Dragon Age: Inquisition is the most divisive game of the Dragon Age franchise for a reason, even more so than Dragon Age II.
Romance
- The romance options and their quality. Good? Unsatisfactory? Insufficient? The game has 8 romance options in total: 4 are strictly straight (3 male, 1 female), 2 are bi (1 male, 1 female) and 2 are strictly gay (1 male, 1 female). A particular point of contention is that there are more romance options for (straight) women than anyone else - four total options if playing as a female elf and three if playing as a female human, in comparison to two for women of other races and any orientation or men of any race and any orientation.
- The debate flared up again after Trespasser, where two female-only romances (namely, Cullen and Sera) get to marry the Inquisitor. As for why this caused issues, it's because no other romance route has the marriage happen on-screen or at all. Iron Bull can discuss marriage with a romanced Inquisitor of either gender, the implication being that they'll have an offscreen wedding after the current mess is settled. Meanwhile, in the Cassandra romance, depending on your ending, Cassandra may say that her romance with the Inquisitor is at risk thanks to her being Divine; as for Dorian, he will say he has to go back to Tevinter, which the Inquisitor notes means they won't see each other for a long time at least.
- Iron Bull and Dorian's potential romance. Fans remain rather hotly divided on whether it's Adoribull or massively unhealthy for the both of them.
- Sera's relationship with a Dalish girlfriend and her rash ultimatum after Mythal: A refreshing change where a companion actually acknowledges the player's race, and understandable given her own internalized racism? Or a highly toxic and emotionally abusive relationship where Sera treats Lavellan the way she claims "elfy" elves treated her in the past? Her character development in Trespasser mitigated this only a little, with some forgiving her and others seeing it as far too little too late especially since she never apologizes or rescinds her ultimatum if she has not been dumped. Fans were also a little torn over whether her Distracted by the Sexy / Cuteness Proximity reactions to a Qunari and Dwarf Inquisitors are charmingly funny, or objectifying / infantilizing respectively. (Heck, some of Sera's fans and detractors alike still feel she shouldn't be romanceable to an elf at all if her issues with elves run that deep and the player can't help her overcome it.)
- How each romance was handled was also another big point of divide. General consensus is that the romances for Cullen, Cassandra, Dorian, and Solas are well-written and enhance those characters, but the remaining options have issues: Iron Bull's romance underwhelms due to the lack of emotional connection and the excessive focus on the Brains and Bondage aspect to the exclusion of anything else meaningful; Josephine's romance is painfully cheesy; Sera's romance with the female Lavellan is abusive and unhealthy (as detailed above), and her relationship with any of the other races is either objectifying or condescending; and those not put off by The Reveal of Blackwall's status feel that he is too boring or too much like their real-life dad/grandpa to romance. Of course, all of them have their supporters and detractors, and a character's individual popularity may or may not have also influenced how fans think about their romance.
- Another point of debate is how not all romances are available for every gender/race, but the flirt option usually is. In some cases, like Cullen or Vivienne, the Inquisitor gets turned down rather quickly; but in others, especially Cassandra's, you can be already very far into the game before she tells you she is not interested. Not only is this frustrating because you got your hopes up, but you could've also spent your time romancing another character.
- Many people were unpleasantly surprised that there was still no dwarven romance option. This sentiment only worsened with the introduction of Scout Harding, a character many had hoped to romance. Simultaneously, most dwarf fans are by now used to or sick of having to stick to humans or elves.
- There is still an ongoing discussion if Varric should've been (or become) a romance option. When it was announced he'd play a major role in Inquisition, some people assumed he'd come back as a love interest (like Cassandra or Cullen did). Nowadays, you see a lot of discourse about the topic whenever possible Dragon Age 4 romances are discussed. Some people would love to see Varric pull a 'Garrus', where he is a good friend/companion in earlier games and romance-able later on. Others feel like making him a love interest would invalidate the relationship he had with both Hawke and the Inquisitor, as by now he's established as 'the best friend' tagalong. The fact that he might also be involved with Bianca doesn't really help here.
