the Chantry, without all the stuff about the Breach and Corypheus (all of which seems to exist solely to set up Solas as the real big bad).

[Donk]

I admit I wish the mages arc was different. The time travel concept was ambitious but in a way, kind of stupid.

[ninsegtari]

When I first played, I was convinced we'd need BOTH the Templars and the mages to seal the Breach. You know, something that would actually END the war. Instead you choose one side and the other goes extinct... except it doesn't. And no matter who you choose, Corypheus will always have the same amount of Venatori and Red Templars.

 

I would've suggested: Inquisitor alone slows the Breach's growth by half > One group helps the Inquisitor to stop its growth > Both groups help the Inquisitor to close it for good.

 

Would've also given us the chance to play with both Samson and Calpernia, instead of one or the other. The same for Barris and Fiona.

[QueenCrow]

You make some good points and have some good ideas, FredLC.  It's fun and interesting to read the changes that you'd have made to the game if you were the one making, so thank you for offering them for us.

 

For my part, I would have just tweaked the ending a little bit.  My overdeveloped sense of justice (I'm working on that) is screaming for some accountability.  Part of the main plot was that the Inquisitor would "find those responsible" and though we did that, it bothers me that I have to feel as if the bad guy skips out scott-free for now (ok, I guess his toy was broken) while I wait for some payback and try to stay interested.

 

So I re-wrote a super short ending and using a DA retelling device.

 

Disclaimer:  Perhaps skip it if you've still got the warm feels for Solas.  It might just make you mad and that's not the purpose.

 

Spoiler

His powerful magic silenced by a cohort of templars, his confession extracted under torture, he was held accountable for his part in the murder of hundreds at Divine Justinia’s conclave and the thousands who died as a result of the breach and rifts caused by his orb.  The traitor’s ears were docked by a particularly hardened and brutal Templar Captain who sneered “I’ll give you something to be sorry about, mage” as he did the deed.  But before the apostate could be executed for his part in the death and the destruction at the Temple of Sacred Ashes, and to prevent the plan of intended destruction he confessed, he was mistaken for another elf prisoner by an Inquisition guard (perhaps one of his extensive spy network?) and sold to a slaver headed to Tevinter.  The Dread Wolf is out there still, children.  Check under your beds at night.  By day, join the righteous who release their hounds and shout “Let the wolf hunt begin!”

 

-The telling of events was written, or rewritten rather, by one who signed his work “Philliam, a Bard!”** 

 

**Dragon Age: World of Thedas Vol. 2, pg. 136-137

[Knight of Dane]

I admit I wish the mages arc was different. The time travel concept was ambitious but in a way, kind of stupid.

 

Time travel is not really ambitious at all. It is seen by most critics as a story-sin because time traveling is too convenient and lets you tell the story in a backwards way which undermines the real events of the narrative and confuses the plot.

 

Honestly, I liked that quest, but it would have been better if the fade had been at work like it was in the Templar mission. Say, if the fade reflected Alexius' preception of what the future would be like under Corypheus. This way the player might actually also find some more sympathy ofr the character of Alexius as they discover this is actually a nightmare that Alexius endures because of love to his son.

 

------------------------------------------

 

As for myself, I just mainly wanted more of everything.

 

I wanted better reasons for going to the Emerald Graves, Hissing Wastes etc. and not just "find agents and spread influence, lol" the story really needed to tell me why there was anything pressing enough going on there that made it make sanse for me to run around there instead of progressing a main-plot quest/area.

 

Also, as others said, better resolutions to some of the issues presented. Everything ends too abrubtly in almost all of the different side-plots.

[Cyrus Amell]

I wish Merrill at one point appears and says "hello, I was into Eluvians before everyone thought they were cool." Would have been nice if she appeared as some kind of ally to Briala rather than just being left in the Free Marches to play caretaker to elven refugees. It's not like her being an apostate was an issue anymore what with the Mage-Templar War being abruptly ended by this point and the Circles being dissolved.

 

Still, she might get an extended role in the next game if her experience with Eluvians comes into use and she opposes (or sides depending on DA2 attitude) with Solas.

