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

[Hobo Elf]

I'm enjoying the game a lot. It's certainly less polished than, say, XCOM 2 (though calling XCOM 2 polished is still a big lol, maybe produced would be a more accurate term) but it is mechanically way above it imo. For me the game ranks up with the original UFO and Terror from the Deep. The only thing I'm still not entirely sold on is how new equipment seems to be a horizontal upgrade rather than a vertical one. I've found some stuff that is a straight up upgrade, but I suspect it was DLC armor that I found on a mission. As the enemy keeps evolving and gets stronger, my equipment remains mostly stagnant. Maybe there are some researches that I haven't gotten to yet that will help me upgrade some guns and armor that are flat out better than what I started out with, but the game seems to put more emphasis on character building than equipment alone. I think the faction system is neat, but I wish Phoenix Point was a bit less reliant on them for technology and had more stuff they can research on their own, though this is mostly a problem with setting flavor rather than the raw mechanics of it. It just makes the Phoenix Project feel less self-reliant than X-COM did.

 

[ArchAngel]

I'm enjoying the game a lot. It's certainly less polished than, say, XCOM 2 (though calling XCOM 2 polished is still a big lol, maybe produced would be a more accurate term) but it is mechanically way above it imo. For me the game ranks up with the original UFO and Terror from the Deep. The only thing I'm still not entirely sold on is how new equipment seems to be a horizontal upgrade rather than a vertical one. I've found some stuff that is a straight up upgrade, but I suspect it was DLC armor that I found on a mission. As the enemy keeps evolving and gets stronger, my equipment remains mostly stagnant. Maybe there are some researches that I haven't gotten to yet that will help me upgrade some guns and armor that are flat out better than what I started out with, but the game seems to put more emphasis on character building than equipment alone. I think the faction system is neat, but I wish Phoenix Point was a bit less reliant on them for technology and had more stuff they can research on their own, though this is mostly a problem with setting flavor rather than the raw mechanics of it. It just makes the Phoenix Project feel less self-reliant than X-COM did.

They added 5 new items for PP that are not related with factions in last patch. Also some of the late game weapons are pretty powerful and they are straight upgrades.

 

[Nortar]

The only thing I'm still not entirely sold on is how new equipment seems to be a horizontal upgrade rather than a vertical one. I've found some stuff that is a straight up upgrade, but I suspect it was DLC armor that I found on a mission. As the enemy keeps evolving and gets stronger, my equipment remains mostly stagnant.

I actually like this part.
There are no numbers inflation, quite opposite even.
The best (non-DLC) shotgun has nearly 2.5 times less raw potential damage than the very first stock option.
It gradually introduces importance of not just shooting in general direction of an enemy, but targeting at specific parts.

It seems that damage dealing goes the full circle:
- high-burst weapons for low-armored enemies
- single-shot weapons to punch through moderate armor
- armor piercing or poison/acid/viral to deal some damage regardless of armor
- high-burst when the enemies start to have so much health, that their armor will be gone before they die anyway

 

[Jaedar]

The thing I find most disappointing so far is how sturdy the environment is, and how weak and small all the explosives are. Maybe lategame explosives will be nicer, but I am starting to doubt. The starting grenades and grenade launcher feel completely pointless.

 

[7h30n]

The thing I find most disappointing so far is how sturdy the environment is, and how weak and small all the explosives are. Maybe lategame explosives will be nicer, but I am starting to doubt. The starting grenades and grenade launcher feel completely pointless.

Yep, explosive solutions are really lacking, which I alluded to previously:

Overall, the game is halfway between new and old X-Com, which is a bit of a shame. I feel like the original X-Com is more snappier and fun to play, while Silent Storm and Jagged Alliance provide much better implementation of some systems appearing here. Oh, and there's no forest burning or generating enough smoke through all the fires you caused to KO enemies trapped in it

I've started a new campaign now with Year One, as my previous saves are no longer valid, and the game feel has improved significantly. The NPCs are now finally using windows to shoot through them and break them!

Currently, my biggest gripe is the general slowness (i.e. snappier gameplay which I mentioned previously). I hope their system for speeding up animations and movement is on the way. Besides that, all my comments from before still stand, but with all the DLC this may turn out great and not just good.

 

[ArchAngel]

The thing I find most disappointing so far is how sturdy the environment is, and how weak and small all the explosives are. Maybe lategame explosives will be nicer, but I am starting to doubt. The starting grenades and grenade launcher feel completely pointless.

Some enviroment is more sturdy than others. Also you can get rockets later. And hel cannon destroys almost anything.
Both hand grenades and GL are anti infantry tools, you are not supposed to be able to blast everything apart with it.

 

[razvedchiki]

havent used rockets yet but found the other explosives a great way to strip armor/disable body parts/heavy bleeding.

 

[The Anus Of Discontent]

Still playing it on and off on hero difficulty.
Game went from a cakewalk to kicking my ass. Some of the missions are just bullshit balanced; The one I was just on, have to rescue 3 dudes on the opposite side of the map, between them and me is a horde of assholes, two golden sirens and a fat artillery boy.
Before turn 2 starts, all 3 dudes get absolutely destroyed by the Pandorans. There's nothing I can even do. This seems to be happening more often than not; one haven defense mission with a big scylla ended on turn 2 as all 5 civilians I had to rescue got massacred before I could even get to them.

Am I having extremely bad luck, or is anyone else experiencing these weird scenarios?

I experience vertigo every time I see that the recruitment cost of just one soldier, his armor and weapon, is usually 2-3 facilities worth. Three soldiers are worth an entire skyranger. The game is balanced this way sure but the numbers are still fucked.

