After recently purchasing Dark Souls 1+2 for the PS3 (I have already completed them on Xbox), I have been comparing certain aspects of the games (bosses, environments, lore etc). Now whilst I love the sequel and think that it is just as good as the original, I must admit that the NPCs are not quite as memorable as the denziens of Lordran.
The problem arises from the fact that a lot of Drangleic citizens are too similar to Lordran's. We have another crestfallen warrior, knights who's trustworthiness is questionable and a warrior who's quest crosses paths with yours on multiple occassions. There are some more unique characters such as decapitated heads and wizards with split personalities but it's tough to compare these characters to Solaire, Siegmeyer and Patches.
Now I want to make it clear that I am not critcising Dark Souls 2 in any way for lacking originality. It's still a fantastic game. But the denziens of Drangleic have not enthralled me as much as the poor souls of Lordran which is a shame because I do like some of them, they just seem too similar to the original's cast. As I'm yet to finish NG+, who knows? After spending some more time in Drangleic, I may grow fonder of it's inhabitants.