I didn't play PoE1 at launch but I heard it was really hard. Even after all the patches and expansions PoE1 is for the most part a tougher game.
PoE2 over corrected on couple things, and difficulty was one of them. On release it was ridiculously easy, but it got better with patches. If you read reviews the game being too easy was a common critique.
Unlike PoE1, PoE2 didn't get an expansion but 3 DLCs - so some items, yes, but no extra power or levels. They are more like 3 mid-late game challenges/dungeons to test your party against (something that base game lacked). If anything thing by not picking up expansions you will actually miss the most demanding content in the game, aside from megaboses and beraths challenges (optional modifiers for later playthroughs). Some said that they made DLCs too hard, though personally I disagree but the DLCs do have some difficulty spikes.
It would be shame to skip DLCs - they are the best content both games have to offer, due to tighter focus.