 

Come to think of it, what if her Eluvian is special? What if it's something crazy like a shortcut to the Evanuris prison in the Beyond?

[LightningPoodle]

The Mage / Templar war needed to be resolved over much more than one main mission. Orlais as well. Having everything sorted out in one ball felt kind of compact. It would have been nice to have done it over a few missions, working for each individual member (or not, if that is your preference) and then going to the palace to have everything you've wanted to unravel and play out. Instead, we barely got to understand Celene, Gaspard or Briala.

 

Going to Haven. Something should have happened with all of the companions. There should have been a fight that all the companions were involved in. Instead, it's like they lagged behind whilst you and a few others went on ahead. "Why can't you guys keep up? We're about to kill Corypheus. Move your butts!"

[Cha0sEff3ct]

I think they should've gone deeper into Vivienne's personal quest. She got the short end of the stick in that department. The whole scene with Bastien was abysmal. He's on the Council of Heralds and he has no servants attending to him? He's alone in the room, he's lying on top he bed with his noble clothes and his shoes on and not even under blankets. They could've given him pjs at least. You would think Vivienne has locked him up a la Misery. And the dialogue...

 

Feeds potion...

Viv: Bastien?

Bastion awakes...

Bastien: It will be alright

Bastien dies...

Inky: I'm sorry

Viv: There is nothing here for me now

 

Seriously??

[Orian Tabris]

Facing Coryphenus at the end of the vanilla game was far too quick. One minute you're in the war table room, the next you're cornering Coryphyspit in the ruins.

 

I mean seriously, where was the lead up to that? Did he really have no one left to defend him? Was the ruins really so close to Skyhold? And why didn't he use his ancient, red lyrium-infused, superior Tevinter magister magic to keep the Inquisition from getting close?

[Knight of Dane]

I think they should've gone deeper into Vivienne's personal quest. She got the short end of the stick in that department. The whole scene with Bastien was abysmal. He's on the Council of Heralds and he has no servants attending to him? He's alone in the room, he's lying on top he bed with his noble clothes and his shoes on and not even under blankets. They could've given him pjs at least. You would think Vivienne has locked him up a la Misery. And the dialogue...

 

Feeds potion...

Viv: Bastien?

Bastion awakes...

Bastien: It will be alright

Bastien dies...

Inky: I'm sorry

Viv: There is nothing here for me now

 

Seriously??

 

To be honest all the companions could use much, much more. Especially considering the focus on this in Dragon Age 2.

 

Dorian: One cutscene in the Redcliffe pub.

Bull: Small section of "The wounded coast v2"

Varric: Valammar over again + one secret room.

Sera: Small section of Crestwood.

Cole: A war table mission and a cutscene in Redcliffe.

Solas: One fight in the exalted plains.

Vivienne: One objective she doesn't have to be on and one scene in a bedroom.

Blackwall: Two cutscenes and a judgement scene.

Josephine: A couple of cutscenes and war table missions.

Leliana: One scene inside a church.

 

Cassandras was the only one with any real length, and a original stage for it. Some of the others has choices in them so they get an "eh, ok then," mark.

[Cha0sEff3ct]

To be honest all the companions could use much, much more. Especially considering the focus on this in Dragon Age 2.

 

Dorian: One cutscene in the Redcliffe pub.

Bull: Small section of "The wounded coast v2"

Varric: Valammar over again + one secret room.

Sera: Small section of Crestwood.

Cole: A war table mission and a cutscene in Redcliffe.

Solas: One fight in the exalted plains.

Vivienne: One objective she doesn't have to be on and one scene in a bedroom.

Blackwall: Two cutscenes and a judgement scene.

Josephine: A couple of cutscenes and war table missions.

Leliana: One scene inside a church.

 

Cassandras was the only one with any real length, and a original stage for it. Some of the others has choices in them so they get an "eh, ok then," mark.

You do at least travel with the some of the other companions and they have a lot more dialogue. Sera also has the pranks and the cookies and the rooftop scene.

