No, if Skyrim had combat like dark souls, it'd be a failure. Replicating broken games because people think this is what older games mean by games being more difficult in the past has failed to understand the point. The old Sonic and Mario games were harder then they are now, but not because they were unrelenting and unforgiving, rather they were challenging.
Dark souls is just an overrated hack and slash adventure game that people call and RPG because it has RPG elements in it.Skyrim is more in-line with what an RPG actually is, "Role-Playing" and Role-Playing doesn't mean, progressive leveling system like most people think it does, it means taking and playing a role which ironically needs some level of decent storytelling* to play the role into. One of my biggest criticisms of skyrim is the storyline has gone backwards, it's become too short and casual which isn't in the spirit of being an RPG, for a game like Dark Souls were storyline is almost non-existent... it just doesn't count as being a true RPG, despite always being labeled under the genre.
"A role-playing game (RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development. Actions taken within many games succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines." - Wikipedia
*The story line does not need to be a strong/static storyline, in fact it's better if the storyline adepts to each decision a character makes and as such is a soft storyline but still a strong storytelling experience.
its obvious your a biased "purist" so im not even going to attempt to argue wit you as you will just shut out all reason. suffice to say if your idea of a good combat system is flailing your arms wildly wit little to no impact wit your attacks...tats your problem.
i dont think you have played dark souls or demons, and if you did...you svcked at it. the games were only hard in that what lay in the unknown. once you knew what to expect it became purely execution, unlike a game like skyrim where you can just potion thru a difficult encounter and mow down the rest with ease...
dark souls is also more realitic in that respect. the damage that is, is more realistic as well asthe damage mitigation.
dark souls combat is simple and strategic...it punishes impatience readily...skyrim punishes your potions...
A role-playing game (RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting.
a forsaken in a completly fictional world...check
Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development.
so your big gripe is that there isnt enoug talking...sorry but its actually part of the design choice to keep the story as stark as possible, your not supposed to be handed books about the entire history of the world or find a random guy that knows way more then he should about everything. but if youd play it youd find many bit and pieces woven into the game you can stumble across, as well as more questions. making it a bit more engaging then trying to remember if ive read x book before or not.
Actions taken within many games succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines." - Wikipedia
in this respect dark souls is more rpg then skyrim...skyrim you can just load up a previous save if you do something dumb...not in dark souls...it autosaves every few seconds giving you a chance to feel repurcusions as they actually are...oh..and you can kill EVERYONE you come across...and doing so has varied repercusions that you only get to find out by playing the game more.