Ok, so I finally got around to play this.
Gameplay style: For all it's faults, Dragon Age: Origins knew what it was - a RPG. I get the feeling DA2 doesn't really know what it is and got stuck between being an arcade game and a FPS - not being really good at either. It's playable, but nothing more than that; the game feels more like they re-skinned Jade Empire into a Dragon Age theme than made a new Dragon Age game. Any fault with Jade Empire can be partially excused since it's pretty old by now, though - DA2 doesn't have that excuse. In addition, the waves of enemies thingie is just horrible, with enemies spawning out of nowhere just so you can kill 30 of them inside 5 minutes making fights too long and boring.
Plot: Could have been epic but fell short. Too many rushed shortcuts resulting in plot holes. On the plus side the game doesn't feel incomplete without DLCs the way Mafia 2 did; there's no obvious "cut out content, pay extra later for it" parts. As it is, the plot simply fails to drag me in and produce the "I want to play just a bit longer to see what happens next" factor.
Companions: Some good ones but overall I couldn't care less about most of them as they tend to be boring. Yes, Fenris and Anders, I'm talking about you - you two are the worst. On the plus side, some of the side dialogue between Isabella, Aveline and Merill can be hilarious at times.
Side Quests: Worst case of Bioware Meaningless Side Quest Syndrome I saw in a long time; they take the concept of generic to a whole new level. Rushed, short, mostly not even worth reading what they're about as they tend to consist of going to quest giver, proceeding to target which you have to kill/talk to/talk to then kill/, and then proceeding back to get your reward. Even worse are ones where you just find some item you simply need to give to someone marked on the map. Anyone saying Mass Effect had rushed and bad side quests should try this out and you'll see that Mass Effect ones are all literary masterpieces in comparison. The game shipped with some side quests bugged too, but those things tend to be patched up so it's not a major concern, more a symptom of this game's biggest problem, the fact it was an obvious rush job.
Overall, my general impression is that the game is playable but there's a notable decline in quality compared to other Bioware games recently. It's borderline boring in some segments; Deus Ex 2 finally got a companion in the "How Not To Do Sequels" category.
