The problem is that there isn't just lots of dumb shit to handle. There's almost exclusively dumb shit to handle, and in terms of gameplay it all boils down running from A to B on a map while killing stuff on the way. And how is the game not hand holdy as hell?
With regards to the map, sure that is hand holding. With regards to the game, the game does not in any way tell you how the game should play out, when to kill things and what order that quests should be completed. Many people got stuck in the hinterlands thinking they needed to clear everything before progressing, hence multiple topics on 'leave the Hinterlands'. How the war room plays out is entirely up to the player, and is imo a large aspect of the game, you don't need to sit at the table waiting for the timers to tick down, they clearly work concurrently while you are away on missions, waiting 13 minutes is about the time I spend talking to my NPCs when I'm in skyhold, 1 hour is when I go out to adventure.
The war room is probably the biggest joke in the entire game. It has all the excitement of a free to play title where all you can really do is wait. It also has literally zero influence on how the game plays out.
Once again see above, it's entirely up to you how to you choose to leverage the war room. Influence is a resource that is highly limited and is directly linked to your inquisitor perks, power not as much, but if you are trying to get certain aspects completed in a specific timing, power can be limited. If you never spent any power on anything other than the main quests you would be able to progress generally with doing minimal side quests. I'm fairly positive that just doing the main quest lines would support you in obtaining your 20 power here and there. It is entirely and completely up to the player if he/she chooses to play out the inquisition or burn through the main story. And once again, Bioware does not tell you what to do in this regard. Many times in the game you are left to discuss leadership over the inquisition with your party members, making choices, and there is a way to fast track through the game if none of this interests you, the game doesn't hold you to it.
One review likened the feature to running things by Legal. Want to pass judgement on the mayor of Crestwood? - well, you have to visit the war room first. In DA:O, I could have murder-knifed the bastard on the spot
Once again, the role playing in role playing game. You are the leader of the inquisition, not Judge Dredd. Passing Judgement has been FAR more gratifying than simply executing someone myself. How many RPGS have you had the opportunity to just make choices on the spot, and how many others have you had the opportunity to be a judge? You may not like it, but it has certainly appealed to the role playing aspect of the game, it definitely suits the environment. I'm not going to disagree with things being clunky, but your preference over just doing things immediately, and having things happen immediately is your preference, and not necessarily 'better'. I like that DA:I has slowed things down, I like that players are not immediately stomp through a storyline. I like that the game makes you read and listen to dialogue so that you have to think even if you don't want to or don't care to. BECAUSE that's exactly what I would expect as being a judge. Due process is not necessarily a terrible thing in games, and most games have removed it entirely.
Calling it resource management is really pushing it too, because the in-game resources in DA:I are infinite. This is no XCOM. There are no tough decisions to be made. It's all about being diligent and patient.
Fair, it's nowhere as meaningful as XCOM. If 'time' was a factor in the war room as it is in XCOM then it would be as meaningful, but then not everyone would experience all the content that the game has to offer. People love to play through the story in that regard.
At least the galactic readiness in ME3 had an impact on the ending, and in ME2 your knowledge of the team very much dictated the outcome of the suicide mission. In DA:I, nothing is ever really at stake except your own time. Skeletor will go down eventually. (and with the writing quality to match too)
I haven't finished the game yet, so I can't comment on the ending, and please no spoilers in that regard. I enjoyed both ME2 and ME3 in that aspect, but ME3 had no impact of time either, and galatic readiness only changed a minor cutscene, the outcome did not change the ending at all. ME2 was interesting in that your party members could die, and I liked that a lot as well. But so far, I'd say the writing in DA:I has been better than both other games, if we are talking about all the dialogue from beginning to end, I think it's pretty unmatched.
