So you mentioned at some point in the demo that you were curious how they were going to tie things all together, with the world's main problem already being adequately handled by the Wardens of the first game. I was reading a
general overview of the game over at the Dragon Age wiki, which indicated that although the game begins around the same point as the first one, the entirety of the story will actually take place over the course of about ten years. As a result, it's entirely possible that the whole sequence with Isabela happens after the archdemon has already been vanquished, etc. It would also seem that although you can't import your character, you can influence the world by importing your game data. This includes data from DLC like Witch Hunt, which revolves around Morrigan, so it might be interesting to see how that plays out. Then again, you could also do this with Awakening, with somewhat disappointing results.
(No one's noticed that I'm queen? You all better be happy I can't launch into a GTA-esque slaughtering spree.)
You also brought my attention to Hawke's armor during the Isabela sequence, and I happened to notice the insignia on her chest looks an awful lot like the Warden Commander's. It seems some other people on the internet noticed this as well. Just an interesting thing to consider, perhaps.
Thus far, like you, I've been pleasantly surprised after hearing many things here and there which had convinced me it would probably be wise to avoid DAII. Without being too nitpicky, there aren't really any major things that I strongly dislike. I'm not especially fond of the dialogue wheel, simply because I find games to be more immersive when you have a silent protagonist. With Hawke I feel a little less attached to her as a character, and there's less identification when the player is watching her give her lines after choosing a general disposition, but isn't really "performing" her dialogue for her. But that's more of a personal thing, and it seems to be implemented well enough for me to be forgiving.
I would really like to wait until the inevitable expansions and such are available before picking it up, but I've come to anticipate the game's release a little more than I'd expected since playing the demo myself. I should have some extra money to waste as well, so we'll see.