I agree with most of your points and like DS1 better, but some of this I think is being unfair to DS2:
PvE: DaS' approach was to challenge the player by using challenging enemies with challenging movesets (i.e. Black Knights, Silver Knights, Sif etc.), however Dark Souls 2's devs seem to have thought that more enemies would make it better (giant hall in Drangleic Castle, building with three Old Knights in Heide, Royal Rat Authority etc.).
I think that the idea in DS2 is that the player can sprint about much faster, which means that they can position themselves more easily and capitalize on enemies who are in the middle of attacks. I thought it was a clever way of expanding on the combat system which is what I think sequels should do. In DS1 most enemies are just a case of rolling through some attacks, then hitting them. Doesn't matter where you roll and the attacks are so telegraphed you shouldn't have any trouble avoiding. This is fine for early game but it got real old when you were still doing same shit in the kiln ect. I like the level design in the DLC a lot because the enemies aggro together, some clever situations like the big room with loads of bloatheads in oolacile ect. which feels like an evolution of level design rather than a bunch of enemies being thrown into one room because "it's harder". I think the rat authority is actually a pretty well designed boss unlike a lot of other people. You aren't supposed to take them head on, you're meant to use the boss to knock it's own minions over, then hit them while they're getting up. This fight concept is very similar to Nito's so I can't understand why people slag off DS2's boss design for this but not DS1. The old knights were fun for me too, they're big and slow so you can get plenty of hits on them even between attacks if you're brave, and it's just much more intense and IMO better level design than if they'd just put a bunch of singular old knights randomly in level.
Now DaS2's, we have the Ruin Sentinels, who almost share the same moveset with the Lost Sinner, Smelty, Velstadt, Pursuer, Flexile Sentry, Old Pikachu, Mirror Knight and the Throne Duo. Mostly a 3-hit combo, a gap closer and a jump attack.
DS1 bosses have very similar movesets too, seriously, count how many attacks in the game can't be dodged with either a single roll or backing up when it does a very long telegraphed animation. DS2 might have many similar attacks superficially but what's really the difference between a weapon swing and a claw swipe ect.?
Another point where DaS2 tries to mimic Dark Souls 1 is with world interactivity, what tells me to burn the wheel in Earthen Peak? What tells me that this Spider shoots a frikkin Laser? What told me that the door in Huntsman's Copse gets smashed?
Totally agreed on the first point, I'd be fine with it if the fight was reasonable and skill based if you didn't burn the wheel but it's just a crap DPS race with unavoidable high poison damage and a regenerating boss if you don't find this very obscure secret. However, I don't think DS2 is any more "cheap" than DS1. How am I supposed to know that this giant skeleton is going to randomly make a red sword appear right underneath me? What's so "fair" about the bridge being burned by fire? It tells you that maybe some fire based hazard will appear here, not that a massive damage zone will be created on top of you with no telegraph if you continue moving in that area. Yes, you can avoid it by continuously moving forward and then running back, but you could say the same of the door in DS2 ("anything could be hiding behind it, better attack it just to be safe", right?).