So, finally able to play, my first impressions: I have little experience with platforming games and I've never been very good at the controls. I have spacial perception issues that make judging distances really difficult, so I always end up doing things like trying jumps I can't make, and can never figure out when is the right time to attack a monster (and get killed really fast). Don't even ask me about 3d games, they make me cry in the corner.
So this is not an easy game for me to play, and the controls don't feel natural to me since I don't usually play platformers. (I usually go for puzzle games, or tile-based games where one button press is one "unit" of distance.) I always want to jump by pressing W (up). I keep getting killed on the starting world by all the monsters. I just can't seem to react fast enough to defend myself when they appear.
However, I'm not about to give up. Certainly these issues are not the fault of the game; I just suck at it. Presumably I'll get better at platforming if I practice more. I'm generally very conservative and "play it safe" when it comes to games, especially survival games, so it will certainly take me a long time to make any "progress." However, if I can get myself some armor/clothing to protect myself from the ouchies and the cold, and a good enough weapon that I can kill the pokemon-looking dudes without getting mauled to death, what I really want to do is explore. I'm reading about all the stuff you guys have found, looking at the screen shots, and I wish I didn't feel trapped in my little dirt hovel while I wait for daylight, because I freeze to death too fast if I leave my campfire.
I remember watching all the videos and imagining how I would build a huge secret underground base or massive mansion on the surface, go exploring, bring back artifacts from everywhere in the universe. The reality of slowly chipping away with the matter manipulator (holy crap that thing is slow) didn't really factor in. Also, somehow I didn't realize we would have to eat, so I can't just wall myself off until I figure out how to grow food. (How do you grow food, anyway?)
In any case, these are just ramblings. I will have to practice to get good enough at this game to get anywhere. But I'm excited to finally have the game and be able to play it, after all that waiting and anticipation. I suppose I should figure out how to make a pick, since the manipulator is so slow it really sucks a lot of the fun out of it. I don't have much interest in the fighting and bosses, but I'd like to be able to really explore and have fun rather than just hiding and waiting so much.