I used to say exactly the same thing about Anders until I replayed Awakening earlier in the year and found I didn't like him nearly as much as I remembered. Maybe it's because that depiction of him in DA2 had contaminated his character forever, but it felt more a case of "yeah, now I know what you're about". I now feel that they didn't change his personality, they just expanded on what was already there.
Oh no... I do intend to replay DA:O (though not very soon, I have a massive backlog). I wonder if I'll have the same impression.
In general, I liked the whole story with Justice and Anders saving a spirit friend... I'd also be ok with his character struggle being the Vengeance thing. Just not... most of what DA2 did to his character. Edgy terrorist, basically.
I liked most of the other characters in DA2; perhaps Merrill more than most in that I understood that general vibe of being good at something but lacking the common sense and general life experience to know whether or not it's worth pursuing and alienating everyone in the process. ahem. The one who irritated me the most was Isabela who seemed to be both pointlessly and implausibly flaky.
I liked how Varric cared for Merrill and arranged for her to not be mugged, haha. It was a nice bit.
Isabela was the only companion in DA2 I didn't have good relation with (almost no interaction). Which bit me in the end, because having high friendship with her (and doing her companion quest?) allowed Hawke to sell her out... I was so salty I coudn't do it.
The characters in DAII were the best written in the series to me, better on average than in Mass Effect I'd go so far as to say, they all have a 'fatal flaw' that undoes them but which they strive to overcome, very Romantic, and unlike in most wish fulfillment rpg stories, not all of them succeed. I wish more games had the guts to do that to you.
Maybe I'm a pragmatist, but I'm of the unpopular opinion that obligatory "character flaw" is very overrated. I'm not advocating for Mary Sues, of course, but not every character needs internal struggles, dark past, a crippling flaw, psychological trauma, emotional drama etc. etc. I personally like strong (psychologically) characters that aren't prone to brooding and drama. Or just... fun characters.
