So a list of complaints and things to change, if anyone's curious. I'm probably forgetting a lot of things, but here's what's on the top of my head:
1. "I hate Li"
2. "Menu screens suck"
3. "I hate dragging things"
4. "Map System sucks"
5. "The story is too obvious!"
6. "The story is too vague!"
7. "Mia plotline is stupid"
8. "I'm lost, I don't know where to go"
9. "I'm not going to buy the game unless it has widescreen support"
10. "I'm not going to buy this game unless its for the Mac"
11. "I'm not going to buy this game unless its for Linux"
12. "Food Sort"
13. "This game is teh gay" - GameTrailers.com
14. "Music is generic / throwaway / by the book" - IGN
it's a funny balance between making a product that suits your vision and satisfies customers, I don't envy you Alec and think you are doing a great job trying to take into account criticisms and your own goals. my first impressions about the complaint list:
1. it's more interesting than anything that Li is not liked so much. for myself it was an initial thing but then I got used to him to the extent that when he was taken away I was miffed enough to go with Naija along for the retribution ride. I think that players feel an affinity and connection towards Naija and that Li is horning in on the action. either way I don't think this is anything necessarily wrong with the game, it's an inherent quality inside that you've reflected back on the player which is close to one of the elusive universal truths.
2. the menu screens are great, only problem I can see is there isn't more of them.
3. there is some dragging fatigue but, and this is sort of an important in game play issue. if you find yourself doing a lot of fishing and cooking, you probably need a break from the combat or need to stock up for something big that's going to whallop you. there are lots of nice areas of respite ( some you have to clean out a bit first ) where you can calmly collect your ingredients and nerves. I personally feel this balances the game out just great, sort of how young wolf cubs do a lot of play fighting before tackling the real prey, you do a lot of play fishing before attacking a real kelp forest seahorse. plus if you are not being alert when you cook you might botch up the recipie and make another loaf, which is again just part of it.
4. the new map features you've mentioned sound brilliant!
5. I read a fair whack of scifi/fantasy and see my share of movies. this game had a few things that I completly didn't see coming. one of my favourite gee whiz, goose bump moments was when Naija first broke through the Veil. that was a perfect instance of game play, momemtum, story, everything.
6. I didn't find it too vague. there were a few things that I was hoping for that didn't happen, like Naija learning how to walk or fly, or more interaction with the older species but the game delivered in a dozen other areas that were unexpected. vagueness was not a problem but could see if someone didn't like having no memory and zero instructions that being daunting? that just means the essential game premise is not for them.
7. I liked the whole Mia storyline and was left curious about her and what her powers could possibly be. lots of good questions raised by the answers given which is great for sequels *kaf*hint*kaf*
8. I hate this already and will never play anything you make again. or will probably think it's just peachy
9. people only buy games unless it has widescreen support?
10. macs can play games?
11. you can sell software for linux?
12. I've gone on somewhere else on the forum about the way food sorts itself. more frequently used items and recipies tend to percolate to later pages, it has a nice organic method to it.
13. gamespot is the only mainstream site that matters
14. see #13
looking forward to the patch and will happily play through the game again when it's out!