cpd, I'm a fantasy guy, not a sci-fi guy. That being said, ME's 3 titles are a more fulfilling story (even with the stupid ending) than DAO, DAOA, and DA2 put together. But then DAI changes everything...
The continuing problems from the Salarian communication failure with the Rachni still haunt the Galaxy and cause Shepard no end of headaches... i.e. The Genophage is a phenomenal subplot. You may find the ongoing social and moral issues with mages in DA to be similar.
ME's problems were elevators, the Mako, and general length of time it took to get around. DAO has a bit of that as well. I also had monetary issues on my first game and I wish I could have dumped Ohgren. Once you get into the story, you'll find the gathering of allies (armies, not npcs) and your judgements at Redcliffe, The Alienage, the Temple of Sacred Ashes, and your decisions regarding the throne and the archdemon are at the heart of the story and will make your experience unique.
DAO is fully worth playing. The npcs make it lots of fun. On my second game, I named the dog Alistair. Morrigan, Leliana, Sten, Loghain, and Alistair add a lot to the world. The story is epic. But in DAOA and DA2, the stories are not epic. Some people enjoyed them very much, but I felt they were a letdown.
After playing DAI, finally DAOA and DA2 feel complete, instead of being tacked on to DAO. DAI is epic, fun, and fulfilling. It is so good, it makes the three previous titles seem like teasers or an extended prologue. My complaints are a faulty save function on the Xbone (
https://www.sffchronicles.com/threads/550657/), eternal loading screens, and too much xp... I steamrolled the final boss.