I was really happy to see you having more fun with it! You seemed to have a lot of fun with
Sister Friede despite her being pretty hard. I think co-op adds a really fun element to fights that would otherwise be tuned a bit too hard (and it can make the game really funny sometimes - like "Ligma" or that useless weeb guy!
).
This 100% isn't a criticism, just an observation, but I think sometimes people can get a bit boxed in by their preconceptions about how Dark Souls is "supposed" to play like. I personally won't play without
at least 1. summoning as much as I can for bosses and 2. a ranged option (bows/magic) for exploring. For me personally, it just makes it more fun! Other people like the solo and melee only approach and that's fine too, but it's a choice they're making, not the one true way to play.
It's all prominent in the game - I think I said some of this in your chat, but a lot of quest rewards are NPC summons (sometimes you
have to summon to advance sidequests!), and there are like at least seven whole weapon classes associated with ranged combat (four kinds of magic widgets, plus bows, greatbows, and crossbows). They wouldn't put it all in if they didn't want you to use it to help solve problems in the game.
In one of my Dark Souls 1 playthroughs I spent almost all of the game with rings to make me invisible and silent, so I could always get the drop on the normal mobs - it was actually pretty fun! It's an RPG as well as an action game, so you have a big toolbox to use and it's OK to play how you want to!