XCOM 2 - Impressions @ RPG Site

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HiddenX

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Alex Donaldson (RPG Site) likes XCOM 2 and considers it as Strategy RPG:
Rebel Yell: XCOM 2 Impressions

It only took a few minutes from XCOM 2's announcment before somebody uttered the fateful words in the RPG Site staff channels: "Should we cover it?" For me, the answer was immediately yes - I always felt our decision to skip coverage of the original XCOM reboot was a mistake - and now we can right that.

But why? Well - when you actually look at it, XCOM's turn-based, grid-driven gameplay featuring permanent death, statistics, hidden dice rolls and skill trees at the forefront isn't that dissimilar to the greats of the Strategy RPG genre - and so here we are.

What a time to start coverage, too - XCOM 2 looks more than a little brilliant.
(…)

Most of the improvements in XCOM 2 appear to be evolution rather than revolution - the game looks and moves slicker, while small touches - such as what appears to be a lot more mission-relevant dynamic dialogue from squad members each recorded with the appropriate geographical accent for that character - make the game feel that much deeper.

As alarms blare, I catch a glimpse of a few new elements for this release. Panicked, the human guards unleash a dangerous new snake-like alien beast to help combat the team - and later, I see that same enemy taken down with the sword, a new and appropriately improvised weapon for the more budget-constrained XCOM soldiers.
(…)

We also didn't get to see any of the mission preparation, some of where XCOM's larger RPG elements come in to play - but even with those facts noted, it was hard not to be impressed by XCOM's E3 demo. Where the previous game and its expansion played it relatively safe by recreating beloved elements from the classic, XCOM 2 seems to take the best of the series and twist it in an interesting new direction that leaves me excited to see more of what's new and different.

Seemingly slicker, smarter and cooler, XCOM 2 seems to be pressing all the right buttons. We'll be able to find out if it does so as well as its predecessor when it lands on PC - and PC only - come November. XCOM 2 is coming for PC this November.
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Seemingly slicker, smarter and cooler, XCOM 2 seems to be pressing all the right buttons.
Click to expand...
I hope those right buttons are keys and not A, B, X.
 
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I'm still not quite sure what to think of this yet. My initial impression was that I was underwhelmed, and I haven't seen anything yet to change my mind.

It's just not grabbing me.
 
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The XCOM reboot from a couple of years ago was enjoyable but near the end I hit a wall, hard, in which it felt like work to continue. I've hit RPG walls many times before but this was about the most sudden. I don't think it was anything particular about what was going on in the game, maybe I ate some bad lemon curry or something. To my surprise, though, I did finish it as I was just a couple of missions from the end at that point.

I don't know whether or not to look forward to XCOM 2.

I had a similar experience with Witcher 2, though the wall (probably around 2/3 of the way through the game) had been building and I was only somewhat enjoying the game anyway. Because of that I wasn't going to pay attention to Witcher 3 but I am glad the reviews swayed me as I see no wall in sight there after about 60 hours.
 
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Watched the gameplay demo. GOTY materials for me. I just hope that the promised mod support will turn out great and have a ton of user made content.
 
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mbpopolano24 said:
Watched the gameplay demo. GOTY materials for me. I just hope that the promised mod support will turn out great and have a ton of user made content.
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I think the game will be better than Xcom EW, but still be nowhere close to Long War.

It will again depend upon moders to make it truly good.
 
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Firaxis can make it good for the wide player base, modders can make it good for us maniacs. ;)
 
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Archangel said:
I think the game will be better than Xcom EW, but still be nowhere close to Long War.

It will again depend upon moders to make it truly good.
Click to expand...

I respect Long War deeply, but I will never play it. I just don't have the patience or the time and the backlog already lasts two of my lifetimes at this point, unless I purposely crank through and ignore a lot of DLC and extra material in my games.

Regarding controls. Aw guys, come-on. I get the keyboard centric thing. But X-Com EW worked brilliantly from both ends. Even PC only I'd really like to play a good, deep cinematic strategy game from my couch with a controller. It worked well before and I'd miss it if I had to pick up KB&M. My living room setup works fine as I've got a Logitech mouse intended for the couch, but man it'd be nice to hold a controller.
 
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