Fundamentally and conceptually this game is muah 
The beginning of the game. It could use some better presentation. If you compare beginning to end game they are 2 completely different games like bro u go from taking 10 minutes to cross the ocean to ur next destination or 10-15 minutes to traverse an island on foot, to having 130 spd brig being able to dash across a whole island in seconds with dodge reflexes. This is mostly upsides thoe it’s not a huge problem but to polish the game off id introduce some “flashes” of wt end game will look like. I have a couple ideas to implement this but anything like this generally would be pretty cool to see. For example my first idea would be to add “flash backs” of the MC’s memories or wt ever memories he had forgotten or however the lore should work in that aspect. Generally the game just doesn’t have a very strong hook to it, but gets very good if u stick it. Out after Frostmill stuff starts to pick up but that could be hours before u actually complete Frostmill. So even if Vetex decides to wait till the game is finished to do this. I still think eventually adding something to give the beginning of the game to give it more spice would be very beneficial for retaining more players in the long run. Another idea would be cutscenes of catastrophic events or just epic moments that kinda like when glass curse user crashes down on u on the side of a mountain. pls add something to frost mill that makes the beginning of the game more bearable it’s super slow paced and it needs some spice so players go like woah I wonder what happens next. Cuz I’ve tried to get people to try this game but the beginning of the game presents something far more bland than the game actually is. There are so many cool features and quirks of the game to be found.
Next this is somewhat separate to wt I’ve previously said. The game difficulty of ao is varies alot, and it’s pretty appealing because you can play both casually, competitively, co-op, no co-op. The game See’s a large audience and various different personalities. Ik Vetex is planning to add raids, fishing buffs and other passives on clan claimed islands. These are some examples of group events we will see in the future this all rlly embroiders a very high and achievable ceiling for the game. It’ll be a truly unique and pretty epic experience( some might say something about it being truly an odyssey).
In conclusion the game is at a great spot right now and has an even brighter future. With all the stuff being said about the beginning of the game, it was due to Vetex being in a rush to get the game released. Hopefully in the future he can take some time to show off and woah the audience. It would make the game more authentic and really push players stick around to find out what happens next.