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My friends have started a new campaign using the Pathfinder setting, starting out at level 1. The DM has set the game in the area of the River Kingdoms, but we started with a mini "pre-game" adventure just to get our feet wet with our new characters.
I chose a half-orc ranger and rolled well (19,16,15,12,17,11 after racial mods). Here's my thoughts so far. I'll try to keep it class-specific, but the odd note on other rules is bound to sneak in.
Character generation:
LIKED -The stat bump to str and wis made the half-orc an ideal ranger, and the int penalty didn't hinder the number of skill choices since I rolled really well. Even if I dump-statted Int, the 6 skill ranks would have cushioned that blow. The racial weapon familiarity (orc double axe) was nice too and saved me a feat.
DIDN'T LIKE -Allocating skill ranks was fast, but I did miss the old system where I could have a smattering (1 or 2 skill ranks) in a larger field of skills.
LIKED -The boost in HP was welcome. The party has a lot more HP than the usual 3.5 group, thanks to the upgrade to Toughess and favoured class rule. The dwarf cleric had the highest count at 17, but 12 HP for a level 1 ranger was still respectable.
Class Abilities:
LIKED -Increase to HD, rest of the level one abilities appear the same.
DIDN'T LIKE -Changes to Track. This bonus feat used to be a defining role for the class, but now everyone can do it with a survival check. The bonus is okay, but does nothing at level 1.
Play Begins
We ran a short mini adventure to get used to the new characters and gains some XP for the first session. We rescued some kids from an ankheg. It basically involved a few skill checks and a short combat, plus dealing with the aftermath of the encounter.
Skill checks:
LIKED -The party had to make a survival check to find and follow the tracks of the missing children (easy DC 15). The ranger did his job there very well.
DIDN'T LIKE -Once we found the ankheg tracks (burrowing marks, footprints, acid slopped on ground), he was unable to identify what kind of creature it was (knowledge arcana is not a class skill and the few skill ranks prevented taking a smattering in knowledge skills). Thankfully the wizard made his roll to ID the beastie.
PROPOSED RULES CHANGE: If Track is becoming a skill check rather than a feat, why not give the ranger a class ability to identify creatures by their tracks? Perhaps not going as far as the exact creature (eg. kobold), but what about size, type and subtype (small humanoid, reptillian)?
Combat:
We fought an ankheg; a hard encounter for 4 level 1 characters. The cleric almost died (thankfully had 17 hp or he would have died from the first bite). The illusionist stunned/blinded the beast with a colour spray in round 2, so it became pretty one sided after that. That saved our butts, so a shout out to Archade for good spell choice!
The fight was fast and the beast died when I rolled a natural 20 and confirmed the critical with my axe (did 35 points of damage when it had 2 left). We saved the day, and the kids!
The aftermath involved making a skill check to heal an injured child (bleeding out from an ankheg bite). The ability to non-magically heal injuries was a welcome addition. The cleric also used Channel Positive Energy to heal himself, the injuried child, and any fuzzy woodland creatures in range with owies. The ranger just cleaned goo off his axe.
So, there you have it! Characte generation, 3 skill challenges and a combat. Hope this feedback helps!