- The fact that you cannot romance Vivienne. A lot of people found it a downer that the first black woman in the game series can be flirted with, but cannot be romanced. Others didn't mind as they disliked her personality. However, many believed a romance arc would've given her character more depth and make her eventually much more likable as a character. The eventual revelation that she's genuinely in love with Duke Bastien (and is therefore emotionally unavailable) makes it better for some players, but not all.
- Similarly, that you cannot romance Cole if you choose to make him more human. To some, Cole is closer to a child substitute, similar to how some find Blackwall too similar to a grandparent, or they simply find the notion of romancing him creepy. To others, making Cole romanceable is the logical conclusion of the player making this choice and would offer new avenues for character development for him. While Cole says he is not ready for a sexual relationship in-game, this is no different than Josephine's disinterest in sex and a human Cole enters into a relationship with an NPC in Trespasser, making the limitation all the more confusing.
- The romantic orientations in general. As mentioned above, if you play as a female elf, you have so much more romantic options than if you play as, let's say, a Qunari. Many people were displeased to find out some characters had very limited romantic interests - most particularly Solas, who is only available to female elves (1/8th of the character creation options), and Cullen, who is only interested in female humans or elves.
- Cassandra being straight caused some confusion... and controversy. She's had a LGBT Fanbase since her debut in DA2, with many sapphic players hoping to romance her. While some players felt her straightness makes sense given her character arc, others were expecting her to be bi or lesbian. It doesn't help that David Gaider admitted he based her off a real-life straight female friend who is often Mistaken for Gay, for which some fans felt he was deliberately setting up sapphic female players for disappointment.
- Many sapphic players were aggravated at yet another BioWare title making the more "butch" female companion Cassandra strictly straight (like Ashley Williams, Morrigan, Jack, Miranda, and Avelinenote before her) while only the hyper-femme Sera and Josephine could be romanced by women (like Liara, Leliana, Kelly Chambers, Isabela, and Merrill before them). Some are fine with it, while others begs the question of why BioWare is SO averse to the perceived "Butch Lesbian" trope.
- Some fans were disappointed that Knight in Shining Armor types like Cassandra, Cullen, Blackwall, etc. were straight, while mostly rogue, mercenary, and apostate characters were gay/bi again. Not only were many sapphic women hoping to romance Cassandra and many gay/bi men hoping to romance a more traditionally masculine yet emotion-driven love interest for a change like Blackwall or Cullen (not yet another Elfeminate and/or Camp Gay Ethical Slut), but some fans felt it fell into the outdated idea that of course morally upright Knight in Shining Armor types would be straight as a board, while only "social deviants" and outcasts would be "sexual deviants" too. (Downplayed as Josephine is bi, but still...)
- Cole's romance in Trespasser. Some people thought it was interesting to see how a character like him would function in a relationship. Others were just weirded out by the sudden appearance of his partner or disappointed that they couldn't romance him themselves. There's also a third faction who dislikes the way the game seems to imply that becoming human must require him to get into a relationship.
Sera and other elf-related issues
- Sera may be one of the most divisive characters in Bioware history. Many players found her to be extremely obnoxious, and too much of a "quirky" character to take seriously at all. And combine that with the issues mentioned above about her romance and the fact that she cannot be convinced to change (only seeing any sort of character growth in Trespasser), many were happy for the option to kick her out of the Inquisition at any time (something that is unique to her, so perhaps the devs were aware of how people would feel). Another faction finds her to be a funny character who contrasts well with the rest of the party who are all varying levels of more serious. There isn't much middle ground between the two sides.
- In addition, some see her as a fun-loving free spirit who just wants to help society's most downtrodden and thinks people should be themselves. Others see her as a racist bully and mean-spirited hypocrite who uses the "common folk" as an excuse to lash out at groups she doesn't like (particularly nobles, mages, and "elfy" elves, all of which human commoners don't like), keep all the money she steals for herself, and is the most guilty of enforcing racist stereotypes herself (as stated in her romance entry above).
- Whether Sera's "non-elfy" status and internalized racism is a unique and refreshing character trait, or overblown since most of BioWare's non-human characters tend to be "not like others" of their kind too. (Varric is "not dwarfy," Iron Bull is "not like any Qunari we've seen so far," etc.)
