Dragon Age 1 was and still is better in every possible meaning.
On the contrary of my all expectations the skills are almost the same but worse made. Insted to be enlarged and enriched the skill trees are simplified and shortened. Most of the fighting skills are a joke. The player may finish almost the whole game clicking the "R" button for base attack without anything else. The lack of any equipment for anyone except the main character is more than strange, to say the least. Disturbing. The mages have fewer spells and even fewer of them are of any use. The whole DA2 move arround the "dangers" of the Blood Magic, the apostates who are mortaly dangerous .... oups ... for themselves! Surpise! Even on Normal level its impossible to kill even a lowliest enemy just with it. While in DA1 a single Revenant could turn a whole squad of skilled and well equipped adventurers in bloody meatbags in DA2 ... is just the opposite. Dreadfully ... disappointing indeed. Two fire spells, two ice spells, two electricity spells, two ... two ... two ... And so ugly for a game presented in 2011 that I lost my breath watching it. No friendly fire from the fireballs? Who care, you are the good boys, the invincible human heroes, the higher race, the chosen, nothing may hurt you! But in DA1 it was... it had... Ah, the good old time... Full replacement of the activated abilities with sustained ones. What is the meaning to have more stamina/mana with the "percentage" usage? Instead to put some points on Willpower everyone may activate as much sustained abilities as possible and hit the base attack button until the end.
In DA2 each class have only three specializations compare with four possible choices in DA1. The whole story lost almost all Darkspawn elements, the graphic details are worse than those in DA1. Those poor elves look more fragile than glass pitcher. Poor animation with poor textures. Fenris doesn`t look able even to lift his two-handed sword /long as himself and even heavier than him on the first look/ but to fight with it? The warrior is incompetent hatchling, the mage is only a support character, and the rogue is the strongest fighting machine of all… The whole story stinks from the beginning to the end. The mighty Champion, column of the Justice, the Prophet of the Maker, the Peacekeeper, the Lightbringer reclaim his family estate sold legitimately from his own uncle as ... slaughtering the new owner and all his sublings. But what about trespassing of private property, thefts, assault, all those murders ... Oh, it`s all right, he is such a good guy! Pillar of the community, isn`t he? Let me see further ... To conquer one meaningless city from the Chantry zealots, whose lackeys searching under three and stone for "apostate" mages but are unable to see just those licking their boots for work and money while wearing bright robe and two meter long staff?! To rebel against the zealot Templar knights using the powerless and dreadfully useless Blood magic? Pathetic…
The Qunari. So large, tall, strong, brutish, fearsome, disciplined creatures with long history and culture, warriors trough and trough, capable to challenge the Tevinters archmages... and yet dozen of them are unable to defeat four humans even in their own lair, even in ambush... Without shields and anything like decent armor, bows or crossbows who may blame them for the sorrow in their sad faces... But since they are able to lost their most precious relic not only once but twice and from the same thief... What more can I say? Oh, yes! "One day we will return!". To laugh or to cry? The answer is all yours.
Instead to enlarge and enrich the world of DA1, DA2 is limited to one single city with nothing to achieve for. Nothing! In the end, the Champion succeeded nor to free the mages nor to rule the town. To fight is a good thing by itself but without anything to gain? The game stinks as prelude to Dragon Age 3 and nothing more.
And the worst of all. It isn`t a PC game. Just a console with some port to PC.