TL;DR- If you like DD1, you'll like DD2.

I watched 1.5 hours of the leaked gameplay, and I figured I jot down notes of things I noticed. I focused largely on little details that I personally found interesting, and that others might want to know as well. Please don't ask me of anything that could be a spoiler, I won't tell you. Please do not post anything that could be a spoiler either. I'll try to categorize my notes as best I can but forgive me if it's a little all over the place, and if you have an expanding question on something I mention, I'll try to help. But please remember, I had zero control over the gameplay.

Pawns
- Pawns play to their vocation. I was relieved when I saw the mage keep distance when possible.
- Pawns can chatter to each other. One pawn might say something and another pawn responds to them. Pretty neat.
- Pawns equipped with lanterns are actually useful. Their lanterns light up the area around them.
- Pawns have a lot of chatter. About as much as DD1, I'd say. But there seems to be a ton more dialog for them to use. It might be repetitive after 40 hours, but in my limited time I think I only heard 1-3 reused lines from earlier.
- When out of combat traveling, Pawns tend to stay in a box style formation. Even if the Arisen is weaving back and forth.
- It takes ~5 seconds to revive a downed pawn
- When talking to a unhired pawn, they'll give you a brief description of their inclinations and personality.
- Pawns need to be a certain distance before you can trade items in the inventory. Same with shopping; if a pawn is too far, they won't appear in the shop. The distance appears to be pretty generous.

Combat/Interactions
- Combat is frequent. You might be finish a fight and be 30-60 seconds away from the next one, on a consistent basis.
- You may be able to pick up an enemy without staggering them.
- You can aim before throwing. I even saw a line of travel to help with thrown placement.
- You can "clear" a path and make it safe for some amount of time. Sleeping from night until morning might not be enough time for enemy respawn.
- You can grapple and mount human sized enemies. You can even attack them with your weapon.
- You can stand on top of a knocked over big enemy and attack. - Stamina still drains when dashing while out of combat. But the stamina regen rate is also pretty high.

Visuals/Graphics/Framrate/Sound
- What can I say, the game looks great.
- Hair physics.
- Framerate seems good. I didn't notice a dip, but apparently there might be some dips during heavy/multiple magic use. I don't think the framrate issue is as bad as some have made it seem.
- Familiar combat music, but better.

Game Options
- No "Hide Helmet" option.
- Button Mapping is there.
- Option to prioritize who's inventory will be used when combining items.
- You even have the option to prioritize who's inventory the combined item will go to.
- Auto sheath option for weapons.
- Camera distance slider.
- Can personalize what pops up on the HUD (like gold, exp, loot, tutorials, etc)

Misc
- 2 looting animations: 1 slow one (like gathering at a bush) and 1 quick one (like picking and herb). Chests have their own animation as well. Some loot has no animation.
- No more lantern animation. It just turns on/off like a flashlight when you use it.
- I saw the Arisen react to rain by holding out their hand. - Males and Females might have their own visuals on equipped gear.
- When buying equipment, you'll be given the option to directly equip your purchase.
- You can still compare stats on gear, even if you can't equip the gear for your vocation (you'll be able to compare your sword to a mage staff, for example)
- You can swap skills at a campsite. - I spotted a barber shop icon.
- Autosave happens way more often now. You won't lose much progress if you die.
- Carry weight is now much lower. I daw 15kg being average, and 34 being overencumbered.
- You might get more carry weight after leveling up. I saw the player gain 2 levels, but their stat increase said their "Max Enc" gain was +0.0.
- Stats are now tied to the vocation. So your Fighter becomes a better Fighter as they level up. But if you switch to Mage, you'll have different stats. If you switch back to Fighter, you'll have your Fighter stats again. No more leveling as one vocation just so you can play as another.
- 2 Ring slots; left and right hand (unsure if the right shows on your character)

My thoughts? If you like DD1, you'll like DD2