Positives of the game

Phoenix Point
1

Let me get all the positives out of my system after having gone through so many issues threads:

  1. The set pieces and models are fantastic. I enjoy the colors and style much more here (it is more realistic and military like) then the Firaxis one (especially their ridiculous DLC attempts). The environments of the different factions is unique and looks great
  2. Higher Squad size then previous remakes is finally here. Cannot still send out 3-4 fire teams like in the original, but is much better here as it lessens the emphasis of any individual soldier and thus their loss on the overall campaign (the player can take some limited losses)
  3. Geoscape is interesting: lots of things going on and lots of things to do. There are so many elements here that increase immersion and require planning that it is difficult to list them up. Kudos on the concept overall as it introduced multiple new elements to the formula and they seem to be working well
  4. MORE PLANES! Finally we are able to research, build and expand the fleet :slight_smile: I was so missing this feature and combined with multiple bases, the Geoscape truly becomes a strategic layer where multi-front operations can be planned out
  5. The idea that the enemy builds and upgrades bases and mist can be combated: it gives the game a sense that the enemy has a progression of its own which can be delayed or flat out denied from them. The Firaxis remakes were very guided in their approach to this and the sense of freedom, that everyone including the Pandorans are cooking their own meat is very refreshing
  6. Ammo MGMT: even though ammo production is instant it gives a nice aspect to pay attention to and each reload matters lending the magazines all the more value
  7. The story: This is my favorite aspect of the game: All the intertwining stories about the old and recent past, the current political conflicts and all the small stories of independent havens scattered in between make for an engaging experience. Despite the issues, this aspect keeps me motivated to push forward and experience it
1 Like
2

Well, after some time you can unless I don’t understand your point here.

I can’t agree with that, unless you compare to Firaxis remakes. But even if so, then don’t you have immersion that factions are not living organisms with thousands of people living in havens? They are more like singular points which you can raid or defend. It is more like “oh there is something blinking let go there and have the next defense mission. Oh there is human icon, so maybe I will recruit there something. Oh and there is colorful circle meaning that there is story mission.” And that is mostly all beside of exploring unknown sites and the fact that havens have some possible assault missions against them but except stealing aircraft early, and stealing research later they are not really interesting. So I have you listed them up and it wasn’t difficult, trust me. Maybe there is a lot of each of those cases I have listed, but overall there is not much to choose from and not much need to decide about any matter. Research you mostly just click list 2 or 3 things in queue and wait, I barely had to change that order or abandon any research. Maybe a lot to do in bases? :slight_smile: After you build few buildings there you can forget about them, except docking there a dropship for few hours before you take off for another “adventure” which is similar to 50 previous ones.

yes you can have multiple planes thus “fronts”, but most of the time they are doing the same things just in different parts of the world. And well, you actually don’t plan to do that - you have to do that because enemy is swarming all continents. So there is not much to plan, you just react to another, and another… and another blinking site.

For the rest I can agree, especially the Geoscape events. And can even add few more things:

  • nice design of mist spreading on the globe
  • overall it is nice that we can have multiple bases (huge disadvantage is that you don’t manage them, and forget about them after some time)
  • class system maybe is not so great as class-less system (and I opted for former), but ability to create multi-class characters is definitely better than having soldiers of only one class (of course I think that Phoenix Point class system and progress of levels and skills should be reworked, but hey still soldier is not restricted to one role)
  • vehicles! (need many improvements, as they lack many features which anyone expect to be present in relation to something big, fast and heavy)
  • alien bosses are great idea, and at least there is one variant - Scylla (but as with vehicles it requires some rework, just not so much as vehicles)
  • modular enemies evolving after some time (too fast but hey, at least there is this feature)
  • possibility to equip almost anything to anyone is back! (yes Firaxis…)
  • possibility to swap and pickup items during mission is back! (yes Firaxis…)
  • calculated trajectory of each and every bullet done in fast manner (compared to originals)
  • ability to free aim from person perspective
  • friendly fire is real!
  • many different damage types
  • ability to do multiple actions with one soldier in one turn (yes vs Firaxis games)
3

