Specifically to Dark Souls 2 - there is a lot of content yes but almost all of it is... kind of dull. A fair amount of it feels aimless, it feels like people just trying to make "content" instead of levels with a point. Like just look at a level like 4-2 in Demon's, you get an immediate feeling of what the level designers were going for (with enemies custom made for that scenario, the grim reaper and those dudes who shoot laser beams a mile away, all meticulously placed). Most of the enemies in Dark 2 feel interchangeable, beyond aesthetics they could work in most areas. Also Dark 2 has a shit ton of bosses, with most of them being pretty bland (in boring circle arenas). I don't think Dark 2 is a bad game but it probably could have used some more focus. Like, if you look at a level/section after completing it and you can't figure out what the "point" of the level is (what element of the game the level is trying to stress) - it is probably a level that should have been removed. Also Dark 2 has the problem that it tends to aggressively reuse ideas from the previous games (and even some enemies/boss) with almost no spin on them.
Magic got more balanced over the course of the series, but this series to me always felt like it was designed around melee weapons (and maybe shields if you wanna be a wimp) with magic as a crutch. Killing enemies from a distance is probably the most boring thing you can do in the Souls games, so I try to avoid it. Also I appreciate image quality and framerate but ultimately game design > all that if there is no choice in the matter.
