Try playing it on HonestMan, without using any of the broken combos, and you can see what it will eventually become.
I am hoping that JG & the Devs will take a long, hard, serious look at all the feedback and make the needed adjustments - though I have to say that I am extremely disappointed that a lot of the useful feedback we gave during the alpha tests seems to have been ignored.
For me, the game remains both challenging and interesting enough to keep playing while self-policing away from the obviously broken combos.
For the future? Well, let’s see what the next patch brings.
Actually, on reflection, I’m being unfair on them. The Devs did implement a lot of changes that we suggested, mainly aimed at nerfing OP Squad Skills and making the game more challenging, as it was ludicrously easy in BB5.
Clearly, nobody stumbled on the Sniper/Heavy RB combo in the BBs - I know I never managed to get to Lvl7, so I missed it. I am on record arguing that Rapid Fire is OP, though.
Personally, I don’t think that any individual Nasty is OP - though I really dislike the (to my mind) lazy ‘evolution’ of 1-shot Crabbies. The issue comes when the RNG generates, say, 5 Sirens in a 10-tile area; but that should be relatively easy to fix when they set their minds to it - along with limiting the number of Big Nasties in any given Mission based on Difficulty Setting.
As some Threads are now showing, there are ways to beat even the most impossible-seeming Missions without resorting to broken combos, but the game remains phenomenally hard - which to my mind isn’t a problem at all if you have chosen to play on Heroic/Legendary, but needs to be fixed asap if you have chosen an Easy/Standard game.
Yeah my main issues with the game falls into the research, base building and balance department. The way i see it, phoenix point is a forth faction and as such should have it’s own tech tree, even it’s just unlocks weapons that are just a tad stronger with no special quirks (like armor piercing or long range). This will at least make it somewhat viable to kinda give the other factions the finger and save to world on your own. Diceting and capturing the monsters should by all rights open up a whole world of possibilities. example lets say you put a crabman (can’t remember name) under the knife. you can be presented with 3 research options that other factions may like or dislike. example, that crabman can unlock new armor for your men and you can choose for research that makes a synthetic material that allows for stronger armor which shyndion may like but new jericho would disapprove of. In order to keep producing some items you need to keep capturing enemies.
The vehicles are a huge disappointment. They should be modifiable and up gradable. If i get new missile tech from new Jericho, i should be able to equip stronger missiles on my scarab. Or one can get tactical and have missiles that can set fire to a large area, deploy a poison mist, or hold enemies in place with goo. This would give me reason to keep one or two around
Base building and management is also something that irks me but not as much as the other issues. Simply put, there could be more to build. buildings that make attacks less likely or help in defense, a building for passive tech points and mats, buildings that have effects that other factions have, but to a vastly lesser degree. lets say us build mutation labs that allow you to modify your soldiers but nowhere near the degree you see with the followers of anu. Think along the lines of the meld system from the newer xcom game. you can make your boys jump higher, last after being downed etc.
Balance int he game is the biggest issue. To me, it seems that they took the cheap route to make the game difficult by allowing half your team to be mind controlled and making everything expensive. But then again, i openly admit that while i like this genre of games, i’m far from the best.
Just because it’s Mr Gallop’s game I will not pursue refund. But for game in state like this (bugs, illogical things, not finished, exploits…) I should ask for refund.
EDIT: If you advertise and sell something as X-com like game it should be X-com like game
I mean, there’s definitely potential here, sure. I wouldn’t bother leaving the feedback I am if I thought it was just a waste of time. The feedback I’ve been giving has been almost entirely negative because potential or not, the game frankly just doesn’t feel like it’s done right now.
I’m very leery of hoping that the patches will fix this, since the game seems like it practically needs to be rebuilt from the ground up on the strategic level to actually work.
I hope I’m wrong, but right now between the lack of real progression for PP, the completely RNG nature of the strategic layer, the awful strategic UI (seriously, I don’t know how the ‘click 100 times to trade food’ mechanism got through beta without someone pointing out this is terrible UI design), the fact that the game routinely throws such ridiculous situations at you you basically have to abuse broken mechanics or save-scum to have a realisitic hope of winning- there’a a lot to be worked on before the game is even done, much less great.
I mean, I know it sounds wierd to say about a game with Gollop so heavily involved, but my honest impression is “This feels like a game made by people that don’t understand why X-Com was fun”, because most of the stuff I had fun with those games either isn’t here at all, or doesn’t work.
And I absolutely won’t be buying the DLC with the game in its current state- the fact that the game is openly advertising future DLC it wants to sell me when the base game I already bought isn’t actually finished is one of the things that makes me most angry about the game’s current state.
Now that’s interesting…
So what was the stuff that made those game fun?
I am asking you because I have quite the opposite impression, so I am really puzzled.
Which features?
The most obvious feature not present in PP is air interceptions, but it has been promissed in DLC.
Personaly I am missing the colourful UFOpedia pictures (those present in PP are less impressive).
The other thing not present is map type beeing tied to the region of the mission location (forest, desert, urban, etc.)
These features add flavour of course, but I wouldn’t call them game-breaking.
Is there anything else I have forgotten to mention?
End scenes (reported by most hc)
etc. as I progress I ll tell you more, but even the battle scenary does not justify HC requirements of game, looks like 1999 Warhammer. Cutscenes and stills look like Amiga ECS - UFO AGA cutscenes look better (Muton attack etc.). While I do like handrawn style, they are pictures, not even Animations.
In many ways for its time XCom / UFo: Enemy Uknown was AAA+ title. This looks and (for now feels) like not-so-good-immitations.
Since I have played Faxis games, Afterlifes and other clones, OpenXcom and OpenTFD I expected more, not less, from Gallum.
Great balistics and body part mechanics sadly cannot replace that. DLCs are nice, but it seems old rule “wait 1-3 years and buy game when is fully expanded and patched” seems to be right once again.
Under sea combat came only in the second title (Terror from the deep, 1995).
There was “Underwater missions” stretch goal during PP crowdfunding campaign but it hasn’t been reached (https://www.fig.co/campaigns/phoenix-point).
Maybe it will come in DLC.
Live alien capture is present in the game. Actually PP has more means to capture enemies than X-Com in 1994 (melee, grenade, pistol, sniper rifle, Synedrion tank).
PP also has a more refined armore system with armor shredding, armor piercing and acid damage all applied to different body parts.
I know lot are strech goals, but we are failing with basics.
Game has very nice in depth mechanics, but lot of things look half done. I believe you do know and feel the same.
I am not saying it wiill not improve - it can only improve.
Fact is it does not change extremely negative view of current state of affeirs.
Or once you loose credibility, its way harder to regain it. Like willpower APs.