- Fans are split over whether Sera's Internalized Categorism and the player's inability to help her overcome it explores a Hard Truth Aesop that oppressed minorities can hate and oppress each other too (though whether Sera is doing it, "elfy elves" are doing it to Sera, or both do it to each other has fans split), or if it is meant to endorse the idea that the only "correct" way to be a minority is to be a self-loathing one who assimilates to the dominant religion/culture. (Especially since Sera is the only elven companion this game besides Solas, who is also "not like other elves," shits on other elves every chance he gets too, and is revealed to be an ancient Elf and the Greater-Scope Villain, and an "Elfy" Female Lavellan who doesn't embrace their role as Herald of Andraste or choose a non-elven Love Interest can easily become a Cosmic Plaything.)
- Even Sera's mostly well-received Character Development in Trespasser has fans split:
- Some argue it's amazing and authentic character growth thanks to Sera becoming Older and Wiser following the two-year Time Skip, while others find it hastily slapped on after the devs realized they went a little overboard making her so divisive.
- The Inquisitor also has to be on good terms with Sera to see these positive changes in Trespasser or she'll refuse to talk to them at all, and she still doesn't apologize or rescind her ultimatum if she and an "Elfy" Lavellan didn't break up after Mythal, leaving some in doubt over how much she's really changed.
- It's also somewhat debatable how much she really has matured. She spends the entire game claiming to support the "little people", particularly servants who may be mistreated by their employers. And yet what does she do in Trespasser? If she's at decently high approval with the Inquisitor, they run around throwing pies at people. And while the Inquisitor has their spa day with Vivienne, she's seen in the background, again throwing food. Twice in the DLC she creates a ridiculous messy waste of food - which those "little people" will have to clean up. If she cares so much about them, she shouldn't be creating extra work for them.
- Certain revelations about the Dalish divided fans:
- "The Knights' Tomb" sidequest reveals the details surrounding the events at Red Crossing, which was the beginning of the Exalted Marches against the Dales, and these details aren't terribly sympathetic towards the elves. Fans argued specifically over who is more at fault for the war which followed, the Dalish or Orlais.
- One contentious detail was that the Dalish exile their mages from their clans if they possess more than two, to the point of kicking child mages out into the wilderness to fend for themselves.note Some Dalish fans accused this of being a Retcon meant to damage the argument that the Dalish are a better alternative to the Circle for teaching and caring for elf mages; others didn't see any real contradictions between the previous games and this lore addition.
- Morrigan detailing to the Inquisitor parts of elven history and lore, as many Lavellan players tend to feel like their character ought to know as much as Morrigan, if not more, while others pointed out that Morrigan was raised by Mythal and has been shown repeatedly to know more than many modern elves about elven lore. Still others point out that the Inquisitor was originally written to be human, and when the game was changed to allow multiple race options, this was probably left in by accident, since Morrigan knowing more than the other races isn't nearly as strange. (It does come across as strange, however, if an Inquisitor of any race takes the History Knowledge perk before chatting with Morrigan, since they should in that case at least know who Mythal is, even if only in passing.)
- The Reveal about the fall of Arlathan being caused by internal strife and not the Tevinter Imperium, who merely took what remained. This was mainly controversial because of how it flipped around the Dalish narrative of persecution set up in Origins. Either you thought it was a fine twist that grants the Dalish agency in their own fate and adds nuance, or you're in the camp that felt BioWare went too far with the Screw You, Elves!, especially in combination with the upper three points.
- Some revelations about the Fall of the Dales in Jaws of Hakkon: Some find Inquisitor Ameridan's story to be a beautifully tragic parallel to the current Inquisitor's (especially if they're a Mage/Elf), and sheds more tragic light on how easily the Fall of the Dales might have been avoided, given that Ameridan the elven mage was a close personal friend of Emperor Drakon, worshiped both the Maker and Creators, and tried to convince the Dales to do the same before he disappeared. Other fans are a little annoyed at yet another example of the writers blaming the elves for their own oppression under humans again. Some think it's another brilliant case of Gray-and-Grey Morality, others feel it ignores established lore that Emperor Drakon was an Imperial expansionist who already led several religious-based military campaigns against neighboring human kingdoms (and refused to tolerate any alternate Maker worship, like The Daughters of Song
). Many find it doubtful that Drakon or his descendants would have just left the elves alone in the long run even if they had accepted Chantry missionaries, when even human neighbors who already worshiped the Maker weren't spared.
