izigame.me

Excellent work on this DLC. The Power Bloc feature is definitely the star of the show, basically a huge revamp of the old customs union feature to allow for many more different styles of play besides just forming a trade league. I tried out a Religious Convocation as the Empire of Mexico and greatly enjoyed slowly bringing all of Latin America and eventually even Iberia under my leadership as I learned how to use the new mechanics advantageously.
The Cohesion mechanic provides interesting incentives, but these could be communicated better. It often felt like I had to guess what certain factors affecting it meant, and that it fluctuated somewhat unpredictably. Luckily having only modest Cohesion for most of the game only slowed the growth of the Power Bloc rather than actively obstructing it. The "weak power bloc" modifier definitely needs to be explicated so we know what threshold we're trying to reach to overcome it.
I had an easier time getting the hang of Leverage despite it being the far more complex mechanic, thanks to strong visual aids and effective explanations in the tooltips. Once I learned how to use Diplomatic Pacts and Economic Dependence to get it above the necessary threshold, I was able to out-compete even the British for Leverage over relevant nations with the help of the Sacred Civics mandate. Once a nation has been convinced to join your Bloc, your Leverage over them generally becomes much less of a concern, making it feel like they've committed to being in your sphere.
The new changes to Foreign Investment complement the Power Blocs feature quite nicely. It's even specific as to whether investment permissions are bilateral or one-sided, allowing you to encourage a powerful benefactor to invest in your development, or help a member of your customs union carve out a specialized role. You will probably want to filter out foreign buildings that are not part of your market though, in most cases. My only qualm is that I wish we could indicate to the nation's we've developed in what production methods to use, perhaps by disallowing ones that are unsuitable (for example if you build an infrastructure building in another nation, but it won't hire because of issues caused by a lack of market access).
The lobbying system is essentially a way for your interest groups to encourage amity or strife with certain nations in diplomacy. You can influence foreign lobbies to try to encourage the development of a favorable lobby, or diminish a hostile one. Supposedly this can benefit your Leverage, though I haven't seen actually take place yet myself, so that particular aspect may or may not be working as designed. Perhaps another thing that could be better communicated to the player, if it is working in some unseen way.
The subject interactions are a straightforward improvement that provide a practical incentive to bring down the target's autonomy. Note that you can change a subject's laws as well once they are a puppet nation, but this is done from viewing their laws screen rather than through the diplomatic action menu. They will refuse the imposition of a law they have no hope of actually passing though, which is a nice touch to communicate that the player's demand was essentially impossible and create more verisimilitude. Wish we could see what traits a possible governor has when assigning a governor, as it feels too much like a random dice-roll otherwise.
Overall this DLC has contributed a lot of replay value to the game and opened up many new playstyles. If you missed the depth of subject interaction or significance of religion from EU4's expansions, you'll find these in ample supply here. Everything has been well-integrated with Victoria's focus on economy, production, and trade, and enhances these gameplay loops effectively. Some minor improvements regarding what information is communicated to the player and what remains "hidden" is my only concern, but still it's clear a lot of effort went into this aspect and it has consistently been a strength for Victoria III and its additional content since launch.