Personally, I liked the direction they were going with having Hawke be a simple refugee with some family problems instead of "the chosen one" or someone destined to save the world from the Archdemon, etc.

I just didn't like that you couldn't really commit to siding with either the apostates or the templars/chantry (or the Qunari).

A few more factions would have been nice as well as better level design, side quests and crafting.