[Fearsome1]

Corypheus made one truly grand entrance in the Haven sequence, and he is then nothing more than a villain in name only throughout the entirety of Inquisition. His entire participation is little more than an extended cameo role. His final boss fight is easy as pie, no matter which setting you use; and all too quickly over and done with. The Inquisitor foils one of his schemes or plans after another, and I'm sorry but your main villain is not supposed to be a joke unless you were making a comedy? I'm still most surprised that this happened in what is otherwise an exceptional game in this franchise.

 

Samson, Florianne and Calpernia to a lesser degree all come off better during the game, which is why I enjoyed the threats we faced in Jaws of Hakkon, The Descent and Trespasser; all of which helped salve over the unfortunately rather feeble Corypheus.

[Knight of Dane]

You do at least travel with the some of the other companions and they have a lot more dialogue. Sera also has the pranks and the cookies and the rooftop scene.

Those are not a part of her main quest though. Everyone else also have scenes along the friendship path. Iron Bull for example has some both after the Fade and after slaying your first dragon, and Blackwall has quite a few leading up and after the warden quests.

[Mr.House]

I'm bias, so no I never wanted the game to be focused on the mage/templar war. I was boring in DA2 and it was boring in Asunder, now could it have been better handled after Champions of the just/Hushed whispers? Yeah but the main focus? No. Coryfish had alot of potential as Calpernia's quest gave him alot of depth and showed that he was alot more complex then he showed, but this is squandered as the game goes on. Overall the elven stuff, Grey Warden stuff and Qunari stuff have always been my interest and DAi+Trespasser have satisfied these parts for me but Hawkes role, the Orlais civil war, Vivie, Sera, and Dorians personal quest, outcome of the mage/templar war and the ending all should have been better.

 

To be honest all the companions could use much, much more. Especially considering the focus on this in Dragon Age 2.

 

Dorian: One cutscene in the Redcliffe pub.

Bull: Small section of "The wounded coast v2"

Varric: Valammar over again + one secret room.

Sera: Small section of Crestwood.

Cole: A war table mission and a cutscene in Redcliffe.

Solas: One fight in the exalted plains.

Vivienne: One objective she doesn't have to be on and one scene in a bedroom.

Blackwall: Two cutscenes and a judgement scene.

Josephine: A couple of cutscenes and war table missions.

Leliana: One scene inside a church.

 

Cassandras was the only one with any real length, and a original stage for it. Some of the others has choices in them so they get an "eh, ok then," mark.

Eh DAI companion quests where more similar to how they where in DAO because of the scale and that both games don't span over the course of ten years. Both games also have alot more conversations at camp then in DA2 so it makes sense that DA2s personal quests had three phases set in each playable moment in the 10 year span. However some like Vivie should have been better.

[Knight of Dane]

They should all have been better. The point of Dragon Age is to explore a story through your companions reactions.

 

Why in the world are people so against better companion quests? They, and the romances are all we ever talk about on this board.

[Korva]

I always had the impression that Bioware didn't really want to tell the story of the conflict between Corypheus and the Inquisitor. Or the Orlesian civil war, or the war between the mages and the templars, or the struggles of the Chantry and the exploration of the theme of faith in its various aspects. It was all handled it such a rushed and unsatisfying way, and now we know why: tying up those loose threads was just a convenient smokescreen for setting up Solas. So that's what I'd change above all: give the plot, its themes and its villain the treatment they deserve.

 

Corypheus needs to be a bigger presence, a real threat, and most of all more of a character. He also needs to score another victory or two, because it was all smooth sailing after Haven. And I'd set the final battle at Skyhold, because what's the point of a fortress, a special fortress in a special place at that, if its defenses are never tested? Get the players invested in the place and its people, let us upgrade it, and then make us fight for it.  Let us make tactical choices about troop deployment, give us control over separate groups like at the battle for the gates of Denerim, make the amount of effort each player invested in upgrades, troops and agents felt in terms of options and difficulty.

 

I'd ditch Morrigan completely, partly because I hate her so much as a character and partly because I wanted to use our own resources and brains to discover Corypheus' plans and figure out a way to deal with the red lyrium dragon, not have someone just vomit exposition all over us. It's not like we haven't killed dragons before.

 

The abovementioned side-conflicts should definitely be given more depth, too. For a faithful Inquisitor (or just someone playing politics), I'd really have liked the option to engage with the Chantry more, debate matters of faith, help lay the path for reforms.

