One of, if not, maybe my favorite games of all time. This is a very unusual and very hot take, especially with how popular Origins and even Inquisition are in comparison. I remember how everyone used to hate this game for quite a long time, some still do. And they're not entirely incorrect. This game has a multitude of flaws. Reused assets, rushed Act 3, I have a feeling Nightmare Mode was not playtested at all. And yet somehow it still grips me in such a way that no other game can.

The Cast: Hawke, along with Commander Shepard, is probably my favorite video game protagonist. They have great voice actors both, they have amazing range between caring/witty/strict, they're really cool, but they're also human. They feel more down to earth than either the Warden or the Inquisitor. The rest of the cast? I really like them, there are some misses such as Sebastian and Tallis but all the ones from main game range from pretty good to some of my favorites

The Gameplay: The world is much smaller than Origins, but I genuinely like Kirkwall. It is a genuine shithole that needs to be saved from itself. There are issues such as reused dungeons and areas as well as hordes of enemies coming in waves, but I think I don't entirely hate it with how fluid and fun the combat is. It's just Origins gameplay, but a lot more flashy and fast. Tactics are still quite fun, running builds is fun, and I like that every class feels fun to use.

The Story: Despite how rushed this game was with a 9 month development Cycle (that is genuinely insane and I don't know how the devs and writers withstood that), it is still to me the strongest story out of all the three Dragon Age games. You really do follow Hawke's story in a meaningful way that makes me appreciate and respect them more as a character in their own right and as a customizable protagonist.