I would agree with others in this thread, the first game is incredibly good, the second a bit less. For that price, it's well worth acquiring both, in my opinion. These are games that I've already played and replayed, and will most likely be playing again in the future.
I finished the first one, never touched the second game. From a certain point on (when I was playing the first Blackguards), I was just praying for it to end at once.
Yes, it wore me out as well. Too much tactical combat; not enough role-playing.
The ironic thing here is that the sequel had a lot more role-playing and much less linearity, but, as you can tell, the mass consensus is that the linearity version was much more widely enjoyed with some even hating the sequel while really enjoying the first. Which to me is just further evidence that 'choosing your path' isn't as big a deal as some extremely vocal people pretend it is.