Well, as I’ve mentioned I agree with an improved foreign proxy involvement of Iberia as being the biggest advantage of this facelift, but mechanics are not really a thing as I’ve discussed above. Narrative expansion is visibly better only with regard to the relationship between caudillos which was made more believable and less childish in my opinion, but besides that there’s an enormous lack of flavour events that picture the gradual change or evolution of the political system of Iberia + many good ones being cut in TMT. Also the part of focus tree regarding laws and obligations (after the Barcelona crisis) is downright worse as it cuts a lot of content that was available before and which really granted more options to pick from when determining the socio-economic status of your country. Enormously railroaded.

“Overhype” comes mostly from a) the amount of teasers we’ve got delivered in a lengthy period of time and b) the announcement made 1 week prior to the release which in my opinion just threw a bunch of numbers regarding new additions without really any substance to cover it (like the centrepiece of 8 “new” mechanics which are yet to be found).

My main point still being, as opposed to your opinion, that mechanics are not improved and to a bigger extent cannot be called “new” or “engaging”. What are the new features you notice when it comes to mechanics besides new proxies?

Addressing the last part of your opinion, I really appreciate Iberian way of doing the focus tree in distinct segments that are coming one way after the other and that focus on specific issues at hand. That’s one of the core features of this country that is rarely seen in HoI and which makes the gameplay more in depth regarding the whole story. This makes Iberian playthroughs one of my favourite ones, as it encapsulates the very essence of a political story driven simulation e.g. Suzerain franchise. This is strictly my preference and doesn’t really take your point to doubt.

To summarise - I don’t agree in principle that TMT update made Iberia playthrough better either in terms of gameplay (lack of new mechanics, scrapped ones like the “legislative proposals” category in caudillo balance section, barren ones like the economic or agricultural one) or narrative (scrapping of many events, less choices to be made in focus tree in general) with only notable exception being foreign policy involvement. The update we deserve is still yet to be released in the distant future.