I used the Italian Sword for a long time -- really liked it, but I eventually settled on a Grosse Messer. It's shorter, but I noticed that the Grosse typically required one less swing to kill most enemies which meant all the difference to me (of course this was before the damage tweak so who knows now). The stab on the Italian Sword is really nice but stabs with 1H weapons are notoriously finicky, have a tiny window of effectiveness (meaning they glance in many instances when they should not) and those glances cause a delay/stagger.
On the other hand, cut damage was more negatively impacted in the last patch, while blunt and pierce were boosted -- so the Grosse is bit less effective than it used to be.
The Langes Messer is nice too - bit more reach than the Grosse, but less than the Italian. However, it's slower than both.
While I liked the reach of the NCS and the KAS the slower speed was VERY noticeable.
Another great option is the Broad One Handed Battle Axe -- it's a bit shorter and a bit slower but has the highest damage of any 1H and absolutely shreds shields.