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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   2507 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for January 9, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Mechanically XCOM2 tactical combat is pretty good - the stealth mechanics for example are a nice addition.

I thought the stealth mechanics added to XCOM 2 were a bit half-baked and gimmicky. WotC goes some way towards addressing this specific criticism with the addition of missions in which the optimal strategy is to go the whole mission without being spotted.

But the whole theme, plot and writing are superhero-movie-tier trash

Agreed, although I can't really say this is a significant departure from the original XCOM: EU. I actually prefer the grizzled, bitter, shell-shocked Bradford over his flat, clean-cut characterisation in the first game, even if his new haircut looks preposterous. Shen is the archetypal Marvel girlboss Mary Sue, though, there's no denying that.

the character building has gotten far out of hand with mutiple overlapping systems

Agreed, almost everything in the tactical layer is far too cluttered compared to the more streamlined first game, and this is only exacerbated in WotC.

I thought the stealth mechanics added to XCOM 2 were a bit half-baked and gimmicky. WotC goes some way towards addressing this specific criticism with the addition of missions in which the optimal strategy is to go the whole mission without being spotted.

IMO the main thing stealth did for XCOM2 was offer an alternative to needing to overwatch-creep and just bumble into pods. Both are still in the game, of course, but with the stealth parts you get occasional relief from that.

Yes, I think the devs' main takeaway from the base first game was that the mechanics encourage an overly slow and cautious playstyle. Their attempts to address this both in Enemy Within (meld containers that self-destruct in three turns) and XCOM 2 were largely successful and mostly make sense in-universe. It's reasonable that XCOM, as a guerrilla paramilitary force, would have a limited window in which to extract its operatives before their transport gets overrun by enemy troops; it's not reasonable that ADVENT would attach explosives to a valuable asset and set them to blow up after a fixed period of time before they even know XCOM is in the vicinity.

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