OK bitches, I have played about 10 hours and holy fuck, so far the game is amazing. I haven't even left the first area yet, and I am pretty blown away. The Hinterlands area is pretty incredible (PC on ultra), its like if Yosemite valley was 6 times as big. So beautiful. Exploring is a blast and there is shit everywhere. I have definitely been getting the sense of wonder and awe just from exploration.
Combat is fast and meaty. I really like it. I am playing a mage and its awesome. Combat animations are fuckin great. Shit, the character animations in general are freaking awesome. Lots of subtle movements when you walk around or slide or jump. If combat gets outta hand, you can pause and go to the tactical view, which is great.
Here are some tips: I hear that the melee rogue is the best dps but has to be micromanaged a bit. I know there are lots of rogue fans out there, but I really recommend a ranged character. You get to see more of the action and its easier to manage your party. Also, your companions can tank just fine with little micromanagement.
Use the "attack my target" to macro manage your party. This command works really well. The whole party follows it, so the tank will keep aggro. Also, if an enemy starts charging your ranged guys or other dps, target that enemy and hit the "attack my target" command. This will shift everyone to that target, including the tank who will pull aggro and keep the enemy for going after your squishy DPS.
If shit starts going sideways in combat, pause! Then go to tactical, move your companions around (ie back), have the tank do an AoE taunt, and you can recover pretty quickly.
The Hinterlands is pretty damn big, and I was a little overwhelmed at first. But then I read that you are intended to leave and come back later! Don't get bogged down trying to do every last thing in Hinterlands! I read a Dev say you should go to Val something or other as soon as you have enough power. You will get more companions there. You can return to Hinterlands down the line when you need more power. But just make sure you get the mount before leaving Hinterlands.
Anyway, my preliminary impressions are that this shit is great. Classic BioWare with some added exploration.
There is some shit to bitch about, mostly the UI. The UI was clearly made for console and for viewing on a TV from across the room. Its too big and takes up too much screen space. And the inventory menus are stupid and annoying on a PC. The worst thing for me so far is that the camera distance is too low. They need to triple that shit, cause sometimes its hard to see. Especially in the tactical mode. The camera was so close it really bothered for a while, but I am getting pretty used to it now.
But I read that BioWare is working on making the UI more PC friendly in their first patch, so hopefully that improves a lot.