I've had a busy weekend and haven't been able to play the new world as much as I wanted to. But some first impressions--yes, why is it so dark? Sometimes I have a difficult time seeing things, and I've also got my screen turned up as bright as possible! I'm not so thrilled with the cliffs, either, which look less real than I expected. And in my game it's raining all the time even though it's summer. True, if they're basing it on Ireland or something, that's accurate, but I don't enjoy it in my game (I may need to turn off rain).
I like the townies, though I'm not so fond of the blue colored people. And it is a bit odd that so many have pointy ears but are not fairies (but I understand why, and of course, I'll just go an make some of the fairies and also place some of my own fairy Sims in the town.
I do love the look of the town and the buildings, though, and I also love that they included Robin Hood and Little Red Riding Hood, though!
I played the Eames and gave them a dragon. She talked about work, and about her enemies and got a purple dragon. but the big surprise was I had her husband talk to the egg, too, about his enemies, and then after her egg hatched, he also had a purple dragon, though I never saw him with an egg! I was surprised!
I spent most of my time rearranging the town and putting in things I want like the stone's throw greenhouse, and I replaced the city hall with a castle type city hall. I realized I should play more before editing the town more, though, because it really is a lovely town, and maybe if I'm playing (rather than editing) I'll find I want to make less changes!
I like it quite a bit overall! Now today's editing project is to figure out where to place my hobbit-town!