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[Sentenza]

Why is it so goddamn, unforgivingly, rage inducing hard?

It's because you suck and need to git gud.

Well, I'm just HALF-joking, because while I could get to the point in a roundabout way, that's actually the gist of it.
The game is manageable even on its hardest setting. and I when I say "manageable" I don't mean "with some luck", but in a 100% reliable way, with a repeatable approach.

If anything especially if you can go past the first two/three missions without significant losses it tends to snowball in favor of the player.

Also, not sure whoever said to you that War of the Chosen is far harder than the vanilla game, but that person is full of shit. The game has no any noticeable increase in difficulty and IF ANYTHING gives you even more tools to snowball into overpowered as hell.
What it does is making the game a bit more complex, on the other hand, because it raises the number of things you have to keep track of. Making it less repetitive in the process.

Across this thread have been posted several entire playthroughs, individual missions, video tutorials and text guides to improve your tactical approach to fights.
If that's not enough, maybe you could go a bit into the specifics of WHAT you are finding so hard exactly.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

LOVE the game.

love building and upgrading your roster/team.
love moving my team throughout the level, from cover to cover, keeping them in formation.
love how the different weapon and armor types can affect so much how you strategize.
loved the calm before the storm in the aircraft (level loading screen).
graphics werent the best, but i felt the team did an excellent job with what they had.
ironman mode always.

HATE those timer missions though (every now and then theyre ok).

trying to keep my expectations in check for xcom 3.

 

[Sentenza]

Let's hope there will be an XCOM 3 to begin with.
Can't say I've been positively impressed by Midnight Suns, incidentally.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

For people who played mutant year zero, how much more complicated is xcom 2 compared to that one? both inside and outside of combat.

xcom combat is similar, but more varied, strategic, difficult, and nuanced.

outside of combat, xcom's base building and character development isn't complicated, but you have to carefully choose what to research/upgrade/build. choose the wrong stuff, or forget to make your base/team better, and you'll lose the game.

if youre worried about complexity, just try it on easy mode. you might not make it super far, but that's fine -- just start another game. if you can play mutant year zero, you can probably play xcom.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

Hey what about Chimera Squad guys? Is that any good?

compared to xcom/xcom2, it sucks hard.

but itll scratch your xcom itch, and it's better than nothing.

 

[Deerock71]

Added a footnote pointing that the game is on sale at a 92% discount right now. It seems kind of relevant for anyone potentially interested.

I just picked it up on GOG for cheaper. DRM free too, if that matters to anybody.

 

[Sentenza]

I just picked it up on GOG for cheaper. DRM free too, if that matters to anybody.

Not much, especially since the Steam version can be launched "DRM Free" too, and the lack of Steam Workshop makes modding a pain on other platforms than Steam.
And you don't want to make modding a pain in XCOM 2.

 

[JayK47]

It was free on Epic not too long ago. I am glad I did not pay for it. It is weird that I so very much enjoyed the first game and dislike this one. A friend suggested Phoenix Point as another similar game.

 

[amigastar]

I just realized this year that Turn Based games like XCOM 2 are my favourite genre. And i've been playing since 30+ years. LOVE XCOM.

 

[Deerock71]

I just realized this year that Turn Based games like XCOM 2 are my favourite genre. And i've been playing since 30+ years. LOVE XCOM.

I particularly like them on portables.

 

[amigastar]

I particularly like them on portables.

Could you tell me please what games and what portables you are speaking of?
I know there is a version of OpenXcom for smartphones.

 

[Sentenza]

It was free on Epic not too long ago. I am glad I did not pay for it. It is weird that I so very much enjoyed the first game and dislike this one. A friend suggested Phoenix Point as another similar game.

The first game and Phoenix point are BOTH markedly inferior to War of the Chosen.

 

[Deerock71]

Could you tell me please what games and what portables you are speaking of?
I know there is a version of OpenXcom for smartphones.

I have Xcom 2 on the Switch, but it's not open to mods that I'm aware of.

 

[Evolved1]

I don't care what anyone says... fuck stupid-ass arbitrary mission timers. The reason I drop this game every time I try and pick it up.

Also, it plays like ass on PS5.

 

[Sentenza]

I don't care what anyone says, the whine about "timers" will never stop being stupid.

Both because they are more than forgiving enough and actively make the game better (which people would know if they actually played instead of moaning like wimps) AND because they are basically completely optional in WOTC, where you can double them in the game options (which means mental retardation becomes the only justification to fail a mission due a timer).

 

[kether]

I love Enemy Unknown, despite never actually beating it. I've started numerous campaigns, but it seems like once every squad mate I care about dies, the interest is lost. It's fun naming characters after family members, favorite musicians, etc. but once they all die and I have to start creating "Joe Shmoe" type characters I'm out. Maybe I'm extra horrible at the game and lose more characters then the average player.

 

[jonnyp]

Meh, the Firaxis ones are crap compared to the original ones. Still play X-Com: Terror from the Deep, never gets old.

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

The reported glitchy/bugginess of midnight suns, a turn based card game, doesn't fill me with hope for a smooth xcom 3 technical performance

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

It's because you suck and need to git gud.

Well, I'm just HALF-joking, because while I could get to the point in a roundabout way, that's actually the gist of it.
The game is manageable even on its hardest setting. and I when I say "manageable" I don't mean "with some luck", but in a 100% reliable way, with a repeatable approach.

