I love the souls game, and even the worst souls game is ok, but I was expecting to like this a lot more than I did on a replay. The level design is not great, and the way the game is structured makes the difficulty curve not really flow the way it does in other souls games. The running bit of every boss being a big dude with a sword is 100% true, very uninspired enemy and level design throughout this thing. It really feels like it was made by the b team.

That being said, it IS still a souls game, and the combat is still better than most games in the genre (outside of every other soulsborne game). sometimes the hitboxes feel off, which is the last thing you want in a game this precise.

I replay dark souls 1 every year since I first played it in 2011, and cannot see myself ever replaying dark souls 2 of my own volition again.