LuchaShaq said:
Spell/equipment descriptions being purposely vague.
In the Japanese version, some items are still as vague as Demon's Souls. I can't speak about the NA version yet, but I wouldn't expect this to change much. Don't expect to know every use for an item though, especially some that have some secret uses.
Feeling like everything was just a test of patience not skill or strategy to grind your way to the bosses which were awesome in the first imo.
If you don't feel that Demon's Souls was a test of skill or strategy rather than of patience, you won't be feeling any better about Dark Souls. From this aspect, the two games are very similar - however I contend that both games truly are about skills and strategy first and foremost. I wouldn't expect a change in feeling though, if you honestly didn't feel that way about Demon's Souls to start with. [Slight edit here - As for dying/restarting in Dark Souls - in some ways it does feel a little more forgiveable than Demon's Souls, so perhaps that would be a + in this column for you?]
The half health when "dead" mechanic just made me feel like going back to get life back was never worth it. I know that was thrown out but now it's a zombie/human mechanic instead of health? How does this work?
I can't really get into this without spoiling too much, but there is a lot more to the body/soul form this time around then in Dark Souls... It's a bit more integral to certain things in game. You will feel a lot more motivated to lean one direction or another.
Item animations being pointlessly long that they might as well have made them unusable in combat.
Animations for both usable items are a lot quicker, however it still isn't 100% safe to use them at will. You need to be strategic about the uses.
No real story beyond idk stuffs messed up yall!
I get this complaint about Demon's Souls a lot when it comes up, but I never felt it myself. I've said this before in this thread, but I'll repeat it here... There is a bit more of a narrative, but once again like Demon's Souls - the story is told less through traditional video game methods and more in the item descriptions, environment descriptions and paying close attention to the world around you. You will probably find the story stronger in terms of what they immediately hand to you, but it's still probably not what you are wanting.
Personally, I felt Demon's Souls had a great story (one of the best of this generation), it's just a shame that I seem to be in a minority... Probably because it took a lot of work to really put together the story for Demon's Souls.
Hope that answers some questions.