If anything especially if you can go past the first two/three missions without significant losses it tends to snowball in favor of the player.

Also, not sure whoever said to you that War of the Chosen is far harder than the vanilla game, but that person is full of shit. The game has no any noticeable increase in difficulty and IF ANYTHING gives you even more tools to snowball into overpowered as hell.
What it does is making the game a bit more complex, on the other hand, because it raises the number of things you have to keep track of. Making it less repetitive in the process.

Across this thread have been posted several entire playthroughs, individual missions, video tutorials and text guides to improve your tactical approach to fights.
If that's not enough, maybe you could go a bit into the specifics of WHAT you are finding so hard exactly.

I restarted and followed a research path I came across. Turned out I was just badly under developed on the technology front. No armor upgrades, no weapon upgrades. I would typically research whatever the objective was instead of taking time and building up my stats.

 

[Ar¢tos]

Meh, the Firaxis ones are crap compared to the original ones. Still play X-Com: Terror from the Deep, never gets old.

I agree. I like the new ones, but they are extremely dumbed down compared to the originals. The way it "rushes" the player to finish the game really annoyed me, in the originals I could play base management forever and do thousands of missions if I wanted to before doing the final mission.

 

[amigastar]

I agree. I like the new ones, but they are extremely dumbed down compared to the originals. The way it "rushes" the player to finish the game really annoyed me, in the originals I could play base management forever and do thousands of missions if I wanted to before doing the final mission.

60 hours in and I still don't know how to finish XCom Ufo Defense. I really should look it up.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Never played the old ones, but really liked the first entry in the reboots, which expansion I still have to play but heard good things.

X-COM 2 tho, I didn't really like. Those time limited mission were too much for me.

 

[Fools idol]

I am in the same boat as the OP

have put nearly 600 hours into this over the years. It's a timeless game and I will probably play it once a year for the rest of my days

 

[Sentenza]

Meh, the Firaxis ones are crap compared to the original ones. Still play X-Com: Terror from the Deep, never gets old.

I used to think that the Firaxis reboots weren't even close to the original (and to be fair XCOM 1 and its expansions definitely were not), but as I explained in the OP I've changed my mind after playing War of the Chosen few times.

Thing is: there are a lot of design decisions of the original that I *should* like more in principle because more "immersive" and "realistic", but after a bunch of playthrough I also had to come to terms with the fact that the moment-to-moment gameplay in War of the Chosen, especially during the tactical battles that are the real core of the experience, is WAY more entertaining and well-paced than anything the original, its half-assed sequels (TFTD, Apocalypse, etc) or the first Firaxis attempt ever were.

The king of the genre overall remains probably Jagged Alliance 2, but if we are talking about anything more recent than the year 2000 XCOM2 and expansion take the throne and it's not even a close fight with the rest of the "competition".

 

[mistuhcahlos]

I bought Xcom2 earlier this year on sale and it’s easily my game of the year. I was absolutely obsessed during the campaign. I’m hesitating going back for WotC but I know I’ll love every second. Played this on Switch

 

[ksdixon]

that "you constantly miss 99% shots", but the more you get familiar with the mechanics, the more you'll realize that's mostly untrue,

Should be a timestamped link

 

[TGO]

I remember playing the RTS in the late 90's on PC.
didn't actually play this one.

 

[Sentenza]

Should be a timestamped link

Not sure what's your point?
The guy took and missed two 45% shots. So?
The percentage was low to begin with because of low level soldier (literally a rookie) plus bad positioning, too.
He took the first shot from the other side of a full cover, the second rushing in front of the Sectoid rather than keeping a square of distance and flanking it with bonus crit.

 

[Sentenza]

I remember playing the RTS in the late 90's on PC.
didn't actually play this one.

"RTS"? Do you mean Apocalypse?
I know it had a fanbase but I always freaking hated that one.

 

[april6e]

My only gripe is that it's basically similar to a 30hr Roguelite. Most games in that genre are designed to be 1-2hrs long because playing a game where if you die, you have to restart the entire game and it was longer than 4hrs...that would be infuriating.

Xcom 2 isn't a roguelite but it has a similar premise to where units are lost forever if they die, the game is insanely difficult even on normal where one tiny mistake can wipe your entire unit and you can lose the entire game if you allow the aliens to take over too many locations. It's the same reason why I ragequit Invisible Inc.

But yeah, I do want to give the game another try if I can cut down my backlog. Despite all my frustrations, the first 8hrs I played a long time ago were very good and a giant improvement from the first game.

 

[Sentenza]

the game is insanely difficult even on normal

Pfff.

 

[april6e]

.

 

[Sentenza]

It's a tactical game. It works on a set of clear rules.

It's not about reflexes, hand-eye coordination, pay to win or any other bullshit.
If you are failing over and over on normal while other people are consistently dealing with Legendary difficulty without an issue, the only reasonable explanation is that there's something wrong in your strategy.

Also, sticking with your example: the "rocket indicator" doesn't lie or mislead you, it tells you exactly what you are hitting and what not. Maybe you just didn't grasp how to read it properly yet?

Learning how weapons work,, how to leverage crowd control and sure-hit abilities, how to position and move forward properly, which targets to prioritize and which to ignore unless you have spare power are ALL parts of the core "how to play".
More in general, the golden rule is how to mitigate the RNG as much as possible (which incidentally gets easier and easier as you progress in a campaign, to the point that from mid-game going forward if you are relying on a lucky roll you are already implictly making a mistake).