I agree with your take on the design decisions of Inquisition (which applies equally well to Mass Effect Andromeda, for that matter). It's like BioWare, for some insane reason, got Bethesda envy, whꦺich was precisely the wrong move.

Bethesda RPGs are set in vast open worlds full of nothing. There are no interesting stories, no interesting characters, and nothing interesting to do. 🎃Copying Bethesda's open world design just diluted everything that normally makes BioWare RPGs great. It was a terrible decision, and I'm very happy that🌠 the (eventual) next Mass Effect sequel has been confirmed to have ditched open world altogether.

I haven't❀ heard how they've handled open world in Veilguard, but I'm not particularly optimistic.