You don't have to start from Origins unless you want to (I think it can be off-putting because it's old and kinda clunky now), and it's been 10 years, so the devs should have figured a way to ease in new players, or old players who haven't played Inquisition in years. Most people aren't big fans who replay the games and spend a lot of time in fandoms (like us), and they are aware of that.
But you could play Inquisition (and Trespasser) if you're worried about being out of the loop.
My partner liked BG3 and is now intrigued by Veilguard but I wouldn't tell them to play the old games (they don't have time for that) so if they want the story so far I'll be sitting them down with the Ghil Dirthalen recaps.
Thank you, that's a really reasonable take on the situation. I feel like a lot of advice is coming from people that love love love dragon age with all of their hearts and sort of.. want to relay that and want me to feel the same love for the story (as it very likely deserves), but I also sense that a lot of what they're telling is fueled by nostalgia and just.. the experience of being there. Experiencing the thing when it's fresh off the shelf is different than doing so years, hell, even a decade later. And I'm sort of trying to factor that in!
It is a bit worrying hearing people say that they had no clue what was going on when they entered the series in the middle of it, but it's not the case for everyone.
At the end of the day, I'll just see what I can manage and what happens happens. All I know is that I don't want to be late to the party again!