- The Elven Inquisitor being Dalish-only. This annoyed many fans who prefer city elves (which have always been more popular than the Dalish), or would have loved to explore how an elf raised under human oppression would feel being in charge of them now. Others feel that being Dalish-only makes a lot of story sense given the many above revelations about Dalish history.
- It cannot be overstated how divisive Dragon Age: Inquisition's depiction of the Dalish has been among elven fans and detractors, since arguments continue in social media forums and comment sections to this day:
- On the one hand, Word of Gaider has stated that the developers based the elves off real-world Medieval Jews, and admitted to their similarities to "historically oppressed groups" like African and Native Americans, to the point that it's not uncommon for Jewish and/or BIPOC players to personally identity with city and Dalish elves. To that end, DAI's many cases of Screw You, Elves! (as stated above) has left many players feeling that the game essentially tries to to argue that "If you deal with systemic discrimination, you deserve it. You and your people should have assimilated to the dominant religion/culture like Ameridan or Sera or you were asking for it." This left a bad taste in many players' mouths. Not helped that the Dalish Inquisitor (especially the female Inquisitor) is a Cosmic Plaything, and Dalish are framed as elitist bigots and the revelations about their history an example of Break the Haughty, but many players have pointed out that since the Dalish and city elves are Enslaved Elves, it's less "knocking the haughty elitist down a peg" and more "grinding already disadvantaged people further into the dirt."
- On the other hand, many players feel that these fans are over-reacting since Thedas elves aren't real, some find their similarities to real minorities to be "tenuous at best", and the devs constantly shitting on elves this game just means they're setting them up to be uplifted in future games. Many players also feel the Dalish really are just that awful, and thus the many helpings of Screw You, Elves! were well-deserved. Others still feel the revelations that elves destroyed themselves is a refreshing change to the usual Noble Savage depiction of African and Native American-coded characters being perfectly innocent victims, since most real-life colonized cultures were and are flawed people. They also feel the reveal that the elves destroyed themselves gives the elves much-needed agency in their own fate, not just helpless victims of circumstance. Others also feel that the friendly and supportive Elven Elven NPC's the Inquisitor can encounter in the Hinterlands and Exalted Plains, and some sympathetic portrayals of Dalish elves in codices and War Table Missions, makes up for every single cinematic and story-required Elven NPC being full of Screw You, Elves!
- There's also a third party who feel the elves are just a Spotlight-Stealing Squad this game and would like future games to focus on other groups (particularly dwarves and Qunari, who haven't gotten as much content so far).
- On the one hand, Word of Gaider
Other character and story-related issues
- Gender representation was also an issue of debate. While some were satisfied with the companions regardless of gender, others pointed out that there are six males to the three females; this forms a stark contrast to Origins, DAII, and the Mass Effect trilogy, where you always have a roughly equal number of male and female companions. It doesn't help that two of the three females are among the biggest base breakers in the game, as listed above. However, this way of thinking leaves off the advisors, each of whom have fully fleshed-out character arcs and personal quests. Including them brings the ratio to a much more even level that is typical with BioWare games. Other than Cullen (who explicitly considers himself of lower rank) and a male Inquisitor, the Inquisition's leadership is entirely female, as are its most visible specialists and allies. The advisors, however, are not playable characters and don't usually travel or fight with the Inquisitor, so even when one does take them into account, the ratio of male to female playable characters is still much more skewed than it has been in previous games. It doesn't help that this pretty directly contributes to the shortage of romanceable women (three, compared to five romanceable men) mentioned above.
- A related complaint was that the women we do get are much less diverse than the men or than the female companions in previous games. Just for a few examples: none of them are overtly sexual (two of the men are) and none of them are from older generations (again, two men are). Additionally, almost all of the women are human. Sera and Harding are the only significant non-human women in the game, and there are quibbles for both; Sera is effectively a human with pointy ears and holds "elfy" things in disdain, and Harding—despite her popularity—is not playable, doesn't have a romance arc, and her status as a significant character is borderline (especially without the Jaws of Hakkon DLC). Compare that to Solas, Varric, Iron Bull, and Cole, who are all playable characters.
