The load times don't seem to bother me so much, they're certainly not 40 seconds long, maybe 20 seconds at max, but maybe I'm just more patient than most. And where are all these countless enemies stitched together from various malformed body parts Yahtzee is talking about? I'm right at the end of the game and I can recall maybe four or five enemies out of what must be 30 or 40 (including bosses) that had that sort of design. It's hardly being overused.
What I will agree with is the blood vial farming criticism - going through old areas just to farm resources is not my idea of an enjoyable time and not what makes this game so great and why I play it, so why have it in there at all? Farming for souls to get a few extra levels isn't too bad, as that's progressing my character (though even that sort of grinding I do only a little of when absolutely needed) but farming resources when you had a perfectly workable health mechanic in the Estus flask from Dark Souls? It was the wrong call for definite. Same for the lack of fast-travel between lanterns, it just doesn't make any sense.
Still, its an amazing game, these mistakes only stand out more because of it, which is a good thing. It shows how high-quality every other element of the game is.