DA:O is a good game, but the story just feels the same like KOTOR/Jade Empire/Mass Effect... go to X places to gather clues/allies/artifacts to destroy Big Evil... it isn't the "dark fantasy" that was marketed, no matter how much gallons of blood the game uses (in fact, the blood imo greatly reduced the seriousness of the game).

Also the combat is not very complex & the tactics is always the same once you figured it out... in Baldur's Gate there was a large variety of enemies which required constant change of tactics; not to mention the quests were much more varied & overall I like the characters of that game more too. Baldur's Gate 2 even exceeds DA in amount of dialogue.

Best thing about DA:O is the setting/world which I find quite interesting. Nothing earth shattering, but it does the job.