I agree with pretty much everything you've said, but wish to add that one thing I really didn't care for about the newer X-Com games was that the reverse diffic

I agree with pretty much everything you've said, but wish to add that one thing I really didn't care for about the newer X-Com games was that the reverse difficulty carve is significantly more pronounced than it was in the original. Ironman helps a little, but it still feels like the real game is all in the beginning and you're just going through the motions after that.