- Cullen's fanservice. There are several occasions where characters objectify him or joke that he's just part of the Inquisition for his looks. In one Adviser dialogue, Leliana jokes that he should "hush, just look pretty." During party banter, Varric can ask who'd win a fight among Cassandra, Leliana or Josephine, leaving 'Curly' out because he's just there to look pretty. Some people applaud the story for switching gender roles since this is how female characters are often handled, while others feel it's wrong regardless of the character's gender and Cullen being male doesn't make his objectification right.
- Cullen being sexually harassed and groped at the Winter Palace being Played for Laughs. Some players find it genuinely hilarious, while other players find the scene making light of Cullen's very obvious distress (and Cole pointing out in-universe that it's deeply traumatizing for him) to be in extremely poor taste. Others find it to be straight up Double Standard Rape: Female on Male since if the same happened to a female character (like Leliana or Josephine) it would almost surely not be Played for Laughs, or would have gotten a much bigger fandom blowback.
- Hawke's cameo. While many were happy to see their old PC back in Inquisition, many others were upset about Hawke's sudden anti-blood magic stance in the game, even if they were either a blood mage (which isn't shown or mentioned in Inquisition) or were in a happy relationship with Merrill. Then there was the Player Punch mentioned below. Finally, even if Hawke makes it out of the Fade, they don't get to fight the Big Bad, and (except for a few mentions in Trespasser and its epilogue) they're never seen or mentioned again; to some people, these facts ultimately make their whole appearance rather pointless.
- There was always a divide between multiplayer enthusiasts and people who only enjoyed the single-player campaign, but the two sides mostly left each other alone, aside from some occasional sniping from SP folks about "resources going to the MP campaign." However, the announcement of Dragon Props — a cosmetic upgrade to Skyhold only available to those who killed a dragon in multiplayer — widened the divide, with SP folks complaining that BioWare had broken its promise that MP content should not affect the SP campaign.
- Unlike previous BioWare games, in which you are always able to change your companions' viewpoint on at least one thing, some of the companions in Inquisition - Sera and Vivienne in particular - are completely static. Rather, getting to know them is only meant to reveal other parts of their personality, not that you can actually get them to budge on their beliefs. Whether this was done effectively was debated amongst fans, with some feeling that the lack of change makes them two-dimensional, and others felt it was refreshing.
- How the devs handled Player Character debates with companions and advisers. Namely, many companions and advisers state a controversial opinionnote , yet the Inquisitor can never meaningfully counter any of these points. Often, they can only sputter out a weak reply, concede, or change the subject. Many players dislike this and feel the Inquisitor should be able to meaningfully counter-argue. Others feel this is a refreshing change where (unlike most BioWare games) the Player Character doesn't always find the right words to sway others to their line of thinking, and feel it's more realistic that you can't change everyone's minds.
- No matter who is made Divine, in Trespasser, the epilogue slides reveal that the Circles come back and the College of Enchanters is created. Furthermore, there's no mention of the Templar order even if you side with them, aside from one mention of the Silver Shield poaching recruits if Vivienne is Divine. This did not sit well for players who are heavily invested in the Mage-Templar War, who wondered what was even the point of having the option to change the Mage/Templar outcome if their choices end up undone.
- Inquisition is very lore-heavy, and a lot of the lore involved isn't even found in the game. Players who hadn't read tie-in novels like Asunder and The Masked Empire wouldn't know a lot of the things that are All There in the Manual, such as who Cole even is or why Michel de Chevin was exiled from Celene's court to begin with. Was this a clever move by BioWare to make the game lighter on lore for those who aren't interested in reading through endless exposition dumps, or a heavy-handed tactic to get more people to buy their books to learn things which should have been in the game? Or both at once?
- A common point of contention among book readers and non-book readers alike is how the All There in the Manual approach negatively affects storytelling: Book readers are disappointed that characters and plot lines they grew to love and wanted to see developed further only barely get touched on in the game due to the devs admitting on social media that they didn't want to confuse or alienate non-book readers note . Meanwhile, non-book readers wonder why the hell they should care about random NPCs who turn up for 30 seconds, vaguely allude to some events in the recent past, then disappear again. General consensus among the game's detractors is that it creates a "worst of both worlds" Golden Mean Fallacy which leaves almost everyone at least a little bit dissatisfied.
