Nevermind how much BioWare pushed companion banter in DA:I - The companion content in DA2 is amazing

This is why I say DA2 has the best cast. You keep seeing them interact with each other directly in a way that is like friends/rivals/ FAMILY. They are concerned about each other in banter.

Da2 is a massively underrated game as a whole. They made a few game play mistakes but the story, companions and many quests were excellent.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: DA2 has THE BEST companions in the series. You actually feel that they are their own people, with their own lives, with things in common OTHER than beying Hawke's friend.

It starts with the little cutscenes like Avelin talking to Fenris about his living in a stolen mantion, and goes to the banters between the characters, up to actual rivalries (I really thought Avelin and Izabela would hit each other at some point!).

But not just the companions - even the people of the city are great - The Arishok, Petrice, Phiona, the Viscount and his son... You feel these people have a purpose other than background NPCs for Hawke.

All in all, I'm still not sure if, despite its obvious flaws, it's not my favorite game in the series.

I still think as a sequel to Origins the underwhelmingness is understandable, but they really should've made it clear this was kind of an offshoot or a smaller-scale sequel. It feels like what Majora's Mask was next to Ocarina of Time. One is easily the bigger, better package but the other one has heart and soul even to an extent the first one didn't.

fenris, and I agree especially with what you say. The companions live their own lives and have their own viewpoints and Hawke is not front and center in their thoughts at all times, and they may even call you out when they disagree and the game doesn't pretend like that's a failure, it just depitcts it as being natural and similarly there's no real punishment for developing a lot of ill feelings towards a companion. Like Fenris he can still say "I respect you" despite the fact that both him and Hawke concede they're not friends per se, if you're on someone's bad side and give them a compliment they'll just go "Bah."

Compare that to Inquisition where most confrontational responses lead to Cassandra or whoever saying "I... suppose you're right." DA2 doesn't give a fuck about making the player feel like they're the best in the world. The game does not judge what the player should or shouldn't think; the characters do and their opinions are their own as it should be.

But only if it meets 2 criteria.

1. Absolutely Against their beliefs
2. AND you don't have them 80 or above in either direction of either friendship or respect path.

Yes, the day BioWare decided to move away from a big epic story about saving the world/galaxy, and went for a smaller, more personal story with a bigger focus on what they do better, characters, they nailed it. The game has glaring flaws, and when you get to Act III it's obvious it was rushed, but it's still a very enjoyable experience. It's a shame they kinda wasted such potential, and I still hope BW goes back to a similar setting with smaller stakes to focus on their strengths. Perhaps with the new IP. 

This. Merill was 100% rival and she still supported me because I cared for her after her tragic companion quest and because I sided with Orsino. Fenris abandoned me because he was a rival too even though I did his quest but he has a bias against mages because of the Tevinter Imperium.

Counter this to DA:I where you can punch Solas in the face and he doesn't leave. Well... to be fair him and Cassandra have to stay because they've got more at stake than the rest and you can at least tell Sera to scram and stuff. BioWare is not exactly bad at making characters take a stand for their beliefs, just like Bull if he's not tal-vashoth in Trespasser and he'll betray you for his superior, so they're still doing that. I just think DA2 excells in how often the companions can weigh in or directly interact during quests and how tightly it is sometimes tied to the story.

I liked how Solas had a lot to say during the near final mission in DA:I but that's just dialogue. It's not Anders and him saving Bethany or Isabela returning with the relic because she cares about you enough to risk her life.

Also the ambient banter from the companions in DA:I, a feature they seem really proud of is inferior to DA2 since most of it is just light comedy or meandering, but that's probably also just a testament to how little story there is in what you'll spend more than half the time doing. In DA2 there was a lot of context just within how tight the plot is and being confined to Kirkwall to make characters talk about more specific things. In Inqiusition, there's corypheus, venatori, red templars, elves and that's not a whole lot of meat considering how vague all those aspects are throughout the story and the rest is just the companions goofing around or asking mundane questions.

This is not real counter, this two story totally different: Solas (for example) stay, because he want to stay, his purpose bound him to Inquisition, not the Inquisitor. In DA2 Hawke's group don't have common goal, only personal problems. If exist something, what bound them, that Hawke is. As I see.

I think DA2 is my favourite DA. I think the character interaction is just dandy. I like how the romances and friendships develop over time and depend on how you treat the other person, and how you speak to them, not just on the choice of dialogue you made in one particular mission or because you gave them lots of gifts. Merrill doesn't respond well to sarcasm i've noticed, but Fenris can handle it. I've also had them reject the gifts i got them because they thought they were a bucket of crap, where as everyone in origins is polite about it even if you gave them rubbish or something totally inappropriate. I like the way that Isabela and Aveline slowly become friends, and how Fenris and Anders never do, but remain in the group together because they're both friends with Hawke.

Also sarcastic Hawke is the best thing in Thedas and Meredith is much scarier than Corypheus, hell, Corypheus is scarier than Corypheus in DA2!

Having Fenris, Anders and Merril together, in general   I love them both, but aggg, they're really cruel with her... 

Agree with everyone here. I love DA2 and am saddened by the fact they had so little time to work on it and the negative backlash against it when it came out. I think they did a marvelous job with what resources they had. Hawke and his/her companions' stories have a special place in my heart and I wanted to see their stories going forward in the series because it just didn't feel like they were finished. (Which, considering Bioware planned to take Hawke into future installments...)

I think the card scene in Inquisition illustrates the overall feel of the relationships between the characters in that game, especially the taking turns laughing bit. It was awkward and stiff in a lot of places. Characters felt apart from each other and what interactions they did share with each other was brisk. The scene where Varric and Solas argue about Cole's future and the one where Varric gives Cassandra the new book he wrote for her were the only scenes, to me, that felt like they flowed well.

In DA2, the interaction felt far more natural and apart of the actual story of the game instead of being a sort of side affair.

Eloquence is not on my side today and I feel as if I may have failed in delivering what I intended to get across. Oh well, I just wanted to add support here. I'm glad to see others feel this way. I don't think I really thought about it until I saw this thread (I haven't played DA2 in years...).

I love the interactions between Merrill and Isabela, Varric and Merrill and Isabela and Aveline they made me smile so much
DAI companions... some of them feel very forgettable... Blackwall, Cole, Iron Bull, Solas... to me they all seem very forgettable, very generic characters and dont really have anything to offer in terms of the story, whereas in DA2 thats different... instead of just having a few side quests they have story arcs which are built up and influence the outcome of the story (like Varrics with his brother for example)
In DAI it feels like the characters are absent for the plot and rather than being a team, youre just kinda like acquaintances in a way... even when taking them on quests your companions never really seem to do anything worthwhile to the story I guess...
DA2 I think has a complexity to it, DAO also, which DAI kinda doesnt seem to have