To Dragon age 1 or Dragon age 2 Mass effect is the question

[Shantydan86]

So I have just played the Dragon age 2 demo and loved it, my problem is I didn't really like Dragon age 1.
While I love games such as Mass Effect and Fallout I just couldn't connect with Dragon age 1. I felt the graphics were a slight distraction and the combat didn't excite me. I played the first game for around 7 hours and this could be part of the problem. Maybe I just didn't give it enough of a chance.

From playing the Dragon age 2 demo, it felt like a completely different game. The graphics were better and overall it felt more like Mass Effect 2 (my GOTY). Should I go back and try Dragon age 1 again or just move on to the sequel and if I do this will I understand what is happening in the story?
From playing both the Mass Effect games I would have felt lost if I'd only bothered to play through the second one without playing the first one from start to finish. Is this the same for Dragon age?

[DaveDogg]

the first dragon age probably lasts some where in the in the area of 80 or so hours and thats not doing everything infact some stuff wont even open up to you depending on certain choices that you make within the main body of the game. the combat in origins is about timing and some luck but can be to do with weapon having the right weapon equiped. as for the graphics if your paying that much attention to them i wouldnt bother with the game as they dont get any better as for DA 2 well in essence its the same game and there are a few referances back to the first one and again plays at its best when you understand the sort of tanking mechanics and so forth. but to be honest as much as i enjoyed 2 one is by far the better game

[Shantydan86]

Maybe I should pick up the standard edition of the first game as it's less than £10 these days and give it another go. Even if I don't like it £10 is better than spending £40 on dragon age 2 only to find out it's virtually the same