X-COM

Well, that was fun. Brief, but fun. The campaign isn't that long, I did 35 missions from start to end, though that does include every available side quest (abductions, terror attacks, UFO crashes etc) and I reckon around twenty-twenty five hours of gameplay.

Finished on Normal difficulty (classic was kicking my arse) and the ending is quite satisfying...

Spoiler:

To sum up, the game wasn't quite as demanding in terms of management as I'd thought it might be, a little common sense ensuring I kept all nations aboard, even if some were in danger if the war had dragged on much longer. Tactically though, it's spot on. The various classes, and the many different builds available within each, along with the choice of weaponry really add a lot of variety to proceedings and thats before you get to the psychic powers which turn a hard arsed veteran into a one-man army.

It's not an easy game, you can't rush it or you'll pay. Much like Dark Souls though, it is rewarding because patience is a virtue and if you die odds are its because you made a mistake. Besides, outwitting the AI and turning around what seemed a lost cause is immensly gratifying.

I did another play through, but because I knew what I was doing things were rather smoother. I've only just unlocked "The Overseer" UFO event (which reveals the Ethereal for the first time), but I've got a very well rounded squad, three of whom are experienced psionic users, and thanks to better preparation this time around (primarily due to one unlock in the Barracks training, which boosts the Will stat upon Promotion) a good number of my team have a will stat of 80+, with two having high-nineties, compared to mid-high sixties in my first play through.

In essence, this makes it much harder for the mind-controlling enemies to do their worst to a member of my team, makes my team less likely to panic under duress, and means my own psionic attacks have a greater chance of success.

On that note, I think I'm done. It's been a fun game, but the missions seems to be mostly identical from one playthrough to the next, and unless I feel like taking on Impossible difficulty (which I don't) there's not much left to do.

well, looks like i won't be getting this any time soon

this game is kicking the shit out of me

so after the first month three countries withdrew from the project already. what the hell was i suppose to do?

Build satellites asap so you have some warning when there are going to be attacks, shoot down as many UFOs as you can and always go to a countries aid if they need it.

E: The act of deploying a satellite alone will boost their faith in you a fair bit.

does difficulty affect panic level increase?

I honestly have no idea, sorry. I'd assume it would though.

did the panic level max for you after your first anti-abduction mission?

I don't think it maxed but it definitely went up a lot.

started over, built and launched a satellite, three countries still left the x-com project.

It only helps the country you launch it over, you have to try and balance it all out while getting satellites and fighter jets up asap. Remember you can build more than one at a time and always launch them over the countries with the highest panic rating.

i built three in one month but was only capable of launching one while four countries were at max panic. i couldn't build an additional satellite link until it was too late

i like how multiple alien races travel together now, though fighting chryssalids so damn early was brutal

two more left me. maybe i should have started on normal

i just got myself into an impossible to win situation

Yeah, you should be playing on Normal if it's your first time. Classic is brutally tough.

i'm playing impossible and it's entirely the panic level that's screwing me over, but that can be fixed with better base management. the original was quite a bit more complex and when i saw how dumbed down this one was i got careless and screwed myself over

i'll try one more impossible run

doesn't seem like you can even keep all countries in the first month on impossible

teleporting enemies is bull shit

how long did it take for alien battle ships to start appearing for you guys? i'm in my third month and didn't even bother trying to take it down

i expected more than twelve aliens in an abduction ship

also, i'm getting the urge to play the original, though i'll more than likely hate the incredibly long drawn out fights even more now

i don't know whether i should blame glitches or bad programming, but my enjoyment of this game is dying. twice in one terror mission civilians have been killed by seemingly nothing

Probably Chrysalids.