First off, overall, the amount of content in this build compared to previous ones is overwhelming. I’m super happy that you’ve pushed release date back, as it means you have time now to polish such a huge game!
I wanted to raise this feedback, as it has been niggling at me the whole time I’ve been playing. The voice acting for the soldiers, while a welcome addition, has been taking me out of the experience. There are some great gameplay twists in this game that really help the player feel like they are commanding a group of human beings, rather than expendable lead dispensers. I don’t think this is helped by the current crop of voices, however.
The soldiers are facing enemy threats, they have a constant supply of adrenaline - they’re either tense, waiting for a threat, steeling themselves having seen one, or they’re in action mode fighting them off. As a result, I would want the voice talent to sound like they’ve just got done sparring with a Pandoran in pretty much every line they deliver. The voice acting in Mutant Year Zero was what the player empathy for the characters lived or died on, in Firaxis XCom the voicing did its job, with whispers adding to the tension when moving concealed units, and emotive lines adding emotional payload to the risks the soldiers were taking, as well as soldier losses and moments of panic.
I get the impression that you’re taking more of a heightened dialogue / Joss Whedon-esque approach compared to those two games; I think I’ve heard my soldiers utter “Maximum Effort” when I’ve ordered them around a few times, which brings to mind the Deadpool films more than anything else. It’s clearly a subjective note, but in my house, my wife and I both came to the same opinion of the voice acting in particular, so thought it would be worth raising here.
The vocals I’m hearing in this Build seem to detract from immersion, if anything. I can’t help but hear someone delivering a line, rather than talking. If a soldier says “What’s the plan?” it should sound like they’re at least a little bit eager to know - their life will depend on what the plan is, after all. Sometimes the line is delivered so casually, it feels like a day-to-day interaction, over lunch or something. The lack of any radio crackle also pulls me out a little; my soldiers all seem to have Blue Yetis tucked in to their helmets.
Overall, I’ve seen far more changes that enhance than I’ve had a problem with, but this one has been a real bugbear. I initially missed the action percentages rather than action points, but I then saw that movement can still be broken up over several inching movements, and that it’s possible to have 2.2 action points remaining - keeping functionality, but enhancing familiarilty for new players. Great stuff! It just seems to be a great idea, so I didn’t feel the need to write a long post about it - every time one of my guys says “Taking aim.”, and I audibly reply “Are you?” though, I get a twinge that I should write something to you.
Hope that makes sense!
