[quote]Why is there so much negativity towards Dark Souls 2?[/quote] DS1 levels though smaller were more complex with secret alcoves and short cuts looped in on themselves which helped make it feel like a formerly livable world. DS2 levels are spread out like a Web with a central hub and strings shooting out in different directions but with little interconnection. This is a matter of opinion but most prefer the level layout of DS1. DS1 does however have superior hit detection. In DS2 The clearest offender would be the Giant Lord from the Giant's dream that is being bombarded by flaming boulders. His foot stomp can land a full character length away from you and yet you still get flattened. The overall difficulty of DS1 is higher and many "Traditions" are left out. For example there's no massive enemy at the beginning that crushes you. Demon's Souls and DS1 both had a massive demon that you encounter straight off. In both cases if you were skillful enough or properly prepared you could kill the beast and earn a massive weapon. But ONLY if you beat them on the very first encounter of the playthrough. In DS2 the only real threat at the beginning are the Ogres. Which you could completely avoid or just pepper with a boat load of arrows. Fittingly there's no special reward cuz there's no special skill needed to defeat them. On a side note Bloodborne starts the game off by having you eviscerated by a werewolf and the first area has no less than 3 distict shortcuts.