So, got a chance to play the latest public build... and enjoyed all of the new platforming challenges (minus one segment with an enemy placed next to a ledge with a low ceiling and a pit that required a delayed and precise jump dash to be get past, but that's besides the point). I enjoy all of the new story bits and Chiro in her journey to become a fry cook (lol). However, there is one glaring issue that does kind of spoil the fun for me: the new combat system. The Parry mechanic single handedly breaks the entire game's combat structure and actively trivializes every encounter. Blocking removes the knockback you suffer from getting hit, removing the risk associated with fighting enemies near edges. Parring stuns the enemy for so long that you can kill it before it recovers. The HP and Attack boosts you can get make already easy fights even easier. The fact that attacks are no longer tied to your stamina, but enemies still suffer from hit stun means mashing your way to victory is even more viable than it was before (no blocking or dashing required). The boss fight against the bear used to be an extremely hard fight that required learning proper timing to be able to dodge his attacks, jump over him to avoid the corner and attack during the brief pauses in his rotation to slowly inch towards victory. That kind of challenge was why I stuck around with the project and got excited to see what could become of it... that challenge is gone now. All of his attacks are so easily telegraphed that it's harder to do the fight without accidentally parrying him and you do so much damage that the fight is over in seconds.
I'll still be here to try out the new builds and support the project in any way I am capable... but I don't like the direction it's going currently.