Dark Souls 2 is an interesting game. It tried a lot of new things, some of which were good, others not so much. Objectively speaking, it's probably the worst one out of the trilogy, though I still had a really good time with it.

Majula has to be my favorite hub in any of the FromSoftware games, even beating Firelink Shrine from the original Dark Souls. At first, I absolutely hated that you lose max health each time you die, though it quickly grew on me, and I really like the added stakes it brings now. Even the torch was an interesting mechanic, but it was definitely underused (I only really used it in 2 areas of the game).

The game even has some of my favorite areas out of any FromSoftware game, Majula as mentioned before, Dragon Aerie/Shrine, and I also really liked Frozen Eleum Loyce. Boss-wise it's a little weak, especially in the early game, though towards the end of the game and in the multiple DLCs, the bosses are actually really fun. For example, in the Crown of the Old Iron King DLC, you have a rematch against Smelter Demon and fight two of my all-time favorites in any Souls game.

A point which could be a negative as well as a positive would be its very open world. I really liked having the freedom of going basically anywhere at any point, but it can get very confusing at times where you actually have to go.

All in all, I would strongly recommend Dark Souls 2 to any Souls fan, even if some people say it's not worth it.