Nah. 4 is way better. Like in another league.
I still love the trilogy for a different reason but 4 elevated the story, characters and gameplay.
I replay the trilogy every few years and 4 every year.
2 is just shooting corridor after shooting corridor. 4 got way more variety and better action.
But 2 and 3 still go this energy. It's less serious
You ain't wrong. 4 does have better gameplay, the combat arenas are way larger, layered, they have more options, stealth is more viable, the rope adds another dimension to the firefights...but there's one thing that puts 4 below 2 anyway; that godawful pacing.
4 is firmly into the era where Naughty Dog cares more about storytelling than fun, and this has been the case since TLOU 2013 where they can have sections that are over one hour long with absolutely nothing happening. Just walking around. Uncharted 4 is guilty of that, especially that mansion section that's like 45 minutes long and that is just climbing. 2 managed to strike a damn near perfect balance between story and action sequences and calmer sections don't get drawn out for over an hour to put you to sleep. While Naughty Dog's game design has certainly improved over the past 10 years, their approach has become more heavy-handed than ever and they love wrestling control away from the player and bombard them with cutscenes and dialogues. They want to make Hollywood movies, not games. The games are just a prop they use to tell their stories instead of the other way around.
I can't replay 4. Just the beginning forces you through that terribly boring part as kid Nathan, then the diving mission, then you must go through Nate's house in the present day, then another slog through the prison, and after like 90 minutes, they finally let you have some fun with the prison break. This is just...no. 2 isn't so poorly paced. Never mind the climbing parts of 4.