 

For Halamshiral, Vivienne should have been a big player pulling strings to give us information and access. And I never felt it makes sense that the Inquisitor can just run around without a care instead of firmly being stuck in the spotlight. With most of the court locked out of the negotiations and waiting for results, we are the best entertainment for them to focus their extremely dangerous attention on. Make having to survive that cesspit full of vipers a purely narrative-driven and intense experience while agents and companions do the investigative work, until it's time for the rift in the royal quarters. While we're at it, don't let Florianne, a supposedly masterful player of "the Game", act like a brainless two-bit villain stereotype by personally giving herself away, here. For sneaking around the heavily guarded Winter Palace, Cole's special powers of allowing himself and a few others to go unseen are almost a must, so having him around should have a big impact on how smoothly and well the mission goes, IMO. (If he wasn't recruited or lost that ability due to the outcome of his personal quest, there would have to be an alternative but harder approach, of course.)

 

Other cases of companions impacting the plot in places where it's logical for their presence and skills to help would be good, too. More companion content is always good.

 

I'd also have loved for the game to let us explore the Anchor and its capabilities and weaknesses more, instead of just deus-ex-machina-ing them in a few places. After Haven, it's clear that Corypheus can incapacitate us easily and that makes us a huge liability that needs to be addressed. And I wanted to keep the Anchor, damnit. Between that and the ability to Fade-dream, which could likewise have been explored more, we had a great tie into the more mythical elements of the story and setting for all Inquisitors. It's a shame to just throw that away.

 

The Inquisitor needed more, and deeper and more nuanced, roleplaying options, and like Corypheus needed to be allowed to be more of a character. Let us explore and express values, goals, thoughts, emotions and ways the story affects us via genuinely two-way conversations instead of having most talks be exclusively about what the NPCs think and want.

 

There's more, but this is a wall of text already. In closing, I'll just say that I'm extremely annoyed with the way Trespasser seems all set to destroy the diversity of choices and achievements from the base game to force it all into the neatest and most simplistic samey package possible. If the writers can't be bothered to let our choices mean anything and for us to build something lasting, don't pretend we have choices and impact to begin with.

[RepHope]

I wish we had more one on one time with Cory. What he had to say could've shaken an Andrastian character to the same effect as Solas/Flemythal had on an Elven Inq. Also his general ineffectiveness beyond Haven hurt the story. He remains the biggest dropped ball in my opinion.

 

Mage/Templar War was another dud. There was no exploring of it's causes and it's effects, you just forcibly conscript one faction, and the other becomes generically evil. But it doesn't matter because you get plenty of mages and Templars either way, on your side or fighting you.

 

The assassination of Celene, dear Maker was that terrible. A potentially interesting quest ruined by the hidden enemy literally revealing themselves to you for no reason, so they can go MWHAHAHAHA IT WAS ME INQUSITOR, I'M THE ASSASSIN. DESTROY HIM MINIONS! I could not stop facepalming, especially with how bad the ending was. She's working for not!Satan but she backs down because she was embarrassed at a party. That's it. She kills the guards and Celene incredibly easily if you let her, but backs down if you tell her to, because muh Game.

 

Val Royeaux was another dud in my opinion. Denerim and Kirkwall had more character and felt more alive. Bethesda makes better cities than Bioware at this point. I expect Minrathos to be at least as big as Novigrad in Witcher 3.

 

Bioware needs to make better side quests. I recommend F:NV, Gothic 2, and W3 for games that had fun sidequests in my view. DAI was boring and lifeless for the most part, in part because the zones had nothing but fetch quests. JoH was much better so I hope they keep the lessons they learned there in mind.

[D_Schattenjager]

My main wish was that they should have linked the main quest to the subplots.

