The good news: It's not like Origins. The bad news: It's not like Origins...
Bioware obliged, but they've now created another "imperfect" RPG in my eyes - another good game with some annoying flaws.
To be positive to start with, the narrative and action are all there, and they've dumped the emotionless mute as the main character which sucked a lot of the character out of DA:O. The battles are easier to fight than the first and require less micromanagement - It's gone back to being a proper RPG rather than an RPG with moments of real time strategy.
The streamlining of skills and equipment is about right - the stuff you upgrade are the things you will be using frequently, rather than just when you gather enough elfroot/deep mushrooms etc (although that is still available at your base) and there is still plenty of variety when it comes to skill upgrades.
But on the negative side, you're still picking up too much junk while questing, which includes items that are specific to your own character *and* a given class - you can end up picking up weapons and armour that neither you or any of your party can ever use, resulting in it getting immediately sold off - some alternate rewards for different classes might have been nice.
Equally, the restrictions on the camera view make managing battles a bit tricking at times as you often find that some of your party are off screen and you can't zoom out far enough to get a better idea of how they're fairing. While the new battle system should mean you have to use the pause function less, the poor quality camera means you often have to pause to keep track of who is getting attacked by what.
It feels like Bioware were trying to go for a fantasy Mass Effect, then chickened out after they had programmed the new camera view. The game feels indecisive as to what it is trying to achieve - the large amount of items you pick up (and inevitably have to dispose of) feels like a 'true' RPG as does the wide range of possible conversation approaches you can take, but that is at odds with the simpler map-based travelling and restricted customisation of the NPCs in your party.
Players who loved the depth of DA:O are going to be disappointed by this game, and I can't blame them for it - perhaps they tried too hard with Origins to create a faithful RPG when they should have focused on the Action Adventure genre from the start of the series. Speaking as more of a general interest gamer, Bioware have done a good job, even though there are elements of Origins I would like to see return.
This is a fun game with strong characters, but Bioware haven't got the Dragon Age brand 'right' just yet.