For the record, this game does satisfy the very subjective desire to just comb through a big open world map and just clean it of any content available. I can't really quantify the value in that since it may have ruined this games structure, and I definitely would have preferred something more guided, but seeing as I did quite literally everything this game had to offer and didn't feel as burnt out as I could have been, perhaps due to the mindless gameplay loop, the argument that the games size was detrimental doesn't ring true for me personally. However, the systems around this structure feel so at odds with itself.
The game plays so slowly. You move slow. You get slower when you enter combat. You fight slow. You stop to pick up any and all items. You even progress through the game's own narratives slowly. You need to acquire power and levels to but into story progression, which you have to run around the world map (slowly) picking up any side quest you find, which at best engage in the boring style of character interaction which just hovers the camera around, or at worst has you picking up notes giving you directions to another note. It's all so impersonal, why even bother? Oh right because you can't continue on without at least doing a handful.
There are also narratives unlocked through the War Table, which literally have you wait real time hours to unlock the content behind them. They could be unlocked by one of three advisors you have and would have different outcomes based in who completed it. Problem is they all had varying times to complete with each member, so considering the difference in time could be hours in some cases, I almost always went with who would get it done more quickly rather than weigh my options at all. You can go through the game while waiting for the timer to run out, but once you hit near the end of the game in which it unloads a lot of War Table content that may disappear after the final mission, it leads the player to either go do something else while waiting hours for the potentially banal content, or continue through the end of the game potentially missing out on something. It's such a bizarre way to handle a feature like this.
The War Table also lets you access quests for your party members. These quests really vary in quality. Some even turned me around in some characters who I thought were pretty lame. Dorian and Blackwalls quests were excellent, even if they only amounted to a scene or two. And then there's fucking Sera, perhaps the worst party member in any game ever. This game also has some pretty aggravating story threads. It's hard to talk about without going into specifics, but essentially there are instances where an ideal outcome is possible, but the writers just didn't even seem to consider it even when it's so obvious. I can't describe how frustrating it is to be like "just let me do this" and the game to plug its ears and go "lalalala".
This is a prime example of overcorrecting. The finale is a wet fart. Everything takes too long. The mandatory story stuff is pretty weak overall. I tried playing this game before any of the others and found that it just doesn't establish the setting at all. Dragon Age seems to be BioWare's test dummy and it makes the series messy. The more I reflect on it the less positive feelings I have.
The game plays so slowly. You move slow. You get slower when you enter combat. You fight slow. You stop to pick up any and all items. You even progress through the game's own narratives slowly. You need to acquire power and levels to but into story progression, which you have to run around the world map (slowly) picking up any side quest you find, which at best engage in the boring style of character interaction which just hovers the camera around, or at worst has you picking up notes giving you directions to another note. It's all so impersonal, why even bother? Oh right because you can't continue on without at least doing a handful.
There are also narratives unlocked through the War Table, which literally have you wait real time hours to unlock the content behind them. They could be unlocked by one of three advisors you have and would have different outcomes based in who completed it. Problem is they all had varying times to complete with each member, so considering the difference in time could be hours in some cases, I almost always went with who would get it done more quickly rather than weigh my options at all. You can go through the game while waiting for the timer to run out, but once you hit near the end of the game in which it unloads a lot of War Table content that may disappear after the final mission, it leads the player to either go do something else while waiting hours for the potentially banal content, or continue through the end of the game potentially missing out on something. It's such a bizarre way to handle a feature like this.
The War Table also lets you access quests for your party members. These quests really vary in quality. Some even turned me around in some characters who I thought were pretty lame. Dorian and Blackwalls quests were excellent, even if they only amounted to a scene or two. And then there's fucking Sera, perhaps the worst party member in any game ever. This game also has some pretty aggravating story threads. It's hard to talk about without going into specifics, but essentially there are instances where an ideal outcome is possible, but the writers just didn't even seem to consider it even when it's so obvious. I can't describe how frustrating it is to be like "just let me do this" and the game to plug its ears and go "lalalala".
This is a prime example of overcorrecting. The finale is a wet fart. Everything takes too long. The mandatory story stuff is pretty weak overall. I tried playing this game before any of the others and found that it just doesn't establish the setting at all. Dragon Age seems to be BioWare's test dummy and it makes the series messy. The more I reflect on it the less positive feelings I have.