Judging the game without comparing it with the previous two,it's fairly ok.
If you compare it though,Ds2 is a poor,uninspired imitation of dark souls and demon souls....End of story.
It just feels like some random guys tried to copy the previous game,not understanding what it was that made them special.
I completed demon souls 9 times and dark souls 6 times....That said,I don't want to go into details comparing DS2 to them,and why it is dissapointing,but I think It would be obvious to hardcore fans that this game is lacking the magical essence of the previous games.
Obviously miyazaki's departure made a huge negative impact on the game....
For me it's simply R.I.P dark souls,and this is sooooooooo sad:-(
I cannot understand how so few other people say this.To me it's like a rock band changed all it's members but kept the band name,and they produce an album that sounds like the previous band,but simply lacks all the fine details,inspiration and uniqueness that characterized the previous albums.
HUGE DISSAPOINTMENT for me.