KickStarter Phoenix Point - the new game from X-COM creator Julian Gollop

[ArchAngel]

Did this piece of shit ever add those behemoths that you would land on to drill neurotoxin into? I remember that from the fig campaign but with how much of a train wreck Gollop has produced I stopped following the updates of this shit after January.

Not yet. And I don't know when they will add it. Probably after Steam release.

 

[ArchAngel]

Game is pretty good atm and it will only improve.

They fixed most of the bugs. If you like it to be very challenging it is pretty good on Legendary now. Enemies slowly evolve and you get nice screens that show you that. How fast they evolve depends on your actions.
Enemies play like a mix of UFO and X-com ones. By that I mean there are some that just blindside you like in UFO and feel "unfair", especially to newbies but there are also standard enemies that have standard abilities that you just deal with tactically and mostly have control over.
And in DLC2 they added their version of Chrysalids, I will not go into details so I don't spoil it.

Tactical combat is very satisfying now. Game has no irritations from Firaxis Xcoms: no pods, no limited actions, no limited inventory, you can swap items between characters during combat, no % based combat that ignores friendly fire, most cover and other things, characters have multiple stats that are used during combat.
They nerfed most of unrealistic abilities now, your characters are no longer going Zoom Zoom through maps. What is left is partly influenced by Firaxis Xcom and people that just want UFO with new graphics will not get that but otherwise it is pretty cool. Maps are very destructible, you can blow up walls and shoot enemies through the hole.
There are a LOT of status effects and all of them are useful now, both for us and enemies: Dazed/Shock, Disoriented, Fire, Acid, Paralysis, Virus, Bleeding, War Cried, Panicked, Poison (I probably forgot some more). Then you got options like just focus on most damage or blowing up their limbs.
Often you find yourself in situations where each of your next moves matter of you might lose some soldiers but now you got more options then in Firaxis Xcom and it is not all based on managing %.

There is a lot of missions to do, this feels more like playing Long War than basic Xcom. One run can be 50h easily. Now there are all kind of missions, you got scavenge where you need to pick up stuff and get out as reinforcements come in. You got ambush missions where you start surrounded and need to survive 3 turns. You got different kind of story missions based on quests. There are main story quests, main faction quests, DLC quests and secondary quests. There are Haven Defense missions that are kind of like Terror missions but there are also some friendly NPCs fighting alongside you. And there are enemy base missions, those come in 3 kinds: Nest, Lair and Citadel. Nests are unchanged since start, those are caves where you need to kill two control towers to finish it. Lairs got a big overhaul few patches ago, you need to find a Spawnery and get out with all soldiers as enemy reinforcements come in. Citadels also got overhauled, you need to kill enemy Scylla unit but it is a maze with high walls and you need to fight through incoming Pandorans until you get into contact with it and then get out after you kill it.

Geoscape is also pretty cool, there is always a lot of things to do. Some of those are connected and some are not. Compared to previous versions you are now not swimming in resources and you need to plan how you play which makes it all very interesting, especially since now you cannot scan from your airships but only from scanners that is a base building (like of UFO). You don't search for enemy craft but Points of Interests or enemy bases.

Soldier customization is also pretty cool. You got 3 body slots and each of those got their own mount slot. Base game lets you mutate your soldiers in different ways (it replaces one of the 3 body slots with a mutation) and DLC1 brought bionics that works similar to mutations but you put in mechanical parts that give different bonuses and has different weakness. Then DLC2 brought in special weapons that are not easy to craft but are pretty powerful and fun to use. And then choosing soldier skills is cool, you can freely multiclass and make any combinations you think can work and you get a 3rd row of random perks that you can also try to make a character around. There are weapon proficiencies but anyone can use any weapons (but they get accuracy penalty). And anyone can use any armor. Only few armors have additional abilities that you need proficiency to use well.

There are still some problems that devs plan to improve in future. Things like more UI improvements are coming, better AI for enemies, some missions might get more rework or improvements. Vehicles will get more improvements. Research and diplomacy will probably get some improvements. They are also testing systems to improve animations speeds and how to make modding the game easier. And whole DLC3 with enemy air units and crafts and some kind of air combat that should also come before Steam release.

Current state of the game is of a 8/10 game and once they are finished with all these improvements it will easily become 9/10 game.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Tactical combat is very satisfying now. Game has no irritations from Firaxis Xcoms: no pods, no limited actions, no limited inventory, you can swap items between characters during combat, no % based combat that ignores friendly fire, most cover and other things, characters have multiple stats that are used during combat.

Do levels still have spawn points at edges where enemies get reinforcements?

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Game is pretty good atm and it will only improve.

It's basically an improved NuXcom. I'll admit it does a lot of things better than NuXcom, but it's still just NuXcom.
If you liked nuxcom then great, you'll probably like this. Otherwise, skip it.

