In earlier feedbacks from devs, they said it was intended to be a beautiful, yet dangerous place to go around. The colorful place makes contrast with the oppresive atmosphere of the mist. I think it's right. Not as dark as I would like, but I guess the idea was to make it different to swamp, which is already pretty dark and creepy.
I saw hares running thru many biomes, far away from Mistlands. I don't know if that is a bug or if they spawn in other biomes, but that is what I saw after few hours into the update.
Spiders were removed because of some people complaining about their arachnophobia and how adding such a mob to the game could make it unplayable for them. It's cute devs are kind with us players, but I think you shouldn't make a game thinking in some people's feelings about it. Should Ubisoft stop doing Call of Duty because some people suffer PTSD?
Ants are really cool by the way.
Dwarf mines are always temple-like structures in all medieval fantasy literature. So it's pretty accurate. I'm kinda sad about the lack of a peaceful approach to dwarves, who are friendly and even protect you from mobs sometimes. I would like to have some trading, like with Haldor, so you can progress and still being friendly with them.
I really like this update so far. It could be better with spiders and a darker atmosphere, but it's not bad at all.