Totally worth it! The game is just amazing, it is different from Mass Effect in terms of gameplay and dialogue (non-voiced protagonist) but it is a ton of fun, a lot of freedom for character creation, a huge number of possible builds, absolutely engaging storyline and characters
I love Dragon Age, next to the Mass Effect trilogy, it's my favorite game. The characters are so well done, and the story is really a lot of fun. My Wardens really feel like they are MY characters, and are each distinctive in how they see things and who they connect with. And it was the first game that emotionally impacted me.
A first rate game! Loved it to bits. The mods (if you play on a pc you can access these)are a bonus but even without them DAO is great! Characters and their builds, voice acting, plot, storyline the whole shebang is reminiscent and in some cases an improvement over the famous BG series which was Bioware's big deal for RPG fantasy. Sadly the same cannot be said of DA2 which unlike BG2 is not a step up from the first one.
I'm waiting on Dragon Age 3 which may be out at the end of this year (hopefully)
It's not bad but it's width of scope and focus is limited. Gameplay is pretty much confined to a smaller, but more intensely political world with most of the action taking place within the boundary of one city. However, I did have a lot of fun with the new skill trees for the PC and party members, really liked the combat moves, and the PC/NPC/plot interaction. Mage combat and spell abilities are much improved and more versatile as are the graphic effects. Combat can be really challenging if you don't have the right combo of team members with a complimentary set of skills. Having said that, Bioware in a knee jerk reaction to what it perceived as negative media coverage of ME 1's so called sex scenes (it even got a mention in the US Senate) panicked and made the romance scenes ridiculous while leaving the banter mostly untouched, but in some cases a bit lame
Notwithstanding that if I give quite freely a 9.5 out of 10 to DAO then DA2 easily rates somewhere between an 8.5 and a 9 in my view with Bioware doing their usual great stuff on the RPG side as well. I guess that's the difference between a good game and a great one!!
Oddly enough I've been thinking about picking up the Ultimate edition myself
I played it through quickly when it first came out, and sold it on. But I find myself with a hankering to play it through again (I've never played any of the DLC) before the third game comes out.
The combat in DA 2 is dumbed down, enemies dropping from nowhere, no real strategy needed, but it's fun and flows nicely (especially as a mage). So it doesn't feel as clunky. And the reused enviroments are ridiculous. But it is still a good game with some fantastic character interaction. Varric is one of my favorite characters ever, very charming, funny and useful as well. So glad he will be back. It was disappointing, but definitely a lot of fun, in my opinion.
Not for me it wasn't, I always had to set up tactics, and view the field, then position my character correctly. I had to think about what approach my warrior or rogue would take because it didn't react as quickly. Still haven't been able to play on nightmare. With DA2 I could just jump in, tactics be damned, and button smash.....even with a mage, I only ever went down once in DA2, and that is saying something, because I am terrible at combat.