 

[Obsequious Approbation]

Is this GUD, yet? Should I BUY?

Only buy at a steep discount, and only if it comes with all the additional content packs. Besides, I think there're two more DLC's on the way, so you're better off waiting until they add the content that should have been there at launch.

 

[Shog-goth]

Game is pretty good atm and it will only improve.

They fixed most of the bugs. If you like it to be very challenging it is pretty good on Legendary now. Enemies slowly evolve and you get nice screens that show you that. How fast they evolve depends on your actions.
Enemies play like a mix of UFO and X-com ones. By that I mean there are some that just blindside you like in UFO and feel "unfair", especially to newbies but there are also standard enemies that have standard abilities that you just deal with tactically and mostly have control over.
And in DLC2 they added their version of Chrysalids, I will not go into details so I don't spoil it.

Tactical combat is very satisfying now. Game has no irritations from Firaxis Xcoms: no pods, no limited actions, no limited inventory, you can swap items between characters during combat, no % based combat that ignores friendly fire, most cover and other things, characters have multiple stats that are used during combat.
They nerfed most of unrealistic abilities now, your characters are no longer going Zoom Zoom through maps. What is left is partly influenced by Firaxis Xcom and people that just want UFO with new graphics will not get that but otherwise it is pretty cool. Maps are very destructible, you can blow up walls and shoot enemies through the hole.
There are a LOT of status effects and all of them are useful now, both for us and enemies: Dazed/Shock, Disoriented, Fire, Acid, Paralysis, Virus, Bleeding, War Cried, Panicked, Poison (I probably forgot some more). Then you got options like just focus on most damage or blowing up their limbs.
Often you find yourself in situations where each of your next moves matter of you might lose some soldiers but now you got more options then in Firaxis Xcom and it is not all based on managing %.

There is a lot of missions to do, this feels more like playing Long War than basic Xcom. One run can be 50h easily. Now there are all kind of missions, you got scavenge where you need to pick up stuff and get out as reinforcements come in. You got ambush missions where you start surrounded and need to survive 3 turns. You got different kind of story missions based on quests. There are main story quests, main faction quests, DLC quests and secondary quests. There are Haven Defense missions that are kind of like Terror missions but there are also some friendly NPCs fighting alongside you. And there are enemy base missions, those come in 3 kinds: Nest, Lair and Citadel. Nests are unchanged since start, those are caves where you need to kill two control towers to finish it. Lairs got a big overhaul few patches ago, you need to find a Spawnery and get out with all soldiers as enemy reinforcements come in. Citadels also got overhauled, you need to kill enemy Scylla unit but it is a maze with high walls and you need to fight through incoming Pandorans until you get into contact with it and then get out after you kill it.

Geoscape is also pretty cool, there is always a lot of things to do. Some of those are connected and some are not. Compared to previous versions you are now not swimming in resources and you need to plan how you play which makes it all very interesting, especially since now you cannot scan from your airships but only from scanners that is a base building (like of UFO). You don't search for enemy craft but Points of Interests or enemy bases.

Soldier customization is also pretty cool. You got 3 body slots and each of those got their own mount slot. Base game lets you mutate your soldiers in different ways (it replaces one of the 3 body slots with a mutation) and DLC1 brought bionics that works similar to mutations but you put in mechanical parts that give different bonuses and has different weakness. Then DLC2 brought in special weapons that are not easy to craft but are pretty powerful and fun to use. And then choosing soldier skills is cool, you can freely multiclass and make any combinations you think can work and you get a 3rd row of random perks that you can also try to make a character around. There are weapon proficiencies but anyone can use any weapons (but they get accuracy penalty). And anyone can use any armor. Only few armors have additional abilities that you need proficiency to use well.

There are still some problems that devs plan to improve in future. Things like more UI improvements are coming, better AI for enemies, some missions might get more rework or improvements. Vehicles will get more improvements. Research and diplomacy will probably get some improvements. They are also testing systems to improve animations speeds and how to make modding the game easier. And whole DLC3 with enemy air units and crafts and some kind of air combat that should also come before Steam release.

Current state of the game is of a 8/10 game and once they are finished with all these improvements it will easily become 9/10 game.

Seems interesting. What game is it?

 

[ArchAngel]

Tactical combat is very satisfying now. Game has no irritations from Firaxis Xcoms: no pods, no limited actions, no limited inventory, you can swap items between characters during combat, no % based combat that ignores friendly fire, most cover and other things, characters have multiple stats that are used during combat.

Do levels still have spawn points at edges where enemies get reinforcements?

Yes but they don't spawn on all missions. And you don't know which spawn point will spawn enemies as there are usually 5+ on every map. Enemy use same spawn points to run away from battle once you destroy all their modes of attack.

