Amazing setting, score, lore, level design. Movement and therefore combat is miles ahead of the original. A lot more satisfying gameplay.

In a lot of ways this is definite upgrade compared to HK, but in certain ways it is a downgrade imho.

I found this game very fun, but also much more frustrating than HK.

I think there should be less double damage in early game. In late game it is mandatory to maintain the pressure and difficulty. I also think there should be no double contact damage and also stunned bosses shouldn't do any damage.

I also found flying enemies being extremely frustrating to fight, because their AI boils down to flying out of range 80% of the time and all you can do is wait.

Also I didn't enjoy overwhelming amount of enemy gauntlets. Crust King and Conductor's Melody gauntlets are the worst.

50% of quests are boring fetch quests, which other than being boring, damages replayability.

Last but not least, endgame bosses final phase difficulty can be described: They use same moves as previous phases, but faster and you don't have much punish windows. I found these kinds of bosses a lot less engaging.

But overall, great game. Does a lot of things right and a lot of things wrong, but still matches it's predecessor.

Good level design, amazing graphics/visuals, good story, good characters. Overall, great game.

Now, I only considered playing this game because I saw 'Souls-Like' in genres. In that regard it didn't meet my expectations. For instance: Difficulty settings - I played on hardest difficulty (Jedi Grand Master), which basically is that every major enemy two shots you. I don't like when difficulty is dictated by enemies one or two shotting you. Also. a lot of the time parrying means nothing. One thing that I also disliked, is stun locking. If you fail to parry first attack of enemy's 4 hit combo for instance, usually enemy will stun lock you and you will take all 4 hits, which is kinda dumb.

Ahead of it's time imo. Game looks good, facial expressions are realistic (except some cases lol), story is good, characters are good. If you are okay with game not having great gameplay, but want detective game with good story, go for it. One advice I would have, dont play this for long gaming sessions, because it becomes repetetive.

Cons:
Capped at 30 FPS, Rockstar Launcher

Weakest soulsborne game but still fun, although i felt majority of the time devs tried their hardest to make this game as unfun as possible.
Dodge roll has huge delay, which is serviceable in base game, but in dlc where every boss is faster it was huge pain in the a$$.
Whoever thought slowing down healing animation so much was ok, I don't know what they were thinking. I get that they wanted slower gameplay but achieving that through delayed dodge roll and 5 business day healing animation was plain wrong imo.
Also exploration takes huge part for me while playing souls games. I love exploring every corner of the game and enjoy beautiful views. This game had a lot moments like this, but majority of the time i just wanted to get through the area, because almost all the areas in this game suck (basically every area feels like Indiana Jones booby trap area).
Last but not least, almost every base game boss has 2-3 moves and that's it. Majority of the bosses in this game are mediocre at best.
What this game does right compared to Dark Souls 1 is new features: powerstancing, respec mechanic, bonfire aesthetic, estus flask upgrade system and etc.
Overall solid game, but not for everyone.
P.S. Majula is the best hub.

Finished Leon's story. Loved interconnected level design. Also game looks so good. Wish puzzles were harder in different way. Didn't like all the backtracking and whole puzzle being finding a correct tool. Halfway through puzzles became boring and daunting. Overall solid game.

If u like FPS, then this is the game for u. Haven't tried Eternal yet, but will play it soon. Until then i think this is one of the best if not the best FPS of last decade.

P.S. I wish bosses were a little more hard.

Good story, good gameplay, good game. Only complaint: hardest difficulty was not that hard for me.

Disappointed after TDD

Bed of Chaos can suck deez nuts!

Honestly can't decide which had greater bosses, this game or Elden Ring. Only complaint: felt a little too easy.