- It also does not help that the things left out from the books often completely change the context for choices the Inquisitor has to make, and there's no in-game reason you shouldn't know at least some of this stuff, because you have Leliana. Many options look completely different in light of the book canon. Among the biggest examples is the option of reconciling Celene and Briala, for example; regardless of anyone's opinion on whether it's a good idea, the events of The Masked Empire make it a much thornier decision.
- Speaking of reconciling Celene and Briala: Are they a same-sex Battle Couple, perfect lesbian representation, and the Optimal Happy Ending of Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts as the game presents? A somewhat toxic and mutually destructive relationship that has room to improve if both sides work at it, and still the least harmful outcome of Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts? Or a highly toxic and emotionally abusive relationship that amounts to convincing an abuse victim to run back to her abuser, and said abuser having her empire and lover restored to her after getting away with decades of lies, manipulations, and travesties against her elven lover and people? Fans are split and there doesn't seem to be any consensus any time soon.
- From Trespasser: Bull's betrayal. Some people felt like it tied in perfectly with his character arc, whereas others felt like it came out of nowhere. Also the fact that Bull will betray you, no matter what relationship you have with him, made people feel like their choices were pointless. The fact that you never get to know if he was ever loyal to the Inquisition at all and forced into his position, or his reasoning behind his betrayal makes everything worse.
- The reappearance of the trope that you were a pawn in your mage companion's plan all along has started to tire some people, seeing as this is the third game in a row in which it happens. In Trespasser, we learn that Solas is the Dread Wolf and has been pulling the strings since the beginning of the story. After Morrigan and Anders' arcs, some people went out of their way to express their displeasure about this turn of events.
- Considering that Dragon Age has always had a very specific format, it is strange to see this discussion perking up, but the role of the Inquisitor in Dragon Age 4 is still heavily discussed. There are three general opinions: 1) The Inquisitor should be, once again, the main character; 2) The Inquisitor should be an NPC like Hawke was in Inquisition; or 3) The Inquisitor shouldn't appear at all. All points of views have good reasoning behind them, whilst also creating some issues.
- The Inquisitor as main character: People supporting this view argue that Trespasser ended on an open note, leaving more possible adventures for the Inquisitor and their team. One of the reasons is that at the end of DAI, the main character has created a giant network for themselves, bigger than the Hero of Ferelden or Hawke. The other one being that Solas will most likely be the big bad in Dragon Age 4, many people believe it would make no sense to have anyone but the Inquisitor hunt him down, considering their close ties. However. Others may argue that because the two are familiar, Solas would be able to predict the moves the Inquisition would make. Therefore, it'd be better to introduce a new character. Then there's also the fact the Inquisitor lost their arm at the end of Trespasser, no matter how you played the game. This causes issues, especially if you used a two-handed weapon. Sure, the story could whoop out yet another miracle, but the frequent occurrence of those in Inquisition was already a main point of criticism. Though (two handed weapons aside), a potential option would be a mechanic that lets you attach prosthetics. One of the potential ending slides for Trespasser shows the Inquisitor with a crossbow prosthetic attachment. That could open up a lot of gameplay opportunities. Many people will also argue that, unlike the Mass Effect games, Dragon Age always has a new protagonist for every single game and that DA4 should be enjoyable for new players. Aside from that, the Inquisitor already has the longest game in the franchise and arguably the "greatest legacy". Giving them a second game would create an even bigger imbalance in importance compared to the Warden and Hawke, pushing forward the Inquisitor as the DA protagonist.
- The Inquisitor makes a cameo: Considering that your character cannot die at the end of the game, there is a huge chance the writers intend on letting them return as a side character, supporting the new hero. However, after the mixed reactions caused by Hawke's reappearance, many people fear to see their beloved character being ruined by the story. The two main issues would be that, if you don't have control over your Inquisitor any longer, they'd do or say things out of character. The second concern is that the story would use this as an opportunity to kill them off, especially if you consider the arguments made by people who want to keep the Inquisitor as the playable character. If they are the most logical option to go after Solas, why wouldn't they? Simplest solution would be letting them die early.