 

[ArchAngel]

Game is pretty good atm and it will only improve.

It's basically an improved NuXcom. I'll admit it does a lot of things better than NuXcom, but it's still just NuXcom.
If you liked nuxcom then great, you'll probably like this. Otherwise, skip it.

It really is not. It has very little to do with new Xcom. It is its own thing.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Game is pretty good atm and it will only improve.

It's basically an improved NuXcom. I'll admit it does a lot of things better than NuXcom, but it's still just NuXcom.
If you liked nuxcom then great, you'll probably like this. Otherwise, skip it.

It really is not. It has very little to do with new Xcom. It is its own thing.

In the same way that kingmaker has nothing to do with baldur's gate, sure.

 

[ArchAngel]

Game is pretty good atm and it will only improve.

It's basically an improved NuXcom. I'll admit it does a lot of things better than NuXcom, but it's still just NuXcom.
If you liked nuxcom then great, you'll probably like this. Otherwise, skip it.

It really is not. It has very little to do with new Xcom. It is its own thing.

In the same way that kingmaker has nothing to do with baldur's gate, sure.

Kingmaker plays fairly different than BG. Just like DAO plays different to BG or Kingmaker. UFO, X-Com and PP are all games from same genre but each are different and unique in its own way.

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

if you get the game on microsoft game pass can you get the DLC's with the game pass too or do you have to actually pay extra for those on top of your membership? I can't figure it out...I actually own the game via Epic but have not bought the DLC yet but I also have game pass and notice its on gamepass so I am wondering if I can just play it via ganepass and add the DLCs for free or if game pass does not include DLC's...I notice gamepass has lots of Paradox games, so its hard for me to believe they are also just allowing all their DLC's for ther 4.99 a month price...

 

[rusty_shackleford]

if you get the game on microsoft game pass can you get the DLC's with the game pass too or do you have to actually pay extra for those on top of your membership? I can't figure it out...I actually own the game via Epic but have not bought the DLC yet but I also have game pass and notice its on gamepass so I am wondering if I can just play it via ganepass and add the DLCs for free or if game pass does not include DLC's...I notice gamepass has lots of Paradox games, so its hard for me to believe they are also just allowing all their DLC's for ther 4.99 a month price...

Doesn't come with the DLCs, which makes gamepass entirely pointless because DLCs make up half of modern games.

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

I can still get extended demos of a bunch of games I am curious about for a dollar though, which is the main reason I got it. I figured they were not allowing DLC's. They should make a DLC price point.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

for a dollar though

 

[cpmartins]

The main problem with game pass is the worst problem with game pass. You don't own shit.

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

for a dollar though

I already paid a dollar, it says my next billing cycle if I kept it would be $4.99, but I don't even know if I will. I might if I am still playing wasteland 3 maybe....... I just started a couple days ago. But I want to try some shooters and some type of games I never try because I think I won't really like them, but since they are 'free' for this month I might as well.

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

The main problem with game pass is the worst problem with game pass. You don't own shit.

But that is also the good thing about a lot of these games I want to try I think. I am guessing I will get bored of Gears of Wars Tactics quick, and won't like most of the shooters I try, if any of them. I want to see what the big deal is about the middle earth action game people talk about all the time. The graphics look cool, but I bet I won't like it either. Now I can try all these things for 1 dollar and not worry I might go over 2 hours by accident. Even if I missed a billing cycle it would cost me 4 dollars for another month.

 

[Alienman]

Yeah, with the game pass price hike I will probably no longer use it as a demo central.

 

[geno]

I only have a request: An overhaul of the UI. Do you know what if they want to change it?

 

[ArchAngel]

I only have a request: An overhaul of the UI. Do you know what if they want to change it?

I was only shown an early preview of new equipment/training UI and it looks awesome. Hopefully they are able to implement that. Also I think some improvements to other parts will come but those are only a guess atm. Like better management of aircraft.

 

[anvi]

This game is cool, I've played it a lot the last week or two. Starting to get repetitive now but I've played it a long time and made some noob mistakes which slowed me down, there is very little help or tutorial stuff. Really satisfying to blow stuff up and snipe somethings legs off. But basically it is just endless little square maps and you artillery and snipe everything to death. Gets old. I think it would be better to play a 4X that lets you have tactical combat like AOW3. But this was nice to play for a while though. Definitely better than NuXcom.

 

[LESS T_T]

The Year One edition of Phoenix Point includes all previously released content: 3 DLC Packs (Blood & Titanium DLC, Legacy of the Ancients DLC, and the Living Weapons Pack) and a slew of updates, upgrades, fixes, and new content suggested by our community.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

Yeah, good luck with that.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Nice for them to announce end of early access.

 

[Alienman]

It's only year one though he he.

Wonder what the price will be, I guess 40 euroshekels.