Ok so i'm a good many hours into dragon age and i've loving it.  My love for gaming had been weak lately but this game cured me.  Its my first venture into a story heavy rpg.  Now I'm looking into what i'm going to play when I'm done so naturally i turn to Mass Effect but i'm worries how its going to hold up.  
 
How about graphics?  Are they noticibly worse?  I'm playing on PC so I can boost the settings a bit but its still from 2007.  
 
And the storyline/characters?  Are they written just as well? 
 
Hows the combat?  I know its more of a shooter, does it feel satisfying?
 
Any words of advice or meaningful comments on what to expect would be appreciated. 
  
If you were me would you go back and play Mass Effect or just wait for the sequel?

Mass effect is a great game. It has less rpg elements compared to dragon age. I'd say the story and characters are better imo. The combat is pretty good, was different to get use to. Felt like the combat needed more work. Which I think they are working on in Mass Effect 2. BUY MASS EFFECT, you won't regret it.

I finished Dragon Age Origins and now im going to play Mass Effect. The story is epic with nice characters, but the combat is different. I suggest you play the first one

ME for the PC with maxed graphics is one of the best looking games I've ever seen, much better than DAO.  
 
The story and dialogue for ME is really well-written, and the number of choices you can make is endless.  
 
The combat will be more in the gray area. Personally I really liked it, but many people said that it was awkward. You'll just have to watch some gameplay videos and judge for yourself. 

ME has much better looking graphics, pretty good characters and story, lots of epic moments, and uh... generally seems a lot more polished. Combat's solid as a third person shooter. No real need to pause as often as in DA:O. Only area it falls a little short in is length, ME is about a 30-35 hour game while I'm still playing through the campaign of DA:O after spending 70 hours.