[quote=Asuras]
Any opinions on the standard difficulty so far? I've been watching snippets of play and to be quite honest it seems like Dark Souls 2 is a large step down in difficulty compared to the first from what I've seen. :\I'm really hoping it's still really difficult. Otherwise I'll have to join the Difficulty Covenant on my first run. I'm getting my copy in the mail tomorrow. I am so psyched you have no idea.
[/quote]

It's not easier, no. The humanity system is fairly overhauled, to where it's a *lot* more punishing to be hollow (you lose some of your max health every death, and getting it back is a whole metagame thing). If you set in a single area and grind, the enemies stop respawning (forever? They haven't come back for me yet). And a lot of shit like that.

However there are aspects that are easier too. Bonfire warping is there from the get-go (although the bonfires themselves seem a lot more scarce). Initially at least, the bosses haven't been very overwhelming -- but the levels are tough. Getting a summon to help you out is *instantaneous* right now, this close to launch, and several hours into the game I haven't encountered an invader yet (though again, there's math happening with your hollow-level, so I might accidentally be avoiding reds). 

Overall this feels like someone took Dark Souls and said, 'How can we make this more like Demon's Souls?' And then they did, and it totally works. It's pretty engrossing. No Man's Wharf is kicking my hyperpowered ass right now, and the nightmares are only just beginning -- to this point, most of my foes have just been hollow (and a handful of golems and some rats and.... okay, but MOSTLY hollow areas). Now the creatures are starting to show up, and they're *mean*.