My 2 cents (after 4 hours of playing - didn't try MP yet):
Combat appears to be more challenging/realistic compared to Warband. I consider it a good thing and it takes a bit getting used to, coming from Warband. It takes me quite some effort to actually hit a looter from a horse

. It's also much more difficult. I set all difficulty to the highest and it reminded of playing Prophesy of Pendor with a level 1 character. Damn challenging. But that makes it fun.
The game is more immersive.Graphics are gooood. UI as well, compared to Warband. It's just like Warband, but bigger, better, faster stronger. Can't say much about the rest of the features since I did not touch those.
I have random stutters in scenes but for the rest of the performance is quite okay. I can run on medium settings with specs between minimum and recommended. And there a bit too much loading screens, as earlier pointed out. Quick options to talk to an NPC are not really "quick". In Warband, it would generate a small dialog scene that would load within 1-2 seconds. Would be an added value if they put that in again.
There is a bitter aftertaste though, that after so much time in development, we get a product which is a beta. This is quite normal for the M&B games, although my expectations were higher. I agree wholeheartedly what Life_Erikson described in the OP. Although I do believe that all the feedback will make the game much better.