yeah that seems much faster paced small attacks.
The meaty attacks feel heavier.
Yeah, it does ,especially with that kind amount of hit-stop (that I noticed in a few other clips as well). Makes you wonder if they just turned the dial to eleven for presentation purposes or whether that hammer attack always has this amount of hit-stop. In previous games, this was reserved for hitting an extreme weak spot with a high-end weapon (and it doesn't look as if the weapon in that .gif is one of the final tiers).
Edit: The dust cloud is awesome.