I definitely think it's worth watching. I hesitate to compare it too much to the original Game of Thrones because there are some pretty big differences (mainly the fact that House of the Dragon more or less follows a single storyline and cast of characters rather than jumping around like GoT did), but in terms of the quality of writing, directing, acting, and overall production values, I think it measures up to the better seasons of GoT. Cinematically it's more on the level of the later seasons, but the focus on building characters feels more like the early seasons.

The first half of the season is a little slower, but I still found it engrossing, and the second half is even better, and really has me excited to see what happens next season.

One criticism I've heard leveled at the show, which I suppose is fair if you think it's a problem, is that there's not really a clear person you want to root for. There aren't any obviously heroic or good main characters like Ned Stark, Jon Snow, or Samwell. To me that's one of the things that makes it interesting (and there are certainly still characters that I liked), but I can see how it might make it harder for some people to get into the show.