I know this game gets a lot of hate, but personally I had a very good time with it. I think the main reason a lot of people hate this game because it's very different compared to the other Soulslikes. But I think Dark Souls II experimentation with soulslikes mechanics is important to note. While these changes causes more good than harm. I believe there are some mechanics that became vital to the success of games like Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3.

For starters I know a lot of people complain about how you get most of your health from consumables. But honestly I don't see this as much of a hindrance. Very early on you'll find a merchant who will sell them to you for very cheap. So if you clear the first area you'll honestly be set on lifegems for the rest of the game. I do get the complaint that the Estus flask sucks in DS2 though as you only start with one charge, plus it takes a while to actually consume it. I personally never really get interrupted while healing but I've seen a lot of people who have. It could be because I'm just weird but I don't see how people are able to find windows to heal. Most bosses aren't aggressive so if you simply distance yourself you can usually heal yourself before they close the distance. But I feel like more enemies dropped lifegems less people would definitely complain about. Bloodborne is (for the most part) entirely consumable based healing. But the difference is that Bloodborne has a vendor from the very start of the game that sells them + pretty much all enemies drop blood vials so you'll never find yourself out of vials. I know rally and the blood rapture rune exists too, but your safest healing option is always going to be a blood vial.

Another huge complaint I see is the ADP stat, which I'll admit is very stupid. Having a stat the determines your iframes while rolling is such a dumb concept. But I didn't find myself having to level ADP to a high amount. I think by endgame It was only 30, so just invest all your early game souls into ADP and you'll be fine.

One thing I find funny is how people overlook how easy it is to overlevel in this game. Dark Souls 2 has some stupid easy bosses and by using a bonfire ascetic you can really get huge amounts of souls for little to no effort. I think by the time I beat the game I was over level 100 which is a first for me.

This game also does suffer from enemy spam. I don't feel like it's bad for most of the game but most late game areas has much bad enemy spam it makes me freak out sometimes. Like where are these guys coming from??? That coupled with no iframes while walking through fog walls (another terrible design choice) makes boss runbacks such a slog. While I don't think the runbacks are as bad as Dark Souls 1, they can still be pretty annoying.

I find a lot of people think the hitboxes in this game are B.S but I disagree. For the most part I never found myself getting hit unfairly. A lot of people try to just dodge through attacks instead of working on their positioning.

Some complaints I've heard too is how this game does not connect at all to Dark Souls 1. But I believe it does in it's own way. After killing Manus is soul got divided into several pieces and those pieces of his soul became their own eternities that sought great kings to influence. Dark Souls II was never supposed to take place in Lordran. Drangleic IS where Lordran used to be (somewhat) it's obvious that after your character either rekindled the first flame their kingdom just like Gywn and Lordran eventually faded away to give birth to a new kingdom. And the thing is there are many other kingdoms mentioned that came before Drangleic. And this story even works for the age of darkness ending. While you brought the age of darkness, clearly some other chosen undead was still able to rekindle the first flame. So the beauty of this game is that whatever ending you chose in Dark Souls 1 it still fits in with Dark Souls II.

I believe the main theme of Dark Souls II is want and self identity. We can see this with the first boss the last giant. It's heavily implied that the Last Giant is in fact the Giant Lord who was king of the giants. But when you find this mighty monarch he's reduced to a prisoner trapped in the rubble of the war he lost. And when he see's the person who ruined his life he wants nothing more than to end your life. So we see this loss of identity (the giant lords kingship) and his want (to kill you). The main focus of want though is obviously King Vendrick. Much like Gwyn, Vendrick is referenced countless times throughout the game. And much like Gwyn we are told of how mighty and awesome Vendrick is. Hell, we're even told to seek Vendrick in order to find a cure for the curse of the undead. But when we find Vendrick. Much like Gwyn, he has been reduced to a simple, mindless hollow. But what makes his downfall so sad is that Vendrick's downfall was not his fault. It was his wife/queen Nashandra. Nashandra is one of the fragments of Manus, more specifically his desire. Nashandra craves power and sought out the pinnacle of power itself, Vendrick. Vendrick fell head over heels for Nashandra and did her every bidding. Vendrick slaughtered all the giants in the name of his queen. And eventually the cycle of the undead curse continued. And Vendrick found out Nashandra wanted Vendricks incredibly powerful soul so he hid his soul seperate from his body. And secluded himself in his grave until he eventually became hollow. This I believe to be more tragic than Gwyn because Gwyn is a liar. His story managed to conjure up the biggest lie ever in Dark Souls history. Gwyn is a selfish person who struggled to keep hold the last fragments of his power. But Vendrick on the other hand is never stated to be an awful person it is until when Nashandra shows up that want takes over Vendrick just like so many other unfortunate souls.

In summary, I believe Dark Souls II is a good game. It's not the best soulslike and it's not the worst. It's such an interesting game to me since it brought so many features into soulslike that were pivotal in other more successful soulslikes. This game has a masterful story and I believe any fan of the fromsoft soulslikes should play this.