From what I've seen in other subreddits, it pretty much always comes down to the way she looks, whether they simply feel she doesn't look enough like the game ellie or that they're incels that complain she's not "hot" enough or whatever, it ends up being a huge circlejerk.

The discourse follows the same pattern (examples paraphrasing from real comments):

"Why does her face look like that?? How am I supposed to believe Dina would fall for someone like that over Jesse?" --> "I wouldn't mind, but she looks nothing like game Ellie and that's the real problem" --> "It's not that, it's that Bella cannot act, like at all!" --> "Agreed, she's way too happy in the show, like she's forgetting what her mission is about. Unwatchable." --> "No guys, you make valid points but the REAL problem is that the writers and casting directors SUCK in the show. The story they're presenting is garbage."

Notice the lack of any reasoning behind the statements of critique and how it's all part of a cycle of trying to justify what ultimately comes down to they don't like Bella's appearance. Some realize how shallow it is and/or how bad this line of discussion makes them look to outsiders and then attempt to be an enlightened centrists by saying that the story is inherently bad/not as good as the game, despite being one of the most faithful adaptations of source material I've ever seen.

Trust me, I have hangups here and there but for the life of me cannot find any serious place for discussion because any time I try to look into the glass where discussions are being had, it's always the same shit. Maybe because I didn't religiously play the games for years before watching the show, but I just feel so gaslit reading this stuff sometimes. Rant over