Let me start by saying that although I recommend this game, it is in no way perfect, and I would score it higher as a new IP than I would the continuation of the Dragon Age series. Still, for all of it's imperfections, it is enjoyable, even if at times frustrating, and I'm on my third playthrough as we speak. I could likely write an entire essay on the game, but I'll try to keep the points somewhat brief..

THE GOOD:
- Absolutely beautiful environments
- A fairly expansive character creator
- Incredibly fun combat and classes + specializations
- Rook has some great voice acting and easily became my favorite PC, managing to dethrone (purple) Hawke
- Some great exploration of current lore and resolution to outstanding threads and theories that left me screaming
- Interesting and engaging companions (though sometimes almost too likable, something I'll touch on in THE BAD)
- A wide inclusion of fan favorite characters from the comics and books, which felt like a nice little nod to longtime fans
- Made me cry a lot of tears
- Crow origin is top tier 10/10
- Felt like the Mass Effect 2 of Dragon Age games in some ways, and had some wonderfully stressful decision making endgame
- Fun companion banter that can continue when interrupted
- The romances I have experienced have me absolutely attached to the characters (though there is a BUT, see below)
- When the companion voice acting is good, it is GOOD, like break your heart good, but when it's bad..

THE BAD (I will belabor these points a bit more, because I think knowing the drawbacks can help people decide if they are enough to leave the game on their wishlist and wait for a sale):
- To continue from above, when the voice acting is bad, it's very rough. Not in terms of the skill of the cast, but often the delivery, like maybe they didn't have context for the story at the moment. It throws you when it happens, because I thought it was otherwise consistently good.
- Rook's faction backstories can either completely disregard established lore or seem to be thrown around with little impact to the story, even when they are a big deal - example: a Lord of Fortune Rook can mention they were once a slave in Tevinter, and yet, they have no commentary beyond that, and act as if they have never been to Tevinter and have no opinion on the Venatori or various happenings.
- I could go off on an entire rant by how disappointed the Lords of Fortune origin was, but let me just say, avoid it. Not worth it, at all. Incredibly weak, and I was so disappointed after being most excited for it, and looking forward to the Rivain content (of which there was.. very little).
- The companions are all almost too likable and vanilla, there is no moral grey here. Which is wild when you have, for example, an Antivan Crow companion. I may be biased as a Dragon Age 2 stan, but I enjoy having rough edges around a companion, and a reason for them to find strife with each other. A character like Anders is divisive, for a reason, and that's a GOOD thing.
- Similarly, the game itself felt a little watered down, made to be more easily palatable. I look to the Crows again, an example - everything we know about how they are selected and trained (much of which originally came from Zevran in Origins), yet somehow they are presented as just all around good guys, heroes who only kill the deserving.
- Companion banter, while great, seemed to disappear when you begin to fast travel places, because from what I can tell it's triggered by moving through specific areas on the map, which is a bummer but I suppose makes you want to run around more.
- The romances are good, almost great, but sometimes they can feel.. lacking in content. In Inquisition you could run off for a quick kiss, you could stop by to interact with them (even if sometimes there was nothing new to say), and not having those options makes it feel like the well runs dry when you're between romance cutscenes or conversations. Some of the romances are even almost too.. nuanced? Sly? Like you really have to look for the changes in the way the character says your name, or the way they react in combat, which I absolutely love the inclusion of, but does not replace more substantial content.
- BioWare, please, please let me preview gear in the wardrobe without having to click on it and let me preview gear sold by vendors without having to buy it..
- A lot of combat fights are somewhat rinse and repeat, so it's really good that combat is so fun, because going through the same motions with each dragon really killed me.

At the end of the day, after waiting a decade, could it have been better? Sure, but considering the development hell it went through, I'm impressed by what we got. Even putting that aside, it is FUN, it really, truly is. I'll play it at least once for each faction, and probably many more times beyond that, and it will continue to tide me over until the next game comes out. Someday. Whenever that may be.