 

[GrainWetski]

So game is gud now?

If you like FiraXCOM beyond the Firaxis name you'll love it since it's a better version of that trash.

 

[ArchAngel]

Still playing it on and off on hero difficulty.
Game went from a cakewalk to kicking my ass. Some of the missions are just bullshit balanced; The one I was just on, have to rescue 3 dudes on the opposite side of the map, between them and me is a horde of assholes, two golden sirens and a fat artillery boy.
Before turn 2 starts, all 3 dudes get absolutely destroyed by the Pandorans. There's nothing I can even do. This seems to be happening more often than not; one haven defense mission with a big scylla ended on turn 2 as all 5 civilians I had to rescue got massacred before I could even get to them.

Am I having extremely bad luck, or is anyone else experiencing these weird scenarios?

I experience vertigo every time I see that the recruitment cost of just one soldier, his armor and weapon, is usually 2-3 facilities worth. Three soldiers are worth an entire skyranger. The game is balanced this way sure but the numbers are still fucked.

Soldier rescue mission in midgame and beyond are currently unbalanced and are not worth doing.

 

[Togukawa]

Soldier rescue mission in midgame and beyond are currently unbalanced and are not worth doing.

Game is still in early access after all.

 

[ArchAngel]

People say this new interview with Gollop is good: https://explorminate.co/interview-with-julian-gollop/
Apparently he confirms Behemoths with next DLC.

 

[Togukawa]

Apparently he confirms Behemoths with next DLC.

 

[razvedchiki]

well supposedly you dont need the random troops from encounters mid/late game as you have the resources to recruit and equip them.
they come with somewhat lackluster weapons to effectivelly kill advanced pandorans.

 

[razvedchiki]

is there a way to sell the mutation resource i gather?

 

[ArchAngel]

is there a way to sell the mutation resource i gather?

No but once you get access to Mutog you can build them with that only and have them to guard your bases

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

People say this new interview with Gollop is good: https://explorminate.co/interview-with-julian-gollop/
Apparently he confirms Behemoths with next DLC.

when is next DLC? May halt my play-through, really want to play with behemoths. Someone could make "The Mist" Mod, although I guess that's what the game is sort of..

 

[Hobo Elf]

Finally got access to shared Anu tech, and I'm only one mission away from the same with Synedrion. Still trying to find a Priest to recruit for my my squad, however, with zero luck. All I keep finding is Berserkers. Realistically speaking, is there any reason why you wouldn't ally with all the factions each time you play the game? To me it seems like a no brainer thing that you'd want to do each time you play. I haven't tried raiding yet, but would that cause the doomsday clock to advance far faster than merely trying to foster an alliance would?

Also, how important is Perception? I was thinking of picking up one of those random passive perks for my Heavy/Sniper, the one that grants +2 Strength, +20% Accuracy -15% Perception. It seems like a good tradeoff.

 

[Trithne]

Finally got access to shared Anu tech, and I'm only one mission away from the same with Synedrion. Still trying to find a Priest to recruit for my my squad, however, with zero luck. All I keep finding is Berserkers. Realistically speaking, is there any reason why you wouldn't ally with all the factions each time you play the game? To me it seems like a no brainer thing that you'd want to do each time you play. I haven't tried raiding yet, but would that cause the doomsday clock to advance far faster than merely trying to foster an alliance would?

Also, how important is Perception? I was thinking of picking up one of those random passive perks for my Heavy/Sniper, the one that grants +2 Strength, +20% Accuracy -15% Perception. It seems like a good tradeoff.

Perception is a bit of a team wide skill - since if one person can detect an enemy then everyone can shoot at it, so as long as you've got some guys with good perception you should be fine.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Finally got access to shared Anu tech, and I'm only one mission away from the same with Synedrion. Still trying to find a Priest to recruit for my my squad, however, with zero luck. All I keep finding is Berserkers. Realistically speaking, is there any reason why you wouldn't ally with all the factions each time you play the game? To me it seems like a no brainer thing that you'd want to do each time you play. I haven't tried raiding yet, but would that cause the doomsday clock to advance far faster than merely trying to foster an alliance would?

Also, how important is Perception? I was thinking of picking up one of those random passive perks for my Heavy/Sniper, the one that grants +2 Strength, +20% Accuracy -15% Perception. It seems like a good tradeoff.

Perception is a bit of a team wide skill - since if one person can detect an enemy then everyone can shoot at it, so as long as you've got some guys with good perception you should be fine.

I guess it doesn't matter then if my slowest guy has a bit less Perception. He's not the one spotting enemies anyway.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Still trying to find a Priest to recruit for my my squad

You can now dual class your regular recruits into priests.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Still trying to find a Priest to recruit for my my squad

You can now dual class your regular recruits into priests.

Indeed, but I was hoping to recruit a baseline Priest and then maybe cross that with the Synedrion class. If I don't find one soon I might just make one of my Assaults an Assault/Priest, which might work fine as well.

 

[ArchAngel]

People say this new interview with Gollop is good: https://explorminate.co/interview-with-julian-gollop/
Apparently he confirms Behemoths with next DLC.

when is next DLC? May halt my play-through, really want to play with behemoths. Someone could make "The Mist" Mod, although I guess that's what the game is sort of..

Certainly not before end of January, more realistic sometime in February.

 

[razvedchiki]

destroying pandoran nests/lairs etc, diminishes the chance of attack?

 

[ArchAngel]

destroying pandoran nests/lairs etc, diminishes the chance of attack?

All pandoran bases have a radius of operation (you can see this when you mouse over them). If you destroy it, it no longer can attack anyone until new base spawns.