i've played this game since the very first day it became available (the good old days of spawning tons of chorts from cow using SK boat and back when pure queensguard was awesome to play) so here's my two cents for what it's worth.
basically now the game is all about points, meaning how to gain or lose points through very simple mechanics (variants of boosts and damages). old gwent was ultimately about points too (whoever has more points in the end wins), but there are more ways to get to that end. In HC, there may be more card combos, but they all mostly revolve around boosting or damaging other cards (or units?). In old gwent, that mechanic was there, but also other things that involve trickery and deception to gain card advantage, gaining points while preparing your graveyard for a massive swing play (or pretending like you're playing that kind of deck but ends up kambi-ing everyone).
in old gwent, i found i asked myself more often "do i pass now...? what if he has that card? maybe not... shiiit", whereas now, i find myself simply looking at the hands "ok i still have 6 cards, so i can play 2 more and pass, even if i lose he'll dry pass and we'll start r3 with 10 cards again". the excitement of deceiving and being deceived went away.
also the gameplay is much slower now. activating the leader wastes precious seconds watching the animation... sometimes accidentally activating it twice if it has multiple charges. it's sometimes unclear whether he just used his leader skill on which card, or did he just pass? overall the animation is clunkier. old gwent is much faster and overall layout was cleaner. i sometimes accidentally place cards in row where they do nothing because the ability only triggers on one particular row. as of yet, i don't see any tactical reasoning behind positioning the cards and feel more like it's a hassle.
basically now the game is all about points, meaning how to gain or lose points through very simple mechanics (variants of boosts and damages). old gwent was ultimately about points too (whoever has more points in the end wins), but there are more ways to get to that end. In HC, there may be more card combos, but they all mostly revolve around boosting or damaging other cards (or units?). In old gwent, that mechanic was there, but also other things that involve trickery and deception to gain card advantage, gaining points while preparing your graveyard for a massive swing play (or pretending like you're playing that kind of deck but ends up kambi-ing everyone).
in old gwent, i found i asked myself more often "do i pass now...? what if he has that card? maybe not... shiiit", whereas now, i find myself simply looking at the hands "ok i still have 6 cards, so i can play 2 more and pass, even if i lose he'll dry pass and we'll start r3 with 10 cards again". the excitement of deceiving and being deceived went away.
also the gameplay is much slower now. activating the leader wastes precious seconds watching the animation... sometimes accidentally activating it twice if it has multiple charges. it's sometimes unclear whether he just used his leader skill on which card, or did he just pass? overall the animation is clunkier. old gwent is much faster and overall layout was cleaner. i sometimes accidentally place cards in row where they do nothing because the ability only triggers on one particular row. as of yet, i don't see any tactical reasoning behind positioning the cards and feel more like it's a hassle.