I look forward to playing Dragon Age after having finished Divinity II and Mass Effect 2, but meanwhile, I can try to express what I love about Divinity II that sets it apart from other games. What this game has, to me, is a kind of "old school LucasArts" feeling if that makes sense. A certain light touch that makes it feel delightfully quirky and independent. I happen to have graduated two years ago from the same university in the same master's degree as the writer for this game did. I saw an article about him in the alumni magazine. In it, he talks about how his literary studies influenced his writing in this game. There's a wealth of fun little references to everything from the Bible to James Joyce to Monty Python. It's the kind of "not too serious" approach applied to a really great story that you hardly find anywhere else these days except in Pixar animation films. It reminds me of great games like Monkey Island and Space Quest which also had this fantastic sense of pure, unadulterated escapist fun! That, to me, is the greatest surprise about Divinity II and I don't think Dragon Age has that particular quality (even though it may be a better game, overall).
