1) Initially, you can't even collect braches. Instead, you have to search the WHOLE FUCKING MAP for curiosities. That's not a joke - me and three buddies found like six curiosities in over an hour of separate search. Moreover, each curio only corresponds to 2-4 parameters. Once you find it, you can upgrade one of those parameters. Once you upgrade two specific parameters, you'll unlock the very first Survival skill that allows you to COLLECT BRANCHES.
2) The 3D perspective completely ruins the game. If you're heading anywhere except to the top of the screen, the screen will slowly rotate, making it impossible to go in a straight line.
3) Pathfinding is just as fucked as in H&H. Stumbled on a fucking GRASSHOPPER? Sorry, you'll have to stop right fucking now. Also, unverified rumors say that grasshoppers can knock you out.
4) The whole 'utter wilderness' feeling is fucked. Now you can find stuff like Indian fucking arrowheads that you can sell to NPCs for money, which you can use to buy settlement deeds or more curiosities. Without those NPCs it's impossible to get literally anywhere.
5)
See this guy
walking on water swimming? Some of that water is shallow and easily crossable. Some is deep and uncrossable. Good luck figuring out which is which and whether there's even a way across the river.
6) Those curiosities... Damn, they deserve a whole separate point of 'why this shit sucks'. Apparently, a Smooth Stone can increase your knowledge of Natural Philosophy and a... Taste of The New World increases Law & fucking Lore.
In short, Salem took exactly the things that made H&H bad, none of the halfay-decent things and heaped a pile of dogshit on the result.