Dark souls 2 landed on a funny spot, it had the best pvp but its pve in general was just worse. It had so many good ideas and pulled a lot of them off, its the most fun to dabble with different builds in because everything is really strong and viable. I loved it first time around but contrary to dark souls 1 every playthrough after the first made it less and less enjoyable. I think what may have held it back was that it had to be a sequel, if it was its own thing i think it couldve had more potential.
At least its better than dark souls 3, its a sequel but its not a "Hey! Remember this?! Remember this guy? Hey look, youre in a low tier anor londo, remember that from dark souls 1?", man what a disappointment.
Im really cupping my nuts and praying to lady Velka that the bloodborne 2 rumors are not true.