Why is everyone telling him it gets harder? I genuinely found the first few bosses (Gascoine, and Blood Starved Beast being the two major culprits) were the hardest. Mostly because I was getting used to the controls, the way the game played, and other stuff.
Don't get me wrong, shit was hard all the way through but the beginning was hardest because I never beat a Souls game before.
As for the story, it's mostly relegated to the background. It's all there (and it's insanely deep), but you could play the entire game without catching onto about 95% of the story. it's all incredibly subtle storytelling.
My Console Library:
PS5, Switch, XSX
PS4, PS3, PS2, PS1, WiiU, Wii, GCN, N64 SNES, XBO, 360
3DS, DS, GBA, Vita, PSP, Android