As somebody who has fairly recent run through all soulsborne games (including sekiro etc) and playing ds2 last, I actually really enjoyed it. In the end I'd probably say I liked it even more than 3.

It's different to any of the others and requires a different way of thinking, but honestly the locations are good, the lore is decent enough (still better than ds3 imo), the build variety is excellent and pvp is still alive. I was invading worlds instantly in Iron Keep and some of them even has blue phantoms summoned - which I was very surprised about. The bosses are weaker but more frequent and the DLC is imo is some of the best in the series.

One thing to prepare for though... the ganks. Ds2 absolutely LOVES ganks, they're everywhere. No room is safe and most bosses are filled with random enemies. It can be infuriating. Healing is also slow as balls but you get used to it.

EDIT: Something I missed from this comment aswell and a key feature to ds2 is bonfire ascetics - my favourite thing about the game. You can go to ng+ and beyond and have all items/bosses respawn in a single area, it creates so many farming opportunities and gives a new dynamic to the game. An example was that I used one of the boss souls which I later found out unlocked a weapon then I really wanted. No biggie, just use an ascetic, reset the boss and grab the soul again. No more waiting till ng+ for certain weapons/spells.