There is a difference between an acrobatic check and a jump out of a marvel movie. Sorry.
I agree with that. There are some fine points you make in your initial post, such as the start being the absolute same... starting on a boat (tutorial), crashing (no thanks to you), stranded on a coastline... didn't even think about that but it's literally the same start, which is kinda lazy.
As far as the characters are concerned I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I like the origin characters after I've had at least 1 playthrough as a "generic, nondescript dude" to get to know what their story and personalities are. If you however just jump into the character you have no idea who you're supposed to be roleplaying, which makes entering the mindframe of that character and enjoying the RP near impossible. They have mentioned that they will attempt to make the non-origin characters feel much more important than they were in D:OS 2, so I'm hopeful.
As far as I'm concerned the atmosphere is fine (this opinion formed after some discussions on this forum) - regardless of whether it's "dirty" or not, the problem is as soon as you remove high definition from a model to make it more scary (if you can see every single part it's not scary, lets be real here) people will whine about you being lazy and how xy game has better graphics. You could lower the brightness of your monitor and reduce the contrast if you want a darker feeling, but you won't like it coz you won't be able to see the monsters (this is my opinion, I might be wrong but I doubt it).
Humor: What bard?
Gameplay/Animations: I think it's better Larian did TB considering their past. On the topic of animations I partially agree. The 10 meter jump mechanic needs to go (or at least make it a once per long rest ability because of the worm or something - that just ain't normal yo. The rest? I dunno, I honestly don't hate it apart from some select "magical" effects of "special" weapon attacks (which shouldn't be in the game in the first place), but even that is an indication to you (the player) that you're in fact using the ability you think you're using. I think removing them would be nicer to the feel of the game but that's just me.
The dash animation is stupid and should go.