Do you mean the 8 person deplyoement cap? I am using that already with two Manticores hence we can fit 2 FTs in. But if you mean the cap of 8 can be extened via research or other means that is brilliant but havent seen it yet :slight_smile:

4

Yes I do :slight_smile: Regarding havens there is plenty of room for development yes, but becasue they are so detailed most of which are likely not yet utilized. What is already in is quite impressive though. They manage resoruces, build districts, attack each other and apperantly also alien bases

5

Planning on my side consists of evaluating which regions will be most valauble on the long run based on the amount, location and type of havens there. Even though I have 3 full deplyoement teams, they cannot cover all the area, so depreoratized regions are left to their own devices unless some low-hanging fruit pops up or story mission

Those regions that are most valauble are supported, scanned for enemy bases, and havens protected selectively to ensure they remain stable. Synendrion mist repellers get higher prio and if a faction is dominant in a region, the few strangling havens of other factions migth not get protection or even be raided if diplomavy allows for it so that the dfominant faction gets stronger and concentrates on the aliens

6

I wanted to write some of my positive thoughts about the game here. I acknowledge that there are bugs, balance needs refining, and some things are likely (or sure) to be changed from the initial concept. That’s fine. Of course I would have liked the game to have been born perfect right from Zeus’ forehead, but currently I’m just very happy that the game is being constantly updated and improved.

I tested the backer builds only briefly and only started playing properly on Epic lauch. Then I took a break before the acid revamp update, and waiting until this most recent update that toned acid down to start a new campaign with the Blood & Titanium DLC.

In my new campaign, I’ve been positively surprised by several things. If any of these features were in the game from the beginning, pardon me for not encountering/noticing them before the break.

I like the new (I assume?) maps with multi-storey buildings and many small rooms for enemies to hide in. From what I can recall of my first campaigns, the maps were much more flat and only cluttered with some cover objects like crated, barrels, and cars. Just now I started a haven defense on top of a Disciple of Anu temple, which feels awesome compared to starting at one corner and encountering all enemies on the ground.

Dynamic Difficulty seems much better now, as it increases as a function of time as well as recent combat results. It also seems very natural that I mostly encounter less dangerous enemies in trivial encounters and get chirons/sirens in Haven defense or Lair assault, even if they don’t really appear elsewhere yet. I get the feel that those units exists, but are only used for important goals.

I like that combat experience matters more now, although I still feel it should be tuned a bit, my troops seem to advance faster than I can assemble a secondary team. What I mean is, I seem to have one aircraft full of high level troops before I can even put together a second full team and an aircraft for them. Still, this is better than getting 50 SP / level and not much from combat. I’m sure the numbers will get fine-tuned in further patches.

There are many UI and QoL improvements, not going to list them, just stating that the game is more transparent and easier to manage now.

(Some will say this is a negative thing, but) Fights against other human/pure/forsaken factions are fun and bring more variety to combat encounters. I still wish that more types of pandoran enemies (or at least clearly different varieties with differing tactics) are added, but it sounds quite realistic than in a post-apocalyptic world many groups only think of their own survival. Fight other humans for the chance to scavenge food and equipment? You bet!

That’s what I can think of right now. For the developers, keep up good work! I’m one of the players who never stopped playing the original 1994 XCOM (because I simply never found anything that managed to do right all the things I like about the game), and I hope this game will also survive and remain competitive for years to come.

7

Present even in Backers Builds 4 and 5. :slight_smile:

Yes, they are fun, but in my opinion happen too often compared to Pandoran (especially Pure).

This would probably change with some next DLC.

8

Okay, interesting. I guess I just didn’t play enough to see those earlier. Now I seem to get more varied maps than a few months back. In any case, I hope that Snapshot Games continues to allocate some resources into increasing the map pool variety.

9

All depends on which districts of haven are being attacked. It can be quite random.

I suppose that next DLC will bring some new environment for maps. It is about Ancients after all.