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I have to say that Phoenix Point has come a very long way since when it was first released. I have been gently poking the since its beta release and found it promising. At first it was confusing and nearly unplayable. After it's release it was still deeply flawed, so I decided to wait. Having a quick look after the bigger patches. The last one Polaris, which coincides with the Year One Edition (It's the same game just with the 3 DLC packs added on top) made some really positive changes and this time my "I will have a little poke and see where this is going" session turned into me playing the game for weeks now. It is still not perfect. I wish the diplomacy part which is among the most interesting new aspects to this type of game was better. The evolution of the Pandorans feels a bit weird (but boy does it keep the pressure up). And while this is not inherently bad, it is not as easy as in the older games to see and understand how and where the new weapons are better than the old ones. On the plus side the starting weapons either never become totally useless or it takes them a long while to reach that point. In my last play through I haven't encountered any game breaking bugs or glitches. There is one one skill that doesn't seem to work. And once the hit-box of a streetlamp ruined a shot of mine but that is all I encountered. And I've been playing this game almost daily for the past two weeks. What really sets it apart from the new XCOMs is for one the ballistics and aiming model which is fantastic. Especially because point black shots that could not possibly miss never do so. Also when going for a long shot or you are getting desperate you actually see exactly what you are trying to do and if it's really worth the shot, as you have a circle that shows you in which area all of your shots will land. I love the flexibility of the action points. This took me some time to get used to because it looks mostly like the new XCOM. You have 4 points, most weapons cost 2 points to shoot so at the start of the game it feels a lot like the new XCOMs. However, you can spend a fraction of an action point. So, if for example you could move 4 squares with 1 AP, you can take one step and it would only cost you 1/4 of an AP. This is great to get a clean line of fire, shoot and then run back into cover. Light weapons often only just cost 1 AP and there are several scenarios where that is going to save your life and there are skills that make the system even more flexible as time passes. I love the factions, they have way more character and are more likable than I had thought at first. The one I thought I would like best are more flawed than I thought, the one I thought would be the worst of them all was surprisingly likable and turned out to become my first ally. The haven leaders are a very diverse bunch all with their own personalities who actually feel like people, who belong to a faction and not as usual like a good representative of the faction who happens to be a person. The Geoscape is full of choices and places to explore and things to take care of. There is pretty much always something interesting and/or catastrophic happening.At least for me as a newcomer to the game on standard difficulty the tension almost never let's up. I usually tend to go for just one team that I carefully train and turn into an elite force with the best possible equipment. By now I have three teams which I had to put together out of sheer necessity. The B-team is by now a serious force in its own right that has just taken a few new recruits to bolster their ranks. The C-teaam is very slowly working its way out of being cannon-fodder mostly used to extinguish the fires that everyone else is to busy to take care of. And Rocketman my tank that has been with me from since almost the beginning of the game is out of commission for a long time as it got almost destroyed during an 'easy' mission. there are many choose-your-own-adventure like little quests and events in the different locations and havens which do add a lot to the atmosphere of the game, establish the world, set the mood and help with the pace of the game so that it isn't just one skirmish after the other. Also the writing in this game is pretty good. As mentioned above the people here feel like humans, there are many neat little touches and it helps the world come alive. I could really go on like this for ages but this has been too much text already. TL;DR The latest version is pretty stable, the systems work fine and it is a very good and promising addition to the X-COMlike games. |
#12821522, By sunjumper Phoenix Point
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sunjumper 3,548 posts
Seen 2 weeks ago
Registered 20 years ago
