I would argue DA:O's lore was actually fine, maybe not "top 3 fantasy game lore", but solid, with some potential and nice ideas. It was the first game in the series that laid the foundations. The later games just didn't build on it, instead reusing the same themes, plots and lore hooks or, worse, changing the lore and tone of the series. I groaned when I saw that DA:I is AGAIN about mages vs templars. Come on. DAII had it, but at least it was relatively short and focused. (I liked red lyrium though.)
The thing about DA lore is that it is so... narrow. What I mean is, it's always either "templar / mages", "mages are dangerous", "chantry", "maker this maker that". That's really about it. No one ever talks about anything else. You can't talk to anyone for more than 2 lines without them mentioning either "mage", "maker", "Andraste". It gets boring talking to anyone pretty soon, tbh.
"We make our choices and take what comes and the rest is void."
