Thoughts on World/Story. Might contain spoilers.
Okay, DA:O was better. Let's get that out of the way right now.
It was far darker and had more hard choices. Choices where all alternatives were bad. In this one, it's far more... "This is the GOOD choice, but might not be the most effective choice. That one is the BAD choice, but is ruthlessly efficient". With very little consequence for either one, other than approval/disapproval from your companions. It also doesn't have the grimdark you found in DA:O. The little personal horrors. The Brood Mother part in DA:O will forever be my benchmark for grimdark in an RPG with the glorious rhyme, the build-up, etc etc. The mother killing her own possessed child. The Grey Warden initiation and final sacrifice and so on. It was great. None of that in DA:I. It's far too "standard Fantasy with slightly original magic vulnerabilities".
On the other hand, we get to see far more of the actual world now. It's huge. We got fantastic giant deserts with interesting content. We've got giant battlefields, huge forests, snowy mountains, great coastlines and so on. I'm not too impressed by the Templar/Mage thing as it sort of falls into the background too quickly, but it's reasonably resolved I guess.
Overall story is quite decent. The storytelling isn't as tight as in previous games, as the gameplay has shifted closer to an open-world experience, which inevitably means those parts of the story will be far less railroaded. The actual story missions are better than ever though, as those levels are lovingly crafted and huge. Great scripted events, good presentation etc.
I do wish they'd go further with the whole Black City/Throne of Gods thing though. It had real potential. Sort of fizzled out a bit compared to the build-up. "I have seen the throne of the gods and it. was. empty." The teaser after the end about the coming problems though? Gods, that gave me an erection I had to get rid of with a fucking hammer. The Dread Wolf comes!
... it was good though. Overall, one of the best games this year.