In my opinion, the game quality is alot better than alot of modern games. For an actual adventure game (that is, less interactive cinema and more gameplay) it is one of the closest series we can play that maintains a traditional means of gameplay. Its easy to compare the series to other games that may have slightly better graphics, controls etc, but From had to make the game more commercialized and more acceptable to a wider audience, and took away some of the majesty and mystery that the marmite Kings Field series had to offer. I don't blame them, for a game company to survive in these times requires a very fine balance of originality to make a game stand out, and conformity that players are used to to immerse them into the game. Without that, companies sink, even if they do produce groundbreaking material or an amazing story.
The amount of animation work in the souls games is pretty heavy. Animating for a game is very different to animating for a movie where you can choreograph action scenes to make them look more believable. Animation in games require set timings, balance with the enemy / npc turn rates, and attack animations have to match enemy and player hit reactions... In the process of creating a well balanced game, animations play a huge part in difficulty, and prove to be a big challenge. Getting everything perfect in a big game like DS2 rarely happens - dont forget that there is always a budget in terms of funding, too.
