Oh it’s great! The devs have added a few new things (slightly different boss battles, the addition of side missions) but all of this adds to the experience. I played through the original the other year and it holds up well, but the remake certainly felt like the definitive experience. So personally I’d go for that if you’re new to the series.

I also played DS2 a while back, and that felt much more polished/higher budget than the original. After you’ve played the remake of 1, definitely give the second one a go.