In Morrowind and in Oblivion, and I guess, in Skyrim, as well?, players feel more at home with the things they do; the (illusion of) player agence is carries out better, is it not? than in DA2's case.
For the record: I liked DA2; there were certain flaws with the game such as the wave combat, the badly concealed locations that were used again and again, enemies poppin' out of the ground and dropping from three beams without warning. The story itself, though, I found, no, not new, but a break from the usual 'it is written' formula.....
Thw whole time jump idea was also great; the idea misses a lot, though, when a man waits 7 years to see an official. The main plot, I agree, could have been carried out and designet a lot better. However, the subplots, including the familiy plot, the plot about the Dalish elves, and the plot about about the Arishok was carried out and designed very neat, imo, if not great. (at least to me).
I dislike the isometric camera now. It was OK 12-15 years ago, but I want to be able to scroll the camera around the battefield; also the isometric camera i DA:O was not very good, I found. And I do not find that making the game more accesible e.g. making the controls better is a bad idea
- nor do I find that starting sort of in the midle of things is a bad idea. This lets people who do not have a sense of what an rpgs is adjust to the whole rpg experience. And that was the purpose of having Varric tell the tale of the hero of kirkwall - among other things.
I do agree, however, that if you listened to the PR that Bioware put out for this game, it clearly said: (I think) shape the
If you have played DA2's teo DLCs, you'll see Bioware's response to the criticism of DA2. The last DLC for DA2, Mark of the Assasin, is very good, and gives you, at least two ways to proceed through the game. And the combat, at least in Mark of the Assasin, is a lot more tactical than in DA2.