The written review makes the game sound better than the score.
The game is going for interesting gameplay. If the "deep swordfighting mechanics are accessible and exciting" as the reviewer says, I'd say it deserves a higher score.
It doesn't make sense to criticize a game for lacking a feature that the game isn't meant to have.
Dark Souls 2 is not meant to be an easy, accessible game that anyone can pick up and quickly master. There were two previous games in the series that demonstrated this, so there's no excuse for being taken by surprise.
There's no point in writing a review if you don't consider what the game is trying to accomplish.
Dsolow5's comments