I played Hillfolk a few times and thought it was really great. I'm often surprised that it didn't make more impact than it did.
The procedural rules aren't great, but you could easily drop them or replace them with any simple generic system without it being a problem. (Ideally, the system you'd replace it with would feed back into the dramatic system, by putting pressure on people's relationships and desires.)
The most common complaint I've seen is that people don't like the "spend two drama tokens to force a concession from the other player". The complaints often come down to "my character wouldn't do that" or "I'm just playing my character, why should I give in when my character wouldn't?" and the complaints are just as invalid here as any other time that excuse is used anywhere else. The entire point of the game is to get characters who give in some of the time, who act in different ways depending on the dramatic situation. That's why you have dramatic poles: if one desire is pushing you to refuse but the dramatic tokens say you give in, try seeing the situation from the other dramatic pole. Or use your relationships to build an excuse, e.g. "I'll do this for you this one time, but only because you're my brother. And next time don't come asking me for help" sort of thing. The drama token economy is an important part of structuring play. Anyone who has 2 tokens has repeatedly been on the "losing" side of a scene already, so it creates a more satisfying story to give them this win. So find ways to make it make sense for your character. I'm sure that, with some creativity and effort, you can find a way to make it satisfying for everyone.
