specifics
the controls are tighter and more responsive than one, but the level design isn't as good.
graphics got an improvement, but difficulty went from placement of enemies to overpowered dudes in armor rushing you in groups.
just run pyromancer or magic I guess.
long story short, if you like dark souls, and are willing to approach two as an independent game, you will probably have fun.
If you spend the entire time looking for faults to be a retard, and comparing it do DeS and DS1 non-stop, you'll likely be disappointed.
The controls are shit, parrying got all kinds of fucked
Graphics are shit and more bland, the game lacks proper art direction
user, I'm in the same boat as you for the most part. I loved DS1 to death, played DS3 recently and got burnt out on it, so I picked up DS2 on sale. I played it before when it first came out on PS3 and never finished it because I got bored. I figured I would buy this on PC and play through the DLC.
I've put forty five minutes into it and realized why I never finished it. Do not buy it user, nearly every single thing is a step down from DS1 or a longing "what could have been" moment when you realize how much potential it could have had in the hands of competent people.
The worst thing is that not even the lore is that salvageable. Most of it is new shit that doesn't even matter in the grand scheme of things. There's a few bits of fanservice here and there (LOL PRAISE THE SUN UPVOTE ME BROS) but that's really it. With DS3 out with the way it is, DS2 has been rendered pretty much irrelevant.
tl;dr
Skip it. Go back to DS1 and PvP or do cheat engine playthroughs with different stuff that would make it more interesting or funny. Unfortunately, we're never going to get a true successor to DS1, the flaws in PvP in DS3 put that idea to rest.
I'll save you the indecision.
8a5cd3586827043f3b720ec209cde72663230e15
I think you're just trying to find faults, the controls are definitely more responsive than one in terms of movement and feedback.
I never parried in one anyway, so maybe I didn't notice it in two.
DkS2 killed my interest in Dks
2 is better than 3 but worse than 1.
3 fucked up some stuff but overall its still a better game than 2.
Or the faults are so glaring they jump out at you. I'm not even a purist like some others and thought the game was lacking. There was little incentive to explore, the characters less charming or alive, the whole game felt bland as fuck on it's own let alone as part of the series.