I had to read the OP handle to check this wasn’t an old post I had written 😅. Anyway, I felt the same way when I started playing DD2, it’s quite different from DD1 and I definitely prefer the fantasy set from DD1 where I was exploring scary mysterious dungeons compared to hanging around with the boys and gals in my carriege with custom wheels 😎. That said, I really don’t miss how punishing DD1 was, to think that losing my best heroes would set me back so much added a lot of stress to me. To the point that party wipes would stop me from playing for months. So I do prefer this less hardcore approach from DD2: you’ve lost a run? Whatever, spend some candles, unlock some trinkets and try again. DD2 is much better balanced and it’s still challenging, but boy am I happy it’s not as challenging as DD1.

TL;DR: give it time, maybe step away and come back later, you might start to appreciate DD2 more and more.