It actually gets pretty good in ACT II. The story is not as epic as Origin's stories but the plot twists are unexpected and shocking. Combat is boring at first but as you gain more abilities, it does indeed get better. I also found myself using poisons and bombs unlike with Origins since Origins required you to have skills in poison making to throw a bomb whereas in DA2, you get the resources for a bomb, potion or poison and then you just buy it from a merchant who makes said substance and then you can use it whenever you want.
I also like the class skill trees. I've made a two handed warrior templar and I am going through it again in my fourth playthrough as a sword and shield warrior who specializes in defense. DA2 (just like in Origins) makes me want to create sub classes for the warrior class and DA2 handles that well.
Granted it does have flaws (many in fact) but that hasn't stopped it from being an enjoyable RPG experience.
The re-used areas, pointless and senseless quests in act 1 (one of the main quests is escorting a Qunari mage outside of Kirkwall, even if you turn down this quest - you still have to do it before entering the deep roads, even if you raise enough gold for the deep roads and get the maps for it, you still can't take that quest until you finish this Qunari quest, this Qunari quest and all other mage vs templar quests for ACT 1 should have actually been in ACT 2 or 3 or they should have been optional quests that you shouldn't have to do) and crappy textures for some NPCS do take marks away from this game though and I will be wary of buying for BW again.
I give it 7/10 and 8/10 at the best times.
