Which has absolutely nothing to do with what I wrote and only underscores my point.
Corypheus and the Inquisitor -- both alone and together. Unfortunately, neither of them is given any chance to be an actual character, nevermind the supposed antagonist and protagonist. With such complete disregard for the two most crucial characters of a story, you don't have a story, especially when that disregard also extends to the themes the story pretends to be about.
The problems with Inquisition's story and characterization were annoying enough before Trespasser pretty much revealed them to be deliberate.
Sorry, but what is problem for you aren't problems for others. I find Inquisitor to be well-realized (a victim of circumstances with an extraordinary destiny thrust upon them and asked to grow into their role as a savior and Thedosian demigod) and now only having more chances for even more realization - way more than Hawke and HoF ever had. We could have known more about Corypheus, but overall his role in the story is intriguing and fairly unique - he's a pawn to powers he barely understands and an unwitting, ironic savior of Thedas.
And the "he wasn't given a chance to be an actual character" is nothing more than an empty slogan. Archdemon was as dangerous and crucial to the story in DAO and we hardly knew anything about it. Was it necessary for the story to be good? No - the story doesn't have to rely on deep characterization of its antagonist to move (some stories don't even have an antagonist), ESPECIALLY one that is NOT a stand-alone story, and we get to know more and more about the world and who nudges or shoves history in it in later installments, unfolding the bigger picture before our eyes. Corypheus served similar role - he was the catalyst for the main story, whose main focus was the rise of Inquisition AND slowly unraveling the mysteries of Thedas that go beyond corrupted magister who unleashed something evil on the world and wants to do evil stuff now.
This is a story no, say, TES game could really offer, Why? Because it's impossible for standalone game, even as large as RPG, to ever be given enough space or time to be developed it such enormous scope or complexity. It would have to have a clear beginning, middle and end, with most of its plot being tied to one installment, and by necessity many corners and possibilities would have to be cut.
And with the story how it is in DA, and its current (very possible) direction, there's only more and more potential development for its world and characters on the horizon.
No story and no character should exist as merely an enabler for another story or character. If the former aren't allowed to properly shine on their own merits and the latter aren't able to, then both are a waste of my time. And I'm going to be especially p*ssed off if the themes and people (including my own character) I got emotionally invested in are among those rendered irrelevant that way.
Er, yes they should and they do. That's what a great deal of characters in fiction do. HOW they do it can be a matter of debate, and I'm afraid that in case of DAI you and I won't find agreement. I greatly enjoy Corpyheus' role in the story, even if I wish I could see a bit more of characterization. I loved the fact that a Blight-infected maniac ultimately saved the world from possibly-redeemable old hero and made the world unite itself in their struggles to pull themselves from a brink of chaos they almost brought on themselves by their own hands, through their petty and oftentimes pointless conflicts and inability to unite unless end of the world knocks at their door. Ironic twists of fate, FTW.
And how the Inquisitor is, is of course a matter of how people play them, but I fail to see how they don't stand on their own. They're in a unique position in fact compared to most (all?) Thedas heroes, both in terms of their role in the world, as well as their story - they have an active, complex relationship with possibly one of the most interesting antagonists/characters BW ever had... and in DA4 they'll be established heroes and war veterans who may yet get choices and further development that can go way beyond what we've seen before in any DA game; which would be IMPOSSIBLE to achieve if the story was only limited to one chapter.
DAO is a standalone game and it was developed to be in that way regardless of the tiny connections it had with DAII there was no meta plot yet.
DAII was the one who changed the narrative style and they even messed up badly since the well of sorrow was a DA2 project and it was regurgitated in DAI while Hawke was supposed to be at the place of the Inquisitor.
Wrong. At a time they've been creating DAO they didn't yet know if they'd have a chance to create more installments - that's a different thing from what you're claiming. It's obvious that there's more story, even in DAO.
Now, the game itself couldn't really go into much detail on overarching plot, because DAO's role is really to simply introduce us to Thedas and its problems -- this is why the story may seem to be a bit more "self-contained"... because it couldn't really do much more. We spend so much time on establishing the world and its socio-political or historical landscape that we really only have time to defeat a pretty generic baddie at the end of it. But there are hints all over the place suggesting that there's more plot going to happen in DAO itself; and if you don't believe that then, well... there are tweets by devs like the ones I just quoted.