So I've played through the EA twice now and thought I'd share some high level impressions.
First off - I've had a great time! Both playthroughs were thoroughly enjoyable and I tried out the different NPC's and classes.There are so many minor hidden details and and things I missed on both playthroughs, so even going back just to finish some leftover stuff I knew was there gave me a few surprises.
Just a few examples:
First run: killed hag with wyvern poison and completely missed the opportunity to spare her with the possible boon of +1 stat.
Second run: forgot to kill the harpies and when I went there to do a clean up after the goblin leaders were killed, the boy was dead and I was too late.
First run: completely missed Khaga's shadow druid quest because I never opened her chest, so missed my chance at Faithwarden on my druid.
Second run: discovered a very well hidden cave in the Underdark with Kua-Toa and a new Lord of Murder.. all praise Boooaaaal!
Second run: Discovered a lot of different ways to enter the Underdark that I missed on the first run
The game is filled with good stuff, so I'll highlight the bad/annoying/unfinished things instead, as these are the things I would like to se changed:
The party controls - I
hate the chain system. The number of times it has screwed me over, just because I clicked on a different character and they all started running around like crazy. I have nothing positive to say about it at all. Please let me select my party members like in the predecessors. Also add a "all hide" button.
The delay/lag in character switching (click on a portrait) is super frustrating. Also please remove the delay in being able to control the characters after a climb/jump/whatever. The times I've frantically clicked the ground just because the game isn't registering my clicks due to Tav climbing a ladder or getting back on his feet after a jump is super annoying. Mind you, I don't think the additional time should be removed of getting up, I just want the game to register my actions while the PC is doing his thing.
Interactions with NPC skills: Dice rolls are fine for RNG, but certain checks should be automatic success if you pass a certain threshold. In my first playthrough I managed to to break the door to the burning inn on my fourth attempt with my PC mage with a STR score of 8, while all my other party members had all failed with significantly better STR. All things in life are not random. If your STR is 17, you can open that door.
In conversations, all my party members attributes and skills should be taken into consideration. They are standing right next to me, listening in. They will definitely inform me if they recognize a deadly poison.
Perception checks: If I discover something, please highlight it a bit more. "Hey I found something!" - Oh yea? A grey button on a grey wall in a dark room? Please highlight it longer (preferable until i mouseover it)
HP inflation: My major beef with this is that it makes casters useless at low levels. More detailed posts on this exists.
Jump and backstab: just no.
Barrel cheese: No, you can't carry 10 barrels in your inventory no matter your STR score. Please don't build encounters on cheese. Barrels should not be possible to be in your inventory. Good positioning of a single barrel = all good. Cheesing a fight by brining 10 - not so much.
Inventory management: It's a mess. Like really, just a mess. Pathfinder has a pretty good take on it. And please highlight what is just "vendor trash" - again, Pathfinder does it in a nice way: "A merchant would pay a pretty penny for this object..."
Shared inventory is king - You usually have a face/front character picking up everything. It doesn't mean that the character does all the heavy lifting.
Shared inventory at least as an option!
Advantage: This has been a major topic elsewhere, but the "to hit" bonus of heights is just silly.
Opinions from NPC's: Every NPC has extremely strong opinions about everything, and it's really black and white. They Approve/disapproves all the time, and usually not in a very nuanced way. It's really based on "I'm good/evil". They even butt in on private conversations in camp: Private chat with Wyll: Astarion disapproves!
One of my joys in games like this is the challenge of keeping everyone happy until the end. It adds roleplaying, playing your party members against each other or changing their point of view. That is very difficult if everyone is black or white about everything. If I choose a "sensible" path, both good and evil characters should approve of it, unless they're a chaotic evil murdering machine.
And in a lot of occasions, they really shouldn't have a preference! We're literally trying to find a cure for a tadpole, so everyone should be a little more open minded about the how.
UI - Action bar: Please stop messing with my action bar. I DO NOT want it filled with every usable item I pick up.