Despite its flaws, the DLC might actually be better than the base game

[BBQ]

At least for me of course.
While there is a lot of justified criticism about the DLC, I think overall it does not get treated well. Much worse than it deserves.
First of, I think this is not just a DLC but a full game. It is just huge and has so much to do and to see.

They put a lot more emphasis on exploring. And I mean A LOT! With things hidden so very well, passages to areas being a lot harder to make out on the map. I still have unexplored areas, where I ask myself how I can get there.
Many areas feel empty, even more so than in the base game, but especially those areas might hide ways to other places.
I feel the exploration is a lot more rewarding than in the base game.
All this comes with a huge downside though. You can miss quest interactions and be locked out of quests very, very easy. I kinda hate that. Especially when some things are so obscure that you question how anybody is supposed to find that out.
Exploration should not punish you THAT hard, when you put so much emphasis on it as a developer.

Overall though I have to admit, that I like the whole world more than the base games world. I loved every dungeon so far no matter if it was a Forge, Catacomb, legacy dungeon and whatnot.

Performance during play is acceptable. Base game had performance issues to on release, so we might get fixes for that. My personal performance issues are a result of my crappy PC though. Still playable and enjoyable.

Difficulty is kinda what I expected. However it is not too hard imo. As a side note, I consider myself below average, somewhere between casual and average.
The tree blessing thing might be questionable mechanic but once you embrace it and accept it as the DLCs leveling mechanic, you can get to easy levels pretty quick. I am currently at +10 blessing (and I think +5 or +6 for spirits) and was able to even defeat Bayle (is he even considered hard?) in an epic battle. Oh, well I "cheated" by summoning Igon. I don't care however what others think. I had the most enjoyable dragon fight in all of Elden Ring, base and DLC combined, and therefore a ton of fun. Which is everything I care about.
Long story short +10 seems to be point where you can compare your base game performance/strength to DLC.
Of course, if you ignore that mechanic, the DLC feels unfair for your casual or average player. But so would running through the base game at RL1 feel for the same audience.

TLDR: I feel like I have more fun in this game (it is not a DLC, it is a game and I will die on that hill), than OG Elden Ring. Unpopular opinion maybe, just being honest.
Hopefully they can iron out the flaws, especially performance and maybe camera issues and get the feedback they deserve. There is still a lot of bulldung going on and I am not closing my eyes on that (who thought Swift Slash was a good idea?), but it does not really deserve the mixed reviews.

[NEET_™]

FromSoft always seems to step up their game in their DLC's, and this is no exception. This is everything I wished for, with interest. The map is so intricately interconnected I've already forgotten how I reached some areas in the first place.

[Baelfyr]

Barring some VERY big issues with this DLC I find myself agreeing that it tops the base game in many aspects.

[Agoraphobic Meep]

I'm having fun with it, but I'm a biased difficulty ♥♥♥♥♥ who doesn't really mind a hard boss as long as they're at least aggressive and not some sort of annoying zoner that constantly backs away from me.

[BBQ]

Yup, they did a lot right with the whole world and level design. It is not as straightforward as it was in the base game. Everything is less linear and sometimes even outright mazelike, where you actually can get lost. I did many times and had to reset positions and try again to get where I wanted to be.

And yeeah, aggressiveness of the bosses is just a common theme for this game, which you simply have to accept. If someone liked Malenia 2nd phase and still wanted it to be a bit more aggressive, they'll feel right at home.
It is just about adjusting to it, which I get is very hard, when you are still in a "It says Elden Ring DLC, so this has to play exactly like Elden Ring" mindset.

[Nifty]

The biomes are a flex 4 sure nothing in the base game compares to the sheer beauty and awestruck nature of riding around the lands of shadow.

It's kind of this amazing thing that From Soft does that even in the Souls Like genre where there are better looking games.

Lies of P, and Lords of Shadow.

I feel more taken aback with a dlc then I did with those complete games.

Which is why Elden Ring is my most replayed Souls Like in the entire genre.