I've been re-playing Dragon Age: Origins and I was shocked how much things changed in writing in such a short period of time.
It's not the plot but the characters. Flemeth appears intelligent and commands respect without being a girl boss, even Morrigan does not appear as a girl boss despite her jabs at Alister - being voiced by Claudia Black does help.
It is also a lot grimmer, the 2 that die during the ritual to become wardens are made to be liked, the guy that was newly wed with a baby is killed by Duncan because he was afraid. The mages being turned tranquil or killed if they fail a test. You understand why but it is incredibly dark.
The writing is totally incompatible with what ever the DA: Vailguard is. in Origins we understand that killing an innocent father is ok in order to protect the world but in Vailguard it is a problem if you use the wrong pronouns?
I know all the woke leftist crap but did they ever read books or played games written before 2015?
It's really a shame what happened to that franchise. It's probably in my top five or maybe even top three of series in which I spent the most hours playing, since it's when I really discovered game mods. I even bought some of the books that came out, trying to give it a sense of extended universe by presenting us with new characters in new areas.
But even as early as Dragon Age: Awakening, it seemed like the series was going downhill. The second game had quite a few good points, but they also made so many terrible decisions that it was a huge mixed bag. By the time Inquisition came around, I was checked out entirely.
It had so much potential, but they just dropped the ball entirely after the first game.
The first game was such a treat in terms of world building. It really scratches that old school Bioware itch. I truly believe it was the last game Bioware ever created. Everything that came after was a skin suit of the old team.