The more I play of these Nu XCom games the stronger gets the itch to replay the old ones. Will probably try out OpenXcom soon.
The original is the best game ever made and the one i spent on most of the time (i was 10 years old in 1994, with a 386 25 mhz).
Nostalgia factor is strong, expecially on 90's isometric titles.
Still, when i try to play the Og now, i can't pass over the shitty graphic (for today standards), the overwelming UI, the boring micromanagement stuff (ammo, no inventory shortcuts].
Sure, UI of these old games is clunky as fuck but dat freedom man.
You actually have a globe and can build stuff anywhere you want on it. And UFOs are not just events popping up now and then, they are actually flying around with clear goals, mission objectives and their own bases.
It just feels more real and base building gives you more opportunities to make your own plans too.
Also I kinda like micromanaging if it's done right, like when it involves a bit of actual management in a game that's in part about managing bases. So I don't mind having to order the engineers to build ammo or selling all the excess stuff manually.
NuXCom is more streamlined in that regard but that also means that you often don't really have a choice in what to do next, there is one optimal build order and if you depart from it you are playing it wrong and have a harder time. And you better go on all these missions that pop up even if you don't feel like it because there isn't any other way to earn resources. Okay, there are also the governments / rebel groups, but they won't keep supporting you if you ignore every second UFO event either.
While in the old games there were a lot of ways you could build and expand your bases, and different legitimate research paths too. The new games always keep you busy, sure, but they rarely give you a choice. You have to do sth against these dark events, you have to research the stuff that doesn't take forever or for which black market pre research pops up, you have to do the missions that give you more scientists and engineers etc..
Tactical combat is pretty gud in the NuXComs though, I give you that.
Still enjoying XCom 2 quite a bit thanks to it. But also still waiting for the game to give me fucking choices. I hope at least the research branches out soon.
Building rooms is a letdown even compared to the already dumbed down first remake. And the Geoscape is kinda weird, can't decide if I like it or not so far.
Tbh my favorite of the old games are not the original XCom or TFTD but Apocalypse.
That city just felt alive and I always forgave the drawn out endgame because before that the game is just so much fun.
Graphics are fine for all these games, but for me everything from the VGA era onwards is (except for those shitty early 3D titles like Alone in the Dark - yuk).