So... This is the "improved encounter design"?

[CaedemSanguis]

I find the encounters to be very much improved.
I have yet to do M4S but the other three are awesome.
Easy to understand, some of the mechanics require to actually pay attention, and an amount of downtime I can live with.

I was growing tired of mechanics that superficially look complex because of 4834854 debuffs being slapped on everyone, but once you get used to them it's only 2-3 easily recognizable patterns.
Honey B. is my favorite encounter design-wise. And I'm not only saying that because she forces me to.

the tier is cool, but there is nothing really innovative in it's design, except for alarm pheromones (m2s)

[Xelanar]

the tier is cool, but there is nothing really innovative in it's design, except for alarm pheromones (m2s)

exactly, right? Mechanics are mostly recycled, but fights do feel better. At least to me they do, even after clearing them multiple times on different characters. Maybe it's the tiny memory games they added, or the way you need to pay attention to things other than your debuffs. It's honestly hard for me to pinpoint exact reasons. All I know is that I'm having more fun than I had in Eden or Pandaemonium while learning or once reclear routine kicks in.

[Raikai]

the tier is cool, but there is nothing really innovative in it's design, except for alarm pheromones (m2s)

Ironically, so far from what I experienced of half of the tier, Alarm Pheromones is the most exciting mechanic they added exactly because it allows some sort of free form. I know people go for this "Mario Kart" strat for that part (th is that name...), but as a ranged unit I feel much more safe by doing the mech on my own instead of following the group.