So it's not Dark Souls 1. So what? This game offers so much variety in builds; you want to dual wield two giant sowrds and have an awesome moveset? Go for it. You want to be a Uchigatana Mage Sorcerer? Go for it. It's not like this is new to a Souls game, however at the time of it's release, this game was the only that promoted trying different build with the Soul Tear guys.

The world design however definitely isn't as good as the standard for Souls games. When you layout the entire world, none of it feels like it should be connected. It's just a jumbled mess of different areas. It's not like there are any horrific areas design wise, other than a couple (like the run up to the Smelter Demon in the DLC for example). There's no inter-connectivity which led to those "OH ♥♥♥♥ THIS IS FIRELINK" in it's predecessor Dark Souls 1. That's what made Dark Souls 1 extremely memorable and favored when compared to it's brother DS2. Not to say DS2 is bad, but just that you shouldn't go into it expecting that same inter-connectivity in the world aspect.

That's the only real problem I have with the game. Other than that, this was a blast to play through! I ended up using a Str/Int/Fth build, with the +5 Crypt Blacksword, along with a myriad of sorceries and hex's. I honestly think I have gotten the same enjoyment that I did from DS1, just in a completely different aspect, which makes this game special.