The Dragon Age series is one of my absolute favourites out there, so it's painful to say that this game is an absolute downgrade in every regard. While I did enjoy the story and some of the character redesigns, I generally felt like they did not recapture the feel of the original. I HATED what they did to the elves, making them look absolutely ugly, and the simple fact that you can't choose your race anymore made it so much more bland in my opinion.
Played it through once, never again.