Did you not have any friends who would play this with you Bob? This is a genuine question because your take on the multiplayer is completely different from what I am hearing other critics (and people who've played the demo) say. I mean, it just looks more fun with more people, especially when people are competing for the crown and everything. I didn't even see you mention that, oddly enough.
I remember the multiplayer in 4 Swords for the Gamecube. That game was centered around the multiplayer, yeah, but even if it wasn't it was still much better messing around with friends and giving each other a hard time just to see who "won" at the end of each stage. This looks like a much welcome callback to that.