Oh yeah. Tying that stuff to real-time has to rank as one of the more obnoxious decisions in a single-player CRPG ever.
I enjoyed the more “personal” scope of DA2 as well, though I don’t think they quite managed to pull it off. Especially because, despite the smaller scope, Hawke still ends up pretty much at the power-level of a god, just like the warden and the inquisitor. The contortions they have to go through in DA:I to explain why Hawke and the Warden (if he survived) don’t just go ahead and fix things are pretty absurd. Sure, both of them could defeat Corypheus with one hand tied behind their back if they wanted to, but they won’t because… reasons.