I miss branching class evolutions. Warrior being able to level into, like, Knight or Berserker, then knight being able to turn into a paladin or samurai. not a direct example, but those games that ended up with like dozens of classes because of thos systems.

OH MY GOD YES, that music unlocked something in me! having to gather 15(?) items to get out of the novice class with an unpredictable drop rate. Will it take me 10 minutes or 3 days? who knows! but I know I'll be doing it multiple times because I can't stop myself from making new characters!

significantly faster, and allows for more room for more units easily. Simplified movement and heat management. Not as crunchy, but easier to convince your friends to play