Dragon Age Inquisition, together with the three DLCs, was one of the most fantastic games I've ever played. Origins was great, perhaps even excellent, whereas 2 didn't quite continue in its predecessor's footsteps, but I enjoyed it nonetheless and Meredith's final maniacal words ("...and do... not... FALTER!") were giving me chills weeks after the actual fight. But DAI was in virtually every aspect brilliant, from the story to the narrative, to the scope, to the artwork, to the voiceovers, to the writing.
But it can't all be perfect, now can it? So, for the sake of it, here are some criticisms I would point out, despite the 10/10 score. These are listed from most trivial (1) to most relevant (13), in my opinion:
1) Mounts: The mount section was somewhat constricted, and while there were many beautiful reskins, at the end of the day they were just reskins. I would have liked to see a greater variety. Also, would flying mounts be an option? No? Well I guess it is a bit too ambitious to ask for, but if you added something like that late in the game OR with very heavy restrictions (meaning you could only very occasionally use it) early on, I would have been blown away.
2) Swimming: You're not able to swim. Not that the world itself wasn't big enough and made me crave underwater / across the water zones, but swimming in general would be cool, and adding a single underwater zone, just for flavour, would have broken up the overall land-based feel of the game (provided there were no movement / combat issues, given that it would be a 3D environment). Perhaps in Tevinter (hint, hint)?
3) Day / night: A day / night cycle (by which I mean a gradual transition, as in dawn -> noon -> evening -> night -> dawn) at least in Skyhold would have been appreciated, while a day / night cycle added to every zone would have GREATLY added to the feel of many zones. Adding specific quests or events, like hunting certain ghosts / demons only at night, or interacting with farmers only by day, or the Astrariums working only at night, or the Shard skulls working only by day, would have been a terrific addition and a +1 from me.
4) Vanities: The Black Emporium, the Tint Table, the Golden Nug, and the Wardrobe should have been added MUCH earlier, preferably with the launch of the actual game itself, or in a very quick follow-up patch. I didn't have any time to experiment with my looks or enjoy my homely attire considering what a late edition it has been, which is a shame.
5) Bugs: Simple as that. I fully appreciate that the sheer size of the game meant that bugs were inevitable, but it's never pleasant stumbling onto one. Some examples include: i) Mosaic pieces not properly showing on the wall, with one of the pieces being utterly unobtainable because it was glitched inside a rock, ii) some of the books scattered around Skyhold (which you need for an achievement, or a quest, or for that crazy riddle guy to appear, I think?) were also in unobtainable locations, and the ones I did pick up didn't disappear afterwards, iii) sometimes the camera would get stuck on a single character and I couldn't target any other party members, which was very unfortunate if I was in the middle of a Dragon fight.
6) Romance: NO SEX SCENE WITH JOSEPHINE! Do I need to say more? All other romance options got at least some kind of kinky scene or reference, whereas this was slightly implied at best. I'm not talking about cyber porn, but a bit more steam would have been appreciated. (Also, on a sidenote, maybe the romance options for straight guys could have been a liiiiiiittle better looking, but that's just personal preference, and we can't all be perfect.)
7) Combat: By the time I'd finished DAI and the first two DLCs and gotten around to Trespasser, I was somewhat bored of the same cookie-cutter style of combat which I'd developed and perfected up to that point. With the exception of spamming my Focus abilities to maximal abuse, every group of enemies felt draggy as I was repeating the same sequence over and over and over with no room for further development or improvement.
8) Team Composition: On Nightmare difficulty, it felt virtually impossible to play without having AT LEAST one Mage with the Barrier spell to keep everyone protected, and very often two were required. It might have just been my playstyle, but the only alternative I've come across was to literally enchant every weapon and every piece of armour of every character with the +5 guard on hit perk, because otherwise they were dropping like flies.
9) Zones: Some zones felt almost overcrowded by content, such as the Emerald Graves, whereas others, like the Hissing Wastes, felt kind of empty, with the exception of the dwarven tombs quest chain.
10) Hawke: Hawke went to Weisshaupt (if he survives) which is, impliedly, torn by internal conflict, but then Varric, in the Trespasser credits, is said to have rebuilt Kirkwall WITH the help of Hawke. Just like that? He returned from Wisshaupt unharmed and decided to help out with masonry? Or was that referring to all the good Hawke had done for Kirkwall BEFORE the actual DAI? Because it wasn’t clear enough. Also, where is his / her romance option in all this (if one is chosen at all)? It would have been nice to see him / her featured, or at least significantly mentioned, like how Morrigan mentions the Warden (if they’re together).
11) Dragon eggs: A very relevant, in my eyes, development in the game was not addressed at all. By choosing the right mission advisers, we could eventually end up with an untainted batch of Dragon eggs from Emprise du Lion in Skyhold. That is HUGE! Will they die of malnutrition in the absence of an actual parent? Will the adults be friendly if they were raised with love? Will their caretakers be able to RIDE them?!
12) Race missions: The human, dwarven, and qunari race specific War Table missions felt very immaterial in comparison to the elven one, and even in the elven one very little regard was given to the actual fate of my clan during the game. If they died, barely anyone referenced it or expressed condolences, even my romance option. I very much appreciated Varric mentioning them in Trespasser, it made me squeal in relief, but one thing still bothers me: choosing the outcome of your race specific mission is not an option in the Dragon Age Keep, implying that this decision will have no bearing on future games, which is very sad and disappointing. My clan holding a city in the Free Marches, hand in hand with the major trade centre of Kirkwall? That merits at least a conversation in the next DA instalment.
13) Story: I wish the main story was a bit longer, perhaps a quest chain or two, because even though these parts were executed masterfully, with each one being very unique and memorable, there were too few of them for my liking. Also, while it's nice having side quests that don't have an impact but instead show the day to day concerns of Thedasians (bring blankets, save my horse, repair watchtowers) it would have been really great if all the relevant side quests (which there were too few of) funnelled into the next main story chapter, influencing my options / conversations / decisions.
Overall, though, I am just nitpicking here. The game was brilliant and I came up with these 13 criticisms literally by probing my brain for things which might have gotten on my nerves in the last half a year, with perhaps only the last few points being truly relevant to me (but I really would like an underwater zone!). Good job, Bioware, keep it up! Hopefully the next one will be even better, cheers.
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