Has anyone played these games solo or are you forced to use a party?

i don't know if you're forced to take companions with you. TBH it never occured to me to go it alone. why would you anyway?

I've only ever played #1 and technically you could play that one solo but I wouldn't recommend it (and I HATE using partys so I try to avoid them at all cost). The reviews for #2 sound kind of similar except you get more control over the other characters (in #1 they just did what your main character did with no additional help). I remember getting the demo a while back and losing interest really fast, of course I had just won #1 and IMO that game was WAY TOO LONG and WAY TOO LINEAR.

I have played DS2 as solo, I didnt find it easy

I didnt know you could solo it, but I imagine it would be horrendusly difficult. I enjoyed the game alot though (on 360), decent DLC too.