Dark Souls II gives me a belated sense of how shallow the combat of Souls games are by themselves. I never stop to consider this playing the first Dark Souls because the level design that perpetually folds in on itself for ease of navigation and unique gameplay scenarios that force you to think outside the box are where the game's true strengths came from thus drawing attention away from how the combat depth pales in comparison to more action oriented games. It’s this smart design that allows an attentive player to go through the game without dying much. Instead, the sequel bottlenecks you down linear corridors with largely humanoid enemies that are prone to repetitive use of poorly telegraphed ambushes, incentivizing trial and error gameplay which turns long playtimes into a tiresome chore.
Not to mention all the small, yet significant, changes that sully the experience: the directional movement with controllers and botched hitboxes just to name two; that culminates in a game that may be enjoyable in how it allows progression towards distinct builds, but are nevertheless made obsolete by its superior predecessor