I also think Demon's > Dark. Both are amazing though. It's for smaller reasons.
Yeah part of me agrees and part of me does not. I've played Dark for hundreds of hours more, and I feel getting far on a new run is easier, as 2-2 as a whole is always quite frustrating, plus item burden, half (or 75% HP with ring slot wasted), harder to turn human and such make it kind of hard to go back.
The atmosphere and level design felt more complex and dark though, and I did like that better. I feel when Dark Souls did with Covenants is better for online, but the actual online itself doesn't work quite as well. Though I do invade like crazy and co-op like crazy on PS3 at least. Fixed online with servers in Dark Souls II is a god send, if they can fix up covenants too, will make for some cool online.
I would prefer DSII to be a mix of Dark Souls and Demon's Souls, Dark Souls improvements of systems, Demon's Souls world, bosses and online.
Haven't gone through Demon's Souls in a while, I will take this White Tendency Event as an opportunity. That is also a thing I didn't like, the World Tendency being influenced by online aspects made a few things too random. It basically forces players to just kill themselves in the nexus so they don't have an even harder time. While I do like certain aspects of it, I do enjoy being able to know I can guarantee myself lizard kills or opening certain paths without starting the game all over.