Feedback from 50 hrs of 3.8 (March 2024)

[Scary1801]

I’m an XCom / Xeno 1 vet. I’ve read through the roadmap and intentional changes from X1 to X2. I got to the “end of content” on my latest run (day 260). I plan on adding more as it comes to me in replies. I condensed my ranting from earlier into this main post. Here are my thoughts & observations:

Things I love:

• Tutorial is pretty solid. It does a good job of getting through the basics and is value added all around. Air combat tutorial might be good when it’s all ready.
• The shift view to see remaining TU and hit probability is great. I use it a lot. I also like that the hit % seems to generally match what happens, including having 100% probability shots. The 98% prob hit misses don’t happen.
• The Cleaner story line is good. It’s nice to have something else to fight and is a source of regular ground combat, especially early.
• Built in mechanics to keep unfun alien hunts minimal (win a crash with 3 turns on the ship if there’s a straggler, show aliens in base raid when you control the command center). 
• Data Raids, VIP Raid missions
• I love the 1x1 vehicles (MARS). Crashing through things has been its biggest ability for me. Scouting is cool, but making permanent lines of sight or removing doors is amazing. I haven’t really used the other vehicles.
• I also love that all of your expendable are available to use rather than having to have a grenade on a belt slot if you want to use it. Having to “reload” grenades on your belt is not fun, so I like how you’ve done this.

 

Things I don’t love:

• There’s a weird tension between the incentives to finish the cleaners quickly (monthly fund increase), being able to successfully clear that base (soldier level / skills and equipment), and falling behind in the air campaign. I wasn’t sure how much I should “farm” the cleaners because it’s a decent revenue source, and early game there’s a lot of demands for cash to get your bases up and going. I progressed quickly on the timeline but was nowhere ready for the base by 100%. I was able to get a 2nd base early and make a new interceptor or two, but if I hadn’t I think I would have fallen way behind in the mid game. I like tension like this in the game (decisions on how to spend resources / split efforts), but where it is now feels like I will bork my run if I don’t get add’l bases up with Angels even if I don’t need it right now. As it currently is, it seems like you have to know you need to do something the game isn’t pushing you towards, and it pushes hard to ground combat. It seems like mid game the regional threat increases way more from aerial attacks (little white events) than anything ground based (landings, crashes, terror events) that are uncleared (except alien bases - that thing will drive it up steadily). You have to have a lot of air power to deal with that, but cleaners really focus you on the ground. Maybe those white events are skewing the threat more than they should?
• Cleaner Ambush is too easy. I regularly finished those maps on my first combat turn. A well placed heavy kills 2, shotguns and snipers are about guaranteed 1 each, riflemen get the trickier ones remaining. It was a free $200k but really fiddly. Its a great way for early XP and cash, so if that’s why it’s like that, then I love it!

Mission Impressions:

• Data Raids: Very cool missions. It’s a real balance between how many you send deep and how many pull security / are covering for extract. I don’t know if you get more cleaner progress for more data or not, or if its just a money thing.
• VIP raids: Same as data only I don’t remember if there’s a bond for extracting him alive vs dead. The lore is about kill or capture, but seems like capture is harder and should be more rewarding. Regardless, it’s fun with lots of choices.

• VIP extract: these felt like I was on the receiving end of an ambush and were pretty difficult to get through without heavy (not worth it) losses. I could see these with fewer prepositioned enemies but have cleaners reinforce behind you on T2 or 3, so it feels like a chase rather than an ambush.

Comments on User Interface / Buttonology:

• Multiple load out saves, but not unlimited. I found myself spending a lot of time in the armory with A team and B team loadouts. Tie load out to what armor is worn. B team riflemen in lvl 1 armor have different presets (accelerated weapons) vs lvl 2 armor (lasers). I spent a lot of time making sure everyone had the right basics and I think that’s the intent of those load out saves.

• On that theme, sometimes the ammo automatically changes when equipping a weapon vs not. Going from accelerated to laser or vice versa should update the ammo in your bag as you equip the gun. Related - QoL drag and drop or drop over swap. If I have a 1x1 mag and 1x1 grenade I my backpack, I should be able to place the ammo onto the grenade slot and it put the grenade on my cursor instead of the “red” cell with the “oops” buzzer. Quick swap like sized items.

• In mission gear changes - can you make it so when I drag my medkit onto my secondary it put what was in the secondary onto my cursor? It’s kind of clunky to drop my pistol, put medkit in slot, then pick up my pistol.

Comments / Questions (I don't need/want answers) on current content:

• Mission rewards vs damage: I don’t know if you get more alloys / crystals for damaging crashes less or destroying less of the alien base stuff inside. I don’t know if I like that idea or not. I’d be happier if I knew what things to avoid destroying or not if tied to rewards.
• Capturing the general vs killing him in the first mission: is there emphasis or reward for doing one vs another? I have done it both ways and I don’t think it changed anything. The dialogue is different for sure.
• In general I like games that have more information inside the game via help / xenopedia type things vs having to have a browser up on another screen. This game does a pretty good job of keeping information inside the UI. My main question I looked up (unsuccessfully) was what types of things escalate alien technology or attacks. I don’t know if there’s plans to have your ops officer kind of prod you a bit (“whew boss, seems like the bombers are picking it up, might want to focus on downing them”) rather than having it in the xenopedia entry (you should prioritize bombers).  If clearing the cleaner base escalates aliens, maybe an intercepted message saying aliens are increasing aerial attacks / abductions / retaliation strikes or whatever would be nice to know. Kind of a “hey you just crossed a line” message.

Unsolicited new content ideas:

• Base defense: Have a security kiosk in the lift area that when staffed reveals alien locations. It’s your base so you probably have cameras in it and would know where aliens are and have infiltrated. Have the kiosk require 200 TU to operate or something. It gives the broken / low equipment soldiers something to do other than guard the back doors while the able bodied defend. It also gives you more choices on how to do your defense. Kiosks make soldiers face the wall so they lose their FoV and don’t have TU to react. 
• Medevac: increase the odds of “surviving” when incapacitated by carrying the injured back to the drop ship. 50% increase to survivability that drops 10% per turn they’re not on the ship , and penalties to surviving after that. It makes for more decisions on how to carry on in your mission and would create opportunity for aliens to maneuver onto you for mass. I did this on a data steal mission in hopes it’d help me save a downed soldier instead of him being MIA. 
• Research: maybe make it so labs at other bases can research a different topic at a penalty to your overall efficiency? It would give some other incentive to make more labs at other locations and decide how you want to manage that. I was sending all corpses to one base with a small group of engineers to handle those engineer tasks while the main base pumped out gear, so it’d be along that line of thinking.

 

Edited April 30 by Scary1801
Condensed other replies into main post.

[Scary1801]

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Edited April 30 by Scary1801

[Scary1801]

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Edited April 30 by Scary1801

[Scary1801]

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Edited April 30 by Scary1801

[Scary1801]

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Edited April 30 by Scary1801