 

Origin

 

Should given a short origin story to Quizzy leading to how they reached Haven

Human, Qunari, City Elf : Mercenary Team Captain

Dwarf: Merchant Guild Guard

Dalish Elf: Clan

 

 

Mage - Templar war

 

(1) Pick Mages

--> Hushed Whisper

--> Assemble an artifact to help focus power towards Inquisitor (Requisition)

--> Close Rift

--> Investigate Therinfall Redoubt

      Find Templars have dissappeared ... traces of demons ... option to save Barris & clues towards Seeker disappearance

 

When we come back  ... conversation with Cullen & Cassandra on Therinfall & Seekers which is interrupted by Coryphenus' attack

 

(2) Pick Templars

--> Champions of Just

      Find clues towards Seeker disappearance

--> Assemble an artifact to help focus power towards Inquisitor (Requisition)

--> Close Rift

--> Investigate Redcliff Castle

     Save mages like Connor or Lysas. Could have also found clues to reach Rhys & Evangeline with them becoming an Agent. 

 

When we come back a conversation between Rhys, Leliana, Evangeline & Cullen which is interrupted by Coryphenus' attack

 

 

Into the Abyss

Tevinter Sacrificial tower is accessible once we take the Western Approach Keep. The road should be accessible through a Mission. Also need to have all the external camps established before we can move large forces & siege engines through the area

 

 

Corypheus' Lieutenants

Should have got option to go after both Samson (Right Hand) and Calpernia (Left Hand) irrespective of choice between Templars and Mages.

Chargers' or Tallis' missions could have both led to a point where we get additional edge against Venatori

Varric's quest should give better edge against Red Templars.

 

 

Arbor Wilds

--> Should become accessible once you establish

(1) All the Emerald Graves camps

(2) Get rid of the Freemen of Dales operatives in Emerald Graves (to ensure safe movement of troops)

[LobselVith8]

Now, reading all this will sound like I didn't like that game, and that is not the case, I liked it plenty. As this thread is about what should be different, IMHO, evidently it will focus on negatives. Anyways, I wanted to know other people perspectives on what should have been done different to make the game's flavor spicier.

I would have preferred if it wasn't so Andrastian-human centric; if the Dales actually allowed us to encounter elves instead of more Andrastian human quest givers (given TME reads that it's predominantly elven and humans were leaving en mass in Asunder), if Keeper Hawen's clan was more fleshed out, and if it was less anti-Dalish. The three mage reckon for the Dalish was unnecessary, particularly when it contradicts what was previously said (that magic is dying out among the Dalish - Merrill's codex), and the existence of more than three mages in a clan in Origins.

It's also strange that the Dalish Boon of the Hinterlands is entirely ignored for players who imported that worldstate, particularly when Teagan asks for compensation over what happened with the mages (while he technically occupies land that was gifted to the Dalish). The Inquisition could have been used to reclaim the territory for the Dalish, rather than marginalizing and handwaving the boon simply because the developers didn't plan ahead.

[Illegitimus]

I liked the idea of the veil being artificial; great device, I would not touch it... But I didn't like the idea that it was what caused the elves to age. I liked the notion that the contact with humans caused the quickening, and that a vastly more apt and advanced civilization was downed by a natural factor, and eventually overrun and enslaved by less intelligent and capable beings, that took pride on something that ultimately was not their merit.
 

 

Personally I liked the idea that humans were being used as scapegoats for something they had nothing to do with and human mortality being contagious was just superstition.  But I'm not sure I like the idea of the veil as such being responsible.  In Dragon Age Origins we saw that agelessness could be achieved by a spell.  I figured that the agelessness of the elves was the product of them each being bound by a spell to one of the gods, one that was broken when the gods were bound.  Of course the humans did shorten elf lifespans even more just by carrying conventional diseases...

[htisscrimbliv]

I wanted to actually do what i thought the game was going to be in the first place; close the breach, and find those responsible. I wanted an actual investigation in each of the major territories that would eventually lead to picking one of the major organizations to blame it on. I wanted the inquisitor to be a ruthless, soft hearted protagonist that actually had the possibility of making mistakes. I would've liked to do both the mage and templar missions, but not for getting them to ally for the breach, but instead secretly interrogating them for information. I definitely wanted more of what we got at the winter palace. To this day, i still get much delight from playing that mission, even going through the game roughly 14 times now. I mainly just wanted more

[Aravasia]

Basically, I believe the largest fallback, and where all these suggestions tie in, is that the main plot needed to be developed more. I believe that the parts that were there were wonderful, the issue is that many of them had so little leading up to them. It is sort of like each story-line went straight from the exposition > climax > resolution, skipping the rising and falling action.