- The third argument is basically supported by anyone who disagrees with the two prior ones, especially the one where people would like the Inquisitor to be a side character. Additionally, a lot of folks just feel that the Inquisitor deserves to be cut some slack; they've been to hell and back almost literally at this point, up to and including having their left arm severed at the elbow, and some players really think they should get to retire or, at the very least, take a nap.
- A very small minority also suggest the concept of switching controls between a new character and the Inquisitor, similar to the approach of The Witcher with Geralt and Ciri.
Gameplay Mechanics
- The open world. Was it an overall boon to the game, or did it hurt more than it helped? Many people appreciated the vast array of environments, robust secondary storylines, and in-depth exploration of "ordinary" Thedas afforded by the open-world design, but others saw it as bloated, full of boring Fetch Quests, and leeching resources from the main plot — see the popular "Leave the fucking Hinterlands!" meme. Two major criticisms are that it was often difficult to tell what were important secondary quests and what were trivial side quests that could safely be ignored, and that many zones were all but completely unrelated to the main storyline.
- The crafting system has both vocal fans and vocal detractors. Supporters appreciate the ability to create highly personalized, customizable equipment tailored to their needs, playstyle, and talent builds, with a unique look and potentially a badass name. Critics, however, find the resource gathering process burdensome and laborious (especially with leather) and masterworks too dependent on the Random Number God, while cool and memorable unique items are rendered near-worthless due to being totally outclassed by crafted ones, ruining the feeling of getting the supposed Infinity +1 Sword.
Mods, DLC and other controversies
- People who don't like playing vanilla and browse the modding options might be familiar with a few controversies within the community:
- First of all, there is still an ongoing discussion whether or not it is okay to change the skin tones of the characters. If you google mods, it is not hard to find alternative looks for characters like Vivienne, Josephine, Dorian, hell, even Cassandra where they have a lighter complexion and often lighter hair and blue eyes. Some people call it preference, other just point out the blatant racism, especially because mods to darken the skin of characters are basically non-existent or at least very hard to find and less popular.
- Appearance mods are generally up for debate, because often these also includes giving the female characters skimpier clothing or just changing something about a character's design, that doesn't really make sense in canon. A lot of people tend to forget that design elements often compliment one's personality or character arc. A good example would be how there are many mods to make Cassandra more feminine, which really contradicts both dialogue and her character arc, especially if you decide to romance her.
- Many people feel like mods to alter one's sexuality are low-key 'non-consensual'. Usually, people don't really care about mods to make all romances bisexual, because in most games all the relationships are straight. However, the DA universe has a wide variety of LGBT characters, and usually the gender-locked ones have some sort of explanation behind them. The one mod that received the most outrage was Dorian's straight mod, as him being gay was a big part of his character arc and it erased the little representation gay men had in games in general.
- It is worth pointing out, however, that people tend to be more okay with straight characters being made bi, as there is no lack of straight representation, opposed to gay/lesbian characters made bi or straight. Yet to this day people have discussions about this.
- Other sorts of romance mods seem to be universally well received, though. Most of these just restore some changed or deleted dialogue, add extra scenes, or enable certain romances (such as Cullen's) to be available for more races.
- The cessation of patch and DLC support for the game on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, followed by the release of the much-requested Skyhold wardrobe feature and the Trespasser DLC, resulted in battle lines being drawn in the fanbase. Players who bought the game for the older-generation consoles felt it was unfair that they could not access such significant content note without buying another copy of a game they already own, on top of having to purchase an entirely new console as well; many players in this camp felt it was unfair of BioWare to release the game on the older consoles at all, if they weren't going to make the entire game available. Meanwhile, many PC and current-gen console players argued that, given that the previous generation of consoles were nearly ten years old at that point, owners of those consoles should have expected such a situation when they bought the game in the first place, considering how much already had to be cut to make it run on the old hardware.
- The Descent DLC took players back to the Deep Roads, an already contentious location after Origins. While most agreed that the story itself was good and the characters introduced were extremely well-received, many players were also getting rather tired of the setting and want to see exploration of other parts of the world.
