So I broke down..
 

So I was getting bored waiting for D:OS EE and POE replay wasn't cutting.

What should I expect? It is installing now.

Lots of stuff.

Tip 1: if not using a gamepad (which I know nothing about personally), I suggest you do a pass on the keybindings first, some stuff is just unusual by default.

Tip 2: Once you are done with the first mission/tutorial stuff (once the Inquisition if formed), I suggest you do all the quests around Haven before going to the Hinterlands to get the rest of the tutorial and explanation about crafting and potions. Also, pick-up Varric's upgrade for Bianca at the seller (early on crating make better stuff than you can buy/find, but it's a minor difference)

Tip 3: You don't have to stick to the Hinterland. I personally suggest to get to Val-Royaux as soon as you can and continue the storyline until you get to Skyhold to open up the game more.

You should expect to have fun. I
And roll ranged, your team will be more even when you pick up the rest of your crew.

Hinterlands is the first area where you can free roam and you will have there lots of side stuff to do. Its like that in all the other areas, only the area design/climate changes. The main missions are awesome imo and take place in other areas, total different from the free roam ones. Im in the deep roads dlc now and its very good and atmospheric, its basically a huge multilevel dungeon like the deep roads mission in the first game.

Dont forget to look for mods at nexus site, there arent that many which are must have, seems modding for this has been way slower than the first game for example (probably bioware's fault). Some i would recommend are no damage from high falling or big'ass inventory capacity hehe

these are the ones im using
http://i.imgur.com/erZIdwm.jpg

I quite liked it, though I couldn't finish it. I plan to get back to it with all DLC one of these days.

Expect a huge game with a ton of filler content - but also quite a bit of story content.

The combat system is both good and bad, and is definitely easier as a ranged character. The AI setup is simplified from DAO - but it actually works pretty well for the most part. It's key to configure this to get a comfortable experience. Forget about micromanaging your party members, or you'll go crazy from the terrible combat UI.

Best part of it, I find, is the beauty of the world and the visual variety between areas. Exploration is so-so, but I didn't feel actively punished for it like I did in TW3. You'll progress and find useful things when exploring, unlike TW3.

Story/characters are both decent for a Bioware game, though I feel it gets bogged down in political stuff that's delivered without much emotion. Definitely not on the level of TW3.

Loot and progression are both better than TW3 - but crafting is amazingly full of grindy busywork.

Much of the interface is pretty atrocious. In my opinion, the interface in DAO was much, much better in every way.

There are a few "respawn areas" where creatures come back literally as you wipe them out. I'm still undetermined if this is actually intentional - as it's painfully bad design.

In short, I'd say it's definitely worth a try - but it's far from perfect.

For huge open world RPGs, I'd rank it just below TW3 and a fair bit below Skyrim. Better than Morrowind and Oblivion, though.

IMO, obviously.

Expect lots of dull fighting,
Main story is ok.

Some quests are wonderfull!

All in all, if they had cut back some of the less interesring things. Like fighting, fetch quests and annoying landscapes with ladders and stuff, you would end up with a really good game of 50 hours excellent gameplay in stead of a a decent game with 100 hours of decent gameplay

Also the dragonfights were annoying. Took way to long to kill a dragon. After a couple of minutes you usually could tell if yiu were gonna win the fight, and it still took another 10-15 minutes of boring rinse and repeat gameplay to finish it off

Thanks guys for the replies.

I can't play it on a PC it would seem, the way the controls work make me feel ill. I will try it on the PS4 I think one of my children still have it if they haven't traded it in yet.

Don't feel bad.. the last several games from Bioware have made me feel ill in one way or another. ;)

Eh, I'd still put it above anything Bethesda made post Morrowind…some ridicule it, but it's not bad, just try not to do too much filler( if it seems like fetch quest, don't bother with it) as you'll burn yourself out. Play it on Normal and don't bother with crafting…too high enemy hit point bloats and too much grinding, otherwise. Don't bother with horses. Classes are changed a bit…mages a bit less powerhouses and more oriented toward support, use barrier with them and guard with warriors.
And don't forget to romance the Bull…you'll thank me later. :P

LOL I didn't do it but watched on youtube so… I'd say yes, go for it. Male, female, whatever hero, doesn't matter. :evilgrin:

And I also suggest not to rush the game.
Clear Hinterlands before proceeding with the story. You won't be able to kill the dragon that early probably, but you'll return for it later.
See… It's pretty interesting from sites that were praising the game and giving 10/10 to it instructing people NOT to explore Hinterlands. How come, right? If a game is 10/10 and openworld then hell why a player should NOT explore?

