Just finished trying out the new mechanics. I think that especially the map change is a big improvement (also, the hints about which region has mines, abbeys, villages left to discover). Also, I liked how the chaos excursion system has been included. It's must easier to get these events right now, but still it invites player to explore the map more.
However, I have several problems/bugs to report:
- the weekly report screen now works much slower;
- some of the village events which give the possibility of conquest don't end with anything (no bonus to gold after conquest and no triggering of the "occupy... 1/2/3" etc. events) - I had this particularly with the events 'swamp coven' and 'friendly dinner';
- the 'grey screen' (blank screen which looks like a chessboard) now happens much more often in various points of the game (between CGs, when switching between castle and exploration, etc.).
Additionally, I think there is somewhat of an unbalance when it comes to Alexia/Rowan relationship points. I let those points drop significantly by being a dick to Alexia in the potion stealing event chain, so after reaching mid corruption the Andras NTR path started. But this path didn't block in any way the fertility treatment events. Playing these events made my relationship points with Alexia increase big time. This made the whole playthrough weird, because Alexia was consistently cheating on Rowan with Andras and falling completely in his hands, while at the same time being all lovey dovey with her husband during the fertility treatment. If fertility events were reserved for loyal Alexia paths (both corrupted and not corrupted), it would be much more realistic, I think.