So far I'm having a blast.
Pro:
-Tutorial is a great addition, also kudos on the creation of the 'Cave', it looks and feels very immersive and will make the new players excited from the start. The way new players don't start off with absolutly nothing anymore is also very good. It makes the game more newb friendly and gives them some motivation to keep going.
-The graphic overhaul is an overall succes in my opinion altho the models take some getting used too. I am inlove with the way the water looks, especialy when the moonlight gets reflected in it.
The star filled skies during the night are awesome, even more as they were in DF1. You can actually see 'layers' in the sky now, clouds come first, you can see the stars behind them, then the planets, 3d view if you will.
-I love the way you can see players from a very very large distance and follow them, sneak up on them, ...
-Combat animations seem a little slower, altho the animations themselves are of much higher quality.
-Environmental sounds are very nice.
-World is still fairly large, altho it is clear compromises have been made.
-Rehaul of the npc cities seem a succes so far, very nice work AV!
-The map is a job well done as well, altho I would prefer the mob spawns only opening up after you have 'seen' and explored that part of the map. Then again people will use and create maps on the internet if that had not been implemented anyway, so I suppose it is OK.
-Removing the crafting equipment and asking a gold fee instead is a very nice idea.
-Item durability linked with damage/effecitivity is a great addition.
-GUI seems to have potential if tweaked, it takes time getting used to however.
-Feat and mercenary system looks very, very promising.
Neg:
-No way of creating custom waypoints (??)
-When entering a new 'area' the environmental music sometimes just pops up, I would prefer it fading in and out slowely as you aproach/exit areas.
-The GUI seems a bit chunky and rusty, sometimes things overlay, lag or pop up at inconventient places (For instance when trading, the trade window is at the top of the screen, a little odd) Also the loot system needs some tweaking/overhaul, I liked the old inventory system better.
-Some weapons seem a little inbalanced, daggers for instance do four times less damage, even if you take in account that they are much faster. This might have to do with the fact that they seem to be made for Skirmishers
(They require Dexterity).
-..
Note that I have not included bugs,crashes, etc in the negative section as I will report on those in the 'Bug report section' of the forums.
Keep up the good work AV, I have very good hopes for this game.
Sincerely,
B