It's great to see how much content's been added to this game! I've been infrequently paying it since V7 and it still sends shivers down my spine.
In gameplay from the final version, I noticed that the descriptions for all the modes are available from the start. What if instead they were individually unlocked as you completed the modes? Going in blind and having to learn the AI through experience was a big part of the fear for me in V7.