Let me start by saying that although I recommend this game, it is in no way perfect, and I would score it higher as a new IP than I would the continuation of the Dragon Age series. Still, for all of it's imperfections, it is enjoyable, even if at times frustrating, and I'm on my third playthrough as we speak. I could likely write an entire essay on the game, but I'll try to keep the points somewhat brief.. THE GOOD: - Absolutely beautiful environments - A fairly expansive character creator - Incredibly fun combat and classes + specializations - Rook has some great voice acting and easily became my favorite PC, managing to dethrone (purple) Hawke - Some great exploration of current lore and resolution to outstanding threads and theories that left me screaming - Interesting and engaging companions (though sometimes almost too likable, something I'll touch on in THE BAD) - A wide inclusion of fan favorite characters from the comics and books, which felt like a nice little nod to longtime fans - Made me cry a lot of tears - Crow origin is top tier 10/10 - Felt like the Mass Effect 2 of Dragon Age games in some ways, and had some wonderfully stressful decision making endgame - Fun companion banter that can continue when interrupted - The romances I have experienced have me absolutely attached to the characters (though there is a BUT, see below) - When the companion voice acting is good, it is GOOD, like break your heart good, but when it's bad.. THE BAD (I will belabor these points a bit more, because I think knowing the drawbacks can help people decide if they are enough to leave the game on their wishlist and wait for a sale): - To continue from above, when the voice acting is bad, it's very rough. Not in terms of the skill of the cast, but often the delivery, like maybe they didn't have context for the story at the moment. It throws you when it happens, because I thought it was otherwise consistently good. - Rook's faction backstories can either completely disregard established lore or seem to be thrown around with little impact to the story, even when they are a big deal - example: a Lord of Fortune Rook can mention they were once a slave in Tevinter, and yet, they have no commentary beyond that, and act as if they have never been to Tevinter and have no opinion on the Venatori or various happenings. - I could go off on an entire rant by how disappointed the Lords of Fortune origin was, but let me just say, avoid it. Not worth it, at all. Incredibly weak, and I was so disappointed after being most excited for it, and looking forward to the Rivain content (of which there was.. very little). - The companions are all almost too likable and vanilla, there is no moral grey here. Which is wild when you have, for example, an Antivan Crow companion. I may be biased as a Dragon Age 2 stan, but I enjoy having rough edges around a companion, and a reason for them to find strife with each other. A character like Anders is divisive, for a reason, and that's a GOOD thing. - Similarly, the game itself felt a little watered down, made to be more easily palatable. I look to the Crows again, an example - everything we know about how they are selected and trained (much of which originally came from Zevran in Origins), yet somehow they are presented as just all around good guys, heroes who only kill the deserving. - Companion banter, while great, seemed to disappear when you begin to fast travel places, because from what I can tell it's triggered by moving through specific areas on the map, which is a bummer but I suppose makes you want to run around more. - The romances are good, almost great, but sometimes they can feel.. lacking in content. In Inquisition you could run off for a quick kiss, you could stop by to interact with them (even if sometimes there was nothing new to say), and not having those options makes it feel like the well runs dry when you're between romance cutscenes or conversations. Some of the romances are even almost too.. nuanced? Sly? Like you really have to look for the changes in the way the character says your name, or the way they react in combat, which I absolutely love the inclusion of, but does not replace more substantial content. - BioWare, please, please let me preview gear in the wardrobe without having to click on it and let me preview gear sold by vendors without having to buy it.. - A lot of combat fights are somewhat rinse and repeat, so it's really good that combat is so fun, because going through the same motions with each dragon really killed me. At the end of the day, after waiting a decade, could it have been better? Sure, but considering the development hell it went through, I'm impressed by what we got. Even putting that aside, it is FUN, it really, truly is. I'll play it at least once for each faction, and probably many more times beyond that, and it will continue to tide me over until the next game comes out. Someday. Whenever that may be.