 

Spoiler

 

To me, this had been most prevalent with developing Corypheus as a villain. I mentioned this on a few threads when the game had first come out, but, I believe he could have been developed more as the antagonist. His strongest moment was at Haven, which was incredible by itself, but, the threat he presents slowly dwindles afterwards, instead of increasing (rising action) which I believe led to an anti-climatic ending, for his plot at least.

 

Of course, the revelations with Solas overshadow him completely, but that did not really come into play until Trespasser, when the Inquisitor is aware of him. My hope is that Solas as an antagonist will be significantly more developed than Corypheus had been (well, he already is) but I hope that they continue to develop him as much in the next game.  

[TravisTrevelyan]

The best Dragon Age game would be made up of the best parts of the games, easily. 
The Role Playing ability of Origins (not tied to specific weapons or armor for your class, you can be a greatsword wielding Rogue wearing Mages robes if you want to for Shartan's sake) 
with a main character like Hawke (not one of the last of a group able to end a world destroying force, or not cursed with a magic mark to close tears into the apparently fake netherworld) but just a generally normal person. along with a much more personal story like II had, at least in Act 2. Have the MC have an actual personal stake in whats going on. Also sort of like the Human Origin and Dalish origin. 
Then throw in the openness of Inquisition, the variation in explorable areas, the further improved companion quests from it. 

In Inquisition personally I wish you got to see more of your agents, and forces throughout the game. Beyond a few random encounters in the Hinterlands, you never see Inquisition forces taking on enemies, well there is Adamant but whatever. 
Multiplayer should have had some affect on the campaign, not like in ME3, but giving you new schematics, agents, materials etc. for completed missions. 
The side content doesn't bother me much even though its a lot of fetch quests, it was part of the experiment in making a larger game then they had so eh. 
DLC wise I wish there was at least one other post game DLC, that would set up Trespasser properly, something more like Wicked Hearts dealing with a after the breach party held by the Orlesian court. Revealing spies in the Inquisition from a then unknown organization. 
As for Trespasser, I feel like there should have been another option rather then the Inquisitor losing their arm. Or, after the game's main story line ended (since JoH and TD are during the games main story) the Mark is removed when the anchor is destroyed. 
Then again Solas probably doesn't want the Inquisitor at 100 percent especially now that they know his true intentions. But it still feels a little, meh to me as a way for the Mark to be removed. 

Overall Bioware just needs to take the best out of the three games and their respective DLC's for the fourth entry, instead of experimenting further. New stuff is always welcome, but at the core it would be better this way. Leaving the new experimental stuff to DLC's, and smaller quest lines. 

[BansheeOwnage]

Facing Coryphenus at the end of the vanilla game was far too quick. One minute you're in the war table room, the next you're cornering Coryphyspit in the ruins.

 

I mean seriously, where was the lead up to that? Did he really have no one left to defend him? Was the ruins really so close to Skyhold? And why didn't he use his ancient, red lyrium-infused, superior Tevinter magister magic to keep the Inquisition from getting close?

Apparently it takes a day or two to get to the Temple of Sacred Ashes from Skyhold. So the narrative-pacing is all wonky in that mission (and also in WPHW and others in my opinion).

 

"Oh Maker Corypheus opened the breach again! For some reason this breach will grow much more quickly, forcing me to run to it with only a few people instead of properly preparing, and somehow I know it will grow faster even though I have no reason to think that! And for some other reason, people like Cullen and Leliana don't want to help me on this final mission, when they really don't need to be doing anything at the castle! Lazy advisors, them."

 

Then all of a sudden you appear there. Yes, I have a few problems with that mission
 

 

Other cases of companions impacting the plot in places where it's logical for their presence and skills to help would be good, too. More companion content is always good.

You mean like Cassandra actually daring to use her ability to bring any given mage or templar to heel? In a game where you fight hordes of both? No, no, that could never happen. She was just lying about having that ability to impress the Inquisitor, right? And then of course there is Cole, whose powers really should have been able to help you in certain cases, like you said. I'm snarky today.