XCOM 2: War of the Chosen (2017)

I've played most of the XCOMs so far (excluding the shooters, including the board game) but whoah the first 10 hours of WotC is still overwhelming, a lot of interacting systems with a ton of plates to keep spinning. XCOM as before, with all dials turned up to 11.

And while most of the last half of the game is easy sailing because your squad can reach entire new levels of game-breaking overpowered superhero status, the final mission is still appropriately though and epic, whew.

I am really glad that this franchise got the revival it deserves (at least up until this point, I have not played Chimera Squad). The first X-Com (1994) is probably the most replayed game for me and, to this day, it is still the favorite for a quick weekend playthrough. The 2014 reboot is excellent, keeping true to the spirit of the original but improving almost every aspect of its gameplay mechanics. I came to this sequel with high expectations but a bit unsure on where the story was going after the ending to the first game because, quite frankly, I am not at big fan of the "X-Com lost" narrative device.

I can see the complications about the continuation of a story that circles around base defense/management without repeating themselves uncritically, and I even appreciate the narrative possibilities of a story based around guerrilla war against an alien invasion, but I don't think the game wove this intricacies deftly, and at the end the aliens lost a lot of that cosmic horror aura that was predominant in the original game, less so in the 2015 reboot.

Not to say the story is not entertaining, but I do think that I requires a little more suspension of disbelief to be enjoyed. Now, this game compensates that with an amazing upgrade in game mechanics and playability. I feel that one missing aspect that was not brought up from the original game to the reboot was the player's ability to absolutely break the game if they want to. If you are skilled enough and learn the game mechanics in-depth, you can break the game with the most overpowered combinations and make the battles almost trivial. Would you like to play the game like that all the time? Of course not, but it was fun that the possibility exist.

The 2015 reboot was a little bit more inflexible on that regard, or at least that was my impression playing it in normal and veteran mode. But XCom 2, and especially with the War of the Chosen content, gives you a lot more tools to become an absolute unstoppable beast, and that is always such a fun possibility to have at hand.

In short: X-Com 2 is more of the same but a little bit better, sacrificing a bit of story for tons of fun. I think eventually I will try to complete it at full.

Xcom 2 is one of my top 10 favorite games. It blends dynamic storytelling with strategic gameplay and a lot of tactical choices in a way that I absolutely adore.

War of the Chosen is the definitive way to play this series, adding some exciting and much-needed support in the form of 3 unique factions. While also adding extra pressure in the form of the Chosen trying to sabotage and hunt you down.

I recently beat War of the Chosen for the 3rd time, this time on Ironman mode, and had a blast.

I think War of the Chosen gives some much needed extra face/villains to this game that can make the tense but somewhat repetitive missions feel extra scary if a chosen pops up.

Overall, if you like turn based strategy you NEED to play War of the Chosen, it is SOOOO good.

If you are dumb like me, this game is a lot. Having played XCOM: Enemy Unknown, I thought I was prepared to just jump right into XCOM 2: War of the Chosen. While the core gameplay is the same between both titles, XCOM 2 and WotC add a lot of new aspects to gameplay and changes many things familiar from XCOM: EU; most notably, the strategy layer of the game.

The strategy layer of the game is probably what gave me the most grief starting off; not that I realized it at first. It wasn't until twenty hours into my first playthrough that I realized I had been wasting too much time scanning unnecessary targets and mismanaging my Avenger. Suddenly conflicts started feeling unwinnable and I was losing soldiers left and right. Eventually, I had to do a full restart of my campaign. Again, I am very dumb.

For players coming to XCOM 2 straight from XCOM: EU, I would advise a bit of caution jumping into WotC completely cold. It may not be a bad idea to take some time to get acquainted with the GeoScape and facility management of the Avenger before starting properly. For me, it took a failed campaign and playing through the entire Tactical Legacy Pack to really get a good handle for the game. But once I did, and started my second campaign properly, it went far smoother, and I had a hell of a time.

Once you get past the learning curve of XCOM 2, it is a very deep and varied game with lots of possibilities. I feel that the story of XCOM transitioning between a government organization to a rebel faction fighting against a world overrun by aliens is a fantastic and unexpected twist on the story that changes the setting in lots of interesting way. In general, XCOM is great at having unique and interesting lore, while leaving enough vague and flexible enough to fill in the blanks yourself, allowing each player room to create their own narrative and emergent story; a property of the story that fits perfectly with custom soldier creation.

I get the sense that The Chosens are generally seen as an intrusive burden on the game, but at least for a first playthrough, I think they add a remarkable amount of drama and tension to the game. I find their sudden interruptions and long monologues endearing, not unlike a reoccurring cartoon villain; though on subsequent playthroughs I can seem them getting very old. Aside from The Chosens themselves, the game has decent pacing, with interesting unlocks and story beats that drive you to continue forward. The game suffers the same progression issues as XCOM: EU, in that it generally starts out difficult and gets progressively easier, until the game begins to drag by the end, just waiting to be done as you steamroll the enemy.

Overall, XCOM 2 is a fantastic game, while is suffers the same issues as its predecessor, is adds and expands on it in incredible ways. I've never been a fan of tactical games, but I will absolutely make an exception for XCOM. If you generally enjoy management and strategy, and especially if you enjoy tropey sci-fi themes, you'll probably love this game.