![]() Projectile physics is something you can’t do without the processing aid of a computer. People instinctively look for the odds of a roll of a die, when the physics of a projectile will always be more fun than a die roll, the latter being ersatz for the former. I find it hilarious when people say, “yes, those circles are nice and all, but what are the chances my shot will hit where I am aiming at?”. Just consider the perk & classes system, and how fast the combat is (most encounters are over in less than 4 turns, in my experience): if anything, in that sense it’s like Firaxis XCom on steroids, because there is no cool down for the special abilities and the maps are smaller, and you are encouraged to drain WPs to get kills to get more WPs in a vicious spiral of carnage.īut then PP does this thing where the trajectory of each projectile is individually calculated and all you can say about where it will hit is “100% inside the big circle, with 50% chance of hitting the inside of the smaller circle”. So coming to Phoenix Point now, PP is not a return to the purity of the original XCom it’s not an attempt at a simulation. ![]() And, IMO, they are great games and have been very important in bringing TBT to the uncouth and ignorant masses. ![]() Basically Firaxis Xcoms can be played without the processing aid of a computer - it’s just way nicer to have it. It’s not only about the dierolls, though it’s perhaps the biggest one. Or, in the same genre, with JA1&2 and its hopelessly miserable iterations.įiraxis took a different approach - they went full board game (or miniatures, if you prefer). It reminds me of what happened with the original Operation Flashpoint and the ARMAs. All attempts to replicate it failed because this balance (the “magic”) got lost in the process. And sometimes it wasn’t, but the good parts far outweighed the bad. The original Xcom was a simulation, that was, at times, extremely effective. The genre of turn based tactics has, in broad terms, moved between attempts at simulation and attempts at recreating a board or miniature game. And I’ve played JA1 & 2 to death, and a lot of other stuff too.įrom reading the criticisms on this board (and “professional” reviewers) it seems like many people are disappointed because they expected some sort of Gollop Xcom, only better. I’m also a fan of Gollop’s less known but brilliant Laser Squad Nemesis, which had a unique (until Frozen Synapse at least) simultaneously resolved turns system. I have put in 1000s of hours into the original Xcom-TFTD when it came out (yeah, I am old), and later Xcom Apocalypse, and 100s into the Firaxis Xcoms. And while bug squashing, balancing and polishing is all good and necessary, it’s uncalled for to assume that every way in which PP does not conform to one’s idea of what an updated Gollop Xcom should be must be a bug, or a missing feature. The game does need some polishing and bug squashing, but IMO it’s a remarkable achievement. As most of the feedback seems to be critical, I just wanted to go ahead and say it.
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