Well, so far the mobs seem a little harder than DS1, as they travel in denser packs and are less predictable and more relentless. However the bosses are beyond awful, they take next to no damage to kill and have slow/clunky and easily exploitable attack patterns and movement.
All bosses have been a joke bar
Combat is better though, albeit a little dumbed down for greatswords + ultra greatswords, their attack speeds aren't much slower than one handed weapons, and nowhere near as slow as they were in DS1. Feels to me like there is no downside to using huge weapons other than it costing more stamina to swing, as wielded two handed even a +0 greatsword demolishes anything it touches.
All bosses have been a joke bar
The Pursuer, and he wasn't all that difficult, just lure him to the fog gate you entered and sprint for the ballista, he will literally take the worlds slowest walk right towards you in perfect positioning to get 2 shotted.
Combat is better though, albeit a little dumbed down for greatswords + ultra greatswords, their attack speeds aren't much slower than one handed weapons, and nowhere near as slow as they were in DS1. Feels to me like there is no downside to using huge weapons other than it costing more stamina to swing, as wielded two handed even a +0 greatsword demolishes anything it touches.
So I did the extra part in Cardinal Tower where you unlock doors with the soldier key. And also did the boss in tower of blue (cool fight 
).
