An excellent upgrade from the combat of the first, a much shorter story that is less immersive than the first. Read more
All of that aside, you still find yourself caring about the characters you play with throughout the game which is a feeling BioWare is always known to deliver. The choices you made in the previous game didn't seem to matter that much in this game in comparison to how much your decisions mattered in the Mass Effect trilogy. There were only a few instances where I actually saw that a choice I made in origins even mattered.
The only reason I gave this an 8.5 and not a 10 is because the game is relatively short compared to Origins. You had less dialogue between your companions than you did with your companions in Origins as well. You don't feel as involved as you did in Origins and the copy and pasted instances get generic and bland. The game feels pretty rushed throughout the game especially once you get to the end, it leaves you wondering what's next. This game would have easily gotten a 10 if it was longer and you could travel to more places than just a few outside of kirkwall.
I hope that Dragon Age 3 is a happy medium between these two games as that would make for a very epic adventure. If you like RPGs and you're second guessing yourself whether you should get this, you absolutely should, you won't regret it. The only thing you'll regret is beating the game, as you never want it to end!