First off I am not new to this sort of game. I played the original Xcom and the different titles up to Xcom2. Xcom2 Vanilla about 10 times then with the WoTC. I am on my 47th campaign in Xcom2 The Long War2 on Steam and I have clocked nearly 3,000 hours. Last 10 play throughs on Legendary. I don’t play on Iron man due to bugs that will loop a sound effect to the point of insanity. So I need to save then reload to kill the annoying loop.
Having said that, the balance of Phoenix Point is beyond reasonable, it suggest that the developers/designers are, in fact, infected by the Pandora Virus.
Explanations about game mechanics? There are none. Games that require googles search to obtain game information are not well designed In my opinion. I am in my 3rd attempt as each time I get to a certain point the game becomes unwinnable due to not realizing that 1/2 planes doesn’t mean the max you can have is 2 because when you build the 2nd plane the information now reads 2/4 as an example.
Also note that while food can be produced as in Food 2901 (+6) for example, tech and mats cannot as far as I have discovered. The number in the ( ) is always +0
Anyway here is a list of nonsense that I have experienced:
-
Fully constructed med bay with power – squad doesn’t heal – Have to move to a different base.
-
Click a spot to move to, no move option – click a different spot then go to ther original location.
-
New Jericho I am 21%, I repel a Pandora attack, faction increase +5. My new total is still 21%? Is that the new math 21 + 5 = 21?
-
Diplomatic mission on the other side of the globe, finally get there, fight a Chiron, 3 Tritons, 3 sirens and 4 crab men and I get +5 to my score with that faction? Reward vs effort is terrible!
-
Capture an enemy: If its strength is less than the power of the neutralizer then it is paralyzed for 1 turn? When in actual use hitting an enemy 4 times with the darn thing and it resists all 4 attempts, then beats the hell out of the trooper! NOTE: No where does it show a creature’s strength so the attack can’t even be planned. Not that there is a chance in hell of succeeding. Oh there is a better chance of pummeling it to death instead of paralyzing it.
-
Tritons – who thinks this stuff up? They get hit, go invisible and my troopers can’t see them or even detect them in any way when they come right next to me with a flanking shot? I shoot back from 3 feet away and miss or do 2 damage which makes it disappear…rinse and repeat! Also these things can travel across half the field and still attack. Also note that cover works perfectly for an enemy and is virtually useless for my squad.
-
Pandorans never miss close up or across the board, while my highly trained squad is a comedy of errors. Full on target, zoomed in the entire part is inside both circles…MISS!
-
The geoscape portion of the game is fun, the base management is ok, the story to me is intriguing, the combat mechanic is nice the only thing that makes this game junk is the balance! Xcom2 on Legendary is a simple fun game compared to this!
-
Where are the faction defenders on a base defense? Haven is being attacked…attackers 9, defenders 7. That’s what it says on the haven info before you choose to deploy. Yes there are 9 Pandorans but there are no defenders except my squad.
-
The Manticore and the APC First time I built it I thought “cool” lets smash some alien faces now! Huh? The apc and three troopers are all that fit??? In the original Xcom as I recall you could have 10 soldiers plus a tank in the plane. Yes there is a faction plane you can build that can hold 8 but it’s also half the speed of the Manticore!
To think I’ve been waiting these many months for this. Back to Xcom2 until Snap Shot gets off whatever drug they are on and do something about the balance. Oh and I am on “Story” level which I always start with because for some idiot reason I wanted to see how the story develops.