Believe the hype, for it shows no wrong.
I have played the beginning origin quest for the Noble Human, Dalish Elf, and the Human Magi(though I believe all Magi origins are possibly the same?) Every single arc in the story brings you perfectly in to the character and their surroundings. The twists and turns they throw at you right out of the gate is something that is very hard to pull off properly, but Dragon Age: Origins did so with flying colors (and blood splatter).
Now on to the Positives and Negatives panel!
Positives:
-Incredible dialogue and a vast amount of choices to where you would like to take the current conversation, how you react, etc.
-Challenging boss fights and battles with scrap monsters, and I haven't even been through half the game!
-A wide variety of spells, skills, and attacks to choose from to help further customize your character. From coercion to trap making, there will be at least one option for most any type of character you would want to be.
-The Tactics, albeit a tad difficult to grasp at times, are very useful to utilize against the onslaught of Dark Spawn, bandits, and any sort of monsters you may encounter along the way.
-Free range on party members, for example(SPOILER): A man left to die in a cage? Maybe you can convince the leader of the small town to let him out and join you, with some persuasion perhaps.
-Addictive, plain and simple. You will be begging to keep playing to see what happens next, expect the possibility of losing some sleep by forgetting to keep track of time!
-Replay value, this one is very important to me. From what I see so far, there is more replay value in this game than any other I have ever played (and I've played a lot). Maybe next time I want to NOT be a cruel evil thief? Naaah.
-Spell combos make a lovely show in this title, something I have been looking forward to. Grease the pig and roast him to perfection, like momma always said.
-Ability to make me stop writing this and get back to playing, sorry.
Negatives:
-A small kink in the perfection is the almost silliness of the excessive amounts of blood splatter on a character after a battle. Now I know fighting is ugly and gritty, but how did you get blood on EVERY portion of your entire body? That takes skill.
-No dialogue option of punching people you don't like in the neck. Some people are simply rude!
I will wrap this up with a small saying I heard one time, I can't remember who said, heck I am probably just making it up:
"Hype is but a dangerous tool, some may fall into its grasp and be blinded by the words of those who claim pure perfection and nothing else. Other times, it's just that damn good."
Yeah, I guess I did make that up.