This isn’t san d’oria because you’re definitely right at the exit there and it’s in the woods. This probably isn’t bastok because I’m fairly sure again that the exit is right behind you, although it does exit to a pretty bowl-shaped area. It might be windy since the exit is slightly further up the ramp, but it exits to plains/savannah.

I haven’t noticed any issues with the controls personally -just wasd for movement and arrow keys for camera like in 14. Having to start autoing to be considered in combat by the trusts is perhaps less obvious than it could be if you start on a mage.

The main story is started from talking to the gate guard, which is I think is mentioned in the orientation dialogue. Trading to npcs is a bit strange if you’re used to 14’s way of doing it but otherwise seems pretty natural.

If nothing else, I think playing 11 for a bit helps contextualise some of the design decisions 14 took. By the same stroke you can also discover /pcmd mostly works in 14. Obviously it would be second hand, but I believe mr happy 1227 has an (ongoing?) let’s play which might be good background noise if you want to see a bit of vanadiel without being swamped by unfamiliar systems.