Why is this game so good?

Everyone told me this game sucks. My brother (who loves Fromsoft games) told me to flat out skip it. But I'm 15 hours in, just beat the boss in Undead Purgatory, and I actually like it a lot. More than the first game and maybe even more than Elden Ring, which was my game of the year a few years ago. Why does everyone hate this game when it's straight up so good. I don't even understand what there is to dislike about it apart from the normal souls jank. I'm now a DS2 truther through and through.