I love the new battle design
I apologise if this is a redundant post and this is the predominant opinion here, or that this should be in another thread on the topic (I see multiple so I'm not sure which I would even choose) but I've been relatively silent in my disappointment of the game in recent years and having seen negative responses to the difficulty elsewhere, I felt the need to add my voice in support of the direction I've been waiting for.
Dungeons, Trials and Raids are challenging again, and that's how it should be! It feels so good to have to pay attention to things again, to be pushed to actually execute in a way that matches with the tone and tension of the story. The Warrior of Light is revered for what they overcome, not because the battles are nothing to them. I love that not everything is spelled out for us in just orange circles but we have to pay attention to our enemy and environment. I love that I have to pay attention to what my allies are doing and not being able to zone them out like it's a single-player game. I love the imagination on display, I love having to think about more than one thing at once and I love being meaningfully punished for my mistakes!
I don't claim to be particularly skilled at the game, but it's precisely because of that that this level is enjoyable. Extreme trials have been fun and I've done my fair share of Savage fights but while I enjoy the process of getting better at them, they can take a lot of time which I might not have and can wear me down when progress stalls due to desyncs in the group. As such, it's nice to be challenged on a lower scale. "Casual" content should be casual, not free, and we're finally back at that level. I feel like I'm playing a video game again and not watching a cutscene compilation.
Please keep it up!