2 is when the series got quite actiony, more like DAI than Origins, and fights were pretty much entirely real-time without much need for pausing except when you target a spell or whatever. OTOH it still retained stuff like quests mostly coming from individuals who explained their motives and who you could snark at and stuff. BW fixed most of 2's big problems with Inquisition, but some of the fixes went in, I won't say the wrong direction, but a direction people like Pike and myself aren't as taken with.

e; 2 is vastly underrated and still gets a lot of trout today. I hear the launch was certainly a catastrophe, and there are some questionable design decisions (specifically the way you'll finish a fight and then a whole new wave of enemies spawns out of nowhere). The overarching plot and character development is a subject of... some controversy (I think it's some of Bioware's best work since the BG era tbh, and certainly their bravest).