I do agree that the difficulty curve isn't as high as people make it out to be. I remember the first time I did any of the biomes way back when and I definitely would die a few times on most of them until you learn the ways. Dying is a part of the game as you test your limits of what you can and can't do.

I do think that the uneven terrain with poor visibility is a bad design decision. It just makes moving around take a long time as you're always waiting for stamina. Also it limits some of your tactical choices. Perhaps if they added an upgraded mist light option with twice the range it would be better.

My biggest fault is the lack of a clear upgrade path. It took be forever to find enough black cores to build 1 of each new building. I was smashing one building to create another for awhile so I could get things going. I felt like I was just sitting on a lot of materials until I finally got enough cores and then built a lot at once. When going the mage build I feel like you really do need everything crafted to get a feel for the build. The new heavy armor is barely better than padded armor due to a low upgrade ceiling. In other biomes you just get the new metal and build new weapons and armor with it using the same forge and workbench that had been around. I'm okay with change, I just wish that it was a little more progressive and meaningful with the new items. I got the new polearm pretty quickly and that was a nice addition, just need more like that.