at first i was a bit pissed off to have my first character be killed by a boar but then I realized a few things.
Tradition/Change slider is finally important, since death is much more possible.
Grouping up is even more important now
You can no longer cheap hunt with fences or just tell yourself that getting stun is no big deal since now you die.
Sure the game is a lot harder, but it means its also a lot more epic to have a fully functional village that has a low death per week count XD.
That's my 2 cent.