Are the barbs a bit too much? Maybe, would've liked for them to be smaller, almost microscopic, but not a too big of a difference and makes sense. I never understood how the huggers nails were tearing off Kane's scalp when the nails were short and not really curved at all. This makes the tight grip much more plausible. Doesn't have to be completely hooked into the head to make a bloody mess.
But I do see Fede going that route for a gruesome scene. If the changes and new features are minor like these, I won't have too much of a problem with it.
I do like the old way where the host wasn't marked and with the amnesia could wonder around for some time, be rescued and picked up and unknowingly spread the Alien. But that hasn't been upheld for some time now, long before Covenant and AvP even.
