Post play impressions from PS4 and PC:
Generally I actually prefer playing with a controller. The more arcadey style of this game just makes a better fit with one, compared to Battlefield. If I pick this up on the PC I'll have to really play around with the key bindings to get something comfortable. Without having a selection of weapons to scroll through via the mouse, and instead using power ups, it becomes a lot more key intensive.
Third person seems to be the far superior perspective to play in. I kept trying with 1st person, and will switch to it on occasion, but the wider viewing angle, peeking around corners without exposing yourself fully, etc. Part of this might be fixed with an FOV slider for first person.
Space combat is so much better this time around. It took me a few goes to get to grips with it, but I feel much more in control of the aircraft, the responsiveness has vastly improved, I can manually roll my spacecraft, and aiming is easier for me.
Visuals? On both accounts they're okay. PS4 obviously suffers from having much weaker hardware, but even the PC has dissapointing amounts of pop-in, which I presume will be corrected for the final release. On the PC in particular, it would be nice to turn off some of the visual clutter (Naboo must be infested with pidgeons and doves, and they really need some road sweepers to sort the leaves out). Overall this bit is somewhat harder to judge, as I don't know how old this build is, and how much both versions will improve between this and the final build (and even how many more settings we will receive).
Gameplay: there's a definite push by DICE to make this a deeper game than the first: proper class systems which broadly do feel different and not overlapping, inclusion of power-ups and heroes via battle points rather than floating orbs, the gun play feels better, with the weapons seeming less 'samey' than previously. In fact it felt more intuitive as to how and when to use powerups too. I felt like in Galactic conquest I knew more of what I was actually meant to be doing. There's a better feel of being rewarded for participating as well as PTFO. The Naboo map has actually had a lot of close battles within the throne room too, and raely has it felt like a walk in the park for either side.
With the maps, vehicles, heroes, and modes we know that are coming, and free DLC for all, I've not got the same concerns as Battlefront (2015) (and I'm saying this as someone who bought the complete edition for £20, I still felt it was light on depth and content). Overall it currently feels like a big step up, and retains that feeling of my nostalgia for Star Wars, and I certainly keep firing the beta up to play more of it.
However, a lot of the improvements do feel half baked. I don't know whether this is because they want the game to reach a slightly more casual market, or a lack of consideration as to the impact of complexity to the longevity of the game. For instance I get dumped into a squad solely for the point of spawning, get told to stick with them for extra points. But there aren't any major incentives to even consider it when I'm playing:
Currently I can't, or haven't seen how to:
See who I'm squadded up with
Choose/create a squad
Have a squad leader
Spawn in on a squad member to limit walking time and keep up tempo on the enemy
Offer ammo (or in this case cool downs)
Offer healing/revives
Pilot/repair spacecraft together (the Clone ship on rails on Naboo, why can't three of us rip things up inside it?)
Get leadership rewards for directing my squad
Spot enemies for squadmates, only my team via binocs etc.
It's baffling that a more rigid squad system isn't in the game, given that DICE literally has the framework to take and adapt in Battlefield.
I kind of wish every trooper had sidearms to jump to when their gun overheats, but I suppose its about keeping an eye on that bar, and also it would mess with perks.
Whilst when I started on the Beta it felt like I was getting shot from all sides and dying constantly, those concerns have gone as I've learned the maps and the flow of gameplay. The TTK is arguably a little too short, and the visual clutter doesn't help picking out, but I think there's also two other reasons why this feeling exists. One is that the Naboo map is essentially a long wide corridor, so it can be quite easy to find yourself going from a quiet spot to the middle of the action in seconds without quite realising it. Secondly, compared to say Battlefield One, the sound design is different with the weapons. There I'm very careful about given my position away either via sound or muzzle flash, but in the beta, they're less apparent, and less likely to send a load of players hunting you down in the same fashion. Thus it can be harder to tell where you've been shot from initially, but also you as the player are more likely to take some sneaky but risky shots when flanking an enemy, as it's less likely to have dire consequences compared to Battlefield One.