Well, I mean, you can always DC from xbox live. If you go online, in any game, you take the good with the bad. That includes PVP and co-op. :/
As for the bullshitty deaths, the only ones I can think of is whenever some random skeleton pushes me off a cliff, but usually I'm being an idiot as well, and it's not like there's any huge penalty for dying. Also, the camera complaints seem to be slightly reminiscent of Resident Evil's system; you can argue either side that it adds artificial difficulty, but it does make the game more intense and scary, I think.
The status effects I'll totally agree with, so as far as the curse effect that those fucking evil frogs use where you lose half of your current life bar. But, again, it adds inherent difficulty to an enemy that otherwise would just have lots of health or do lots of damage, which is pretty boring. Plus, you can pretty much prevent yourself from being cursed by blocking attacks, so, meh.
EDIT: A major complaint I have with the game is the super duper awesome weapons that you can completely miss out on if you don't know what you're doing. But, you don't need them to finish the game, and there are usually two or more ways to acquire them. Case in point, the Drake sword or the ring you get from [redacted] that adds 20% health and endurance, and reduces your carry load by 20%.