Does anyone know if there is a way for me to use my mouse pad for like in most other games? I tried it again and origins and both use the same key movements that is I don't know to jerky for me. It really does make me feel ill.

If not maybe I will try it with a ps4 controller.

Mouse pad? If you are using the keyboard+mouse you need to change the keybinding for movement, the default is crap (for example, Q and E are doing what A and D should be doing).

I tried that today, couldn't seem to get it move to my mouse pad. I am playing on a gaming lap….

I'm not sure I understand the problem. The movement is too jerky? Did you try reducing the camera movement speed, mouse smoothing and/or mouse sensitivity in the Controls option?

Or is it because the touchpad on your laptop isn't working in the game? In which case I have no idea because I don't have the game installed on a laptop. There might be someone with the same issue that asked the question the Tech support forums.

Did the exact same thing last month (couldn't find another game to play). I enjoyed it. I didn't mess with any mods. I agree strongly with the following comments above:

* Don't hang around Hinterlands too much…get on with main story.

I never found the respawn to be overly offensive. You don't even need to unlock all of the major zones to finish the game. Probably worth just checking all of them out, but there were at least two where I didn't even bother to do any quests…just wandered around for the scenery.

* Don't micromanage your party in combat.

It is too hard. I wanted to do this like in DA:O, but didn't take too long to realize that isn't really an option and ruins the fun. Just have fun playing the different classes in first person mode according to either the mission or your mood. Pick one going into a battle or a big mission, and if that one dies it will kick you over to someone else. The full party gives you pretty much every class to play with, so I also wouldn't overthink your main character. Just go with your role play preference IMO. Also you can buy something later to respec any of the characters.

In general it is really a massive game, and trying to do everything actually makes it less fun. That's my main personal opinion on this one. Just sit back and enjoy in a more casual way.

Don't know what to tell you about the controls. That's too bad. I played with mouse and keyboard no problem.





*

I've really enjoyed playing it on the PS4.

On my next playthrough I will avoid doing most of the filler content, the stuff you get from the camp guards, wasting time getting herbs and ore and the like and not bothering about inventory too much.
Although I enjoyed doing that in my first run through it didn't help much/at all.

Another 40 to 5-0 hour run through would be good though.

I just finished it today and just like 1 year ago, got bored near the end and didnt do 2-3 zones; the 3 story dlcs were pretty good, the last one trespasser was awesome actually with a lot of lore about the fade, veil, elfs and so on.

I am playing it on ps4 and really enjoying it. I am 130 hours in and still do not feel like I am near the finish. I love the open world compared to DAO and DA2, but the combat is just a bit too much flash and bang. It all happens so quickly. I like the micromanagement of the first two. I do not like the crafting at all. It seems like a lot of work to make a substandard weapon as compared to the in game stuff. I am currently romancing Cassandra after falling miserably with Sera, although from the above posts it seems the Bull is the one. Only bought the jaws of hakkon dlc so far.

I've been enjoying this game for the most part. The one thing that is sort of taking the wind out of the sails of enjoyment is the cumbersome UI. There are a lot of things to do with the UI… choose skills, equip gear, and crafting… all of these activities have encumbrances with the UI. Particularly crafting… I have to jump in and out of so many menus to get the comparative information I need to know before I craft something. More effort should have been put into the UI so that the gamer doesn't need to do this… especially with such a large game… it's really tiring me out and if I don't finish this game it's going to be because of this. Still, for now, having some fun with it.

dont bother with crafting, just go play one of the dlcs and you will get the best loot in the game :D

I wish I could get into this game, I really find the motion(control) something I am not willing to deal with.

OK, running into the Fade on Halloween was just perfect!

?? It's WASD, same as a thousand other games. It's a little imprecise but that hasn't been a problem for me over 99% of the game. Or are you using a controller?

Fade was done really nice in this game same as it was in the first, where i liked it very much; sadly no black city, wanted to go there somehow since i first learnt about it, im quite fascinated with it :D