Yes exactly! I did every available side/companion quest that was available before progressing the main story, and when I ran out I’d do one main story quest and then back to side quests.

Previous games it felt like you got to do more things with each companion. This one there’s like one story each, and they’ll barely talk to you about anything else on the rare occasions you can talk to them.

Agreed on all points. I decided to do a full series playthrough after I finished, and aside from how action oriented the combat is, it really reminds me of DA2. It feels more like you’re playing the character of Rook, just like how you’re playing the character of Hawke. You don’t really have “evil” options, and are more railroaded because why the fuck would Varric recruit someone to be his number 2 that has evil tendencies? You’re not a blank slate nobody like your character in 1 and 3.

My biggest complaint is it feels like a lot of your companions don’t really talk to you that much. You get to know 1 part about them and that’s it, we needed more dialogue with them!