The Exquisite Corps: XCOM: Enemy Within - Part 24

Ummmm. Look, I know Dan's style of play can be nerve racking but I for one loved his style here. Quick and refreshing. Also definitely helps that it seems Dan has a horseshoe up his ass.

I also liked how Vinny kind of just let him do his thing. Made for a much quicker style of play. And it worked. It may not always but Dan's luck continues.

Also, why not use rockets and grenades as much as you can? Might as well. You have em. Use em. Not like you don't get an ammo refresh next mission. If anything, Dan is the smartest for using all tools at his disposal.

Oh god, I'm defending Dan. This is unexpected.

This means it either goes very well...or very, very poorly...

Dan is trolling.

This is the second turn of Dan acting like this. If he doesn't give a fuck anymore because he got bored or whatever and since this is Vinny's project I don't think there should be any problem if he wanted to "retire" himself from command; it's a win-win since he doesn't have to play a game he clearly has no interest in anymore and the feature can go on with the commanders who still care.

I think that's practically impossible for a new player. I actually tried this a few days ago, I played XCOM 2 for the first time on Veteran difficulty on Ironman and I had all of the DLC turned on. The amount of systems and mechanics the game throws at you if you have all of the DLC is so absurdly overwhelming. So many missions can easily go wrong the first time you try them as you're not sure how the mission will play out or how new enemy types will behave, and oh boy, the game has a lot of different missions and enemies to introduce to you. I managed to get as far as make the Shadow Chamber before the entire playthrough essentially blew up.

If Giantbomb does a similar playthrough with XCOM 2, I hope they go with the base game. If not, they should go with Rookie difficulty.

@cagliostro88: I'm not sure where you're getting that Dan "doesn't give a fuck anymore" about the series. He's always been the impatient type with video games (he's repeatedly stated he always took a "guns blazing" approach to the Metal Gear Solid series).

I personally quite enjoy Dan's play style, as it's a nice contrast to Alex's "slow and steady" approach.

I've seen enough of Dan (meaning every piece of content since he joined) to recognize when he doesn't care. This is exactly the same as when he has to drive on a quicklook of a game he didn't like.

This is not "gun blazing approach", this is a "I don't care about my team or what we are trying to do (leveling squaddies), I'll move my sniper first all the way into uncharted territory, leave people without any cover for no reason at all, etc. approach".

@cagliostro88: I have the same play style and it's not because "I don't care", it's because I prefer to keep it spicy instead of doing everything at a snail's pace. Keeping everything methodical and slow just makes everything seem monotonous. Especially for a feature on a site like this. Dan's episodes are the ones I look forward to the most, right after Alex's.

@epuskasu: So when you play spicy you don't check your team equipment, move your sniper first where he can only be a target of any activating pods, don't put your soldiers on even light cover or move them directly into overwatch traps? Again, there is a difference between playing spicy, gun blazing or whatever (i have myself a more aggressive playstyle than Alex) and this

If Dan had just kitted out his team properly (specifically buying another of the blaster rocket launchers) this could've gone way more smoothly...

@cagliostro88 Personally I don't go that far, but for Dan it's worked fine (so far) and it's entertaining to see the dice always roll mostly in his favor.

This might have been the weakest episode so far, in terms of entertainment value anyway. I just don't enjoy watching Dan playing anything when he is in this kind of mood. Honestly, I was getting the same vibes from this that I was from the last few episodes of the Beast in the East Yakuza 0 series. Zero interest in what he is doing, zero interest in making an enjoyable episode and zero interest in respecting the time and effort of his fellow commanders. The contrast between Austin's playthrough of X-Com 2 War of the Chosen and this weeks episode of The Exquisite Corps was pretty stark.

Different stokes for different folks, I guess.

He did miss an obvious opportunity to let George Smith finish off an enemy with something like three health left, instead having Zhang take him out. That was pretty frustrating.

But yeah, he seems to consider all cover equal, regardless of facing (and apparently even then not that important given the amount he was leaving soldiers out in the open). Missions like this do throw stuff at you from all directions, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't make at least some effort to reposition accordingly.

Oh well, it worked out OK-ish in the end.

george smith should be nicknamed Asda or price

Absolutely loved Dan's reaction to the Tim situation.

@epuskasu: duder i can deal with Dan going with his usual approach even with the inevitable losses (remember the encounter with the first cyberdisk?). What i'm saying is that it is the second of his episodes where is just not interested and simply rushes, because he doesn't care enough to think about the consequences (since running around right into an EXALT pod with his covert agent at the start of his last turn at command basically). He's not going in with the "i'm not gonna turtle, i'm gonna move full on ahead" attitude, he's going in with the "i'm not even gonna stop to see who is the soldier i'm controlling and move him as far as i can into unexplored territory" attitude. It just saps the enthusiasm knowing, in my opinion, that he doesn't care any longer. Just check any of his previous episodes (except the two first "shtick" ones) with this to see the difference i'm talking about.

Seems like Dan has completely checked out of this feature. Completely reckless if not outright trying to lose. He just got incredibly lucky he didn't lose the mission, with a lot of crits going his way and saving him from danger. Killed Tim that his teammates had put a lot of time and effort into leveling. Then didn't even bother pretending to give a shit about doing base work after the mission (probably for the best, but in the past he at least seemed interested in that part of the game).

If he's that checked out they should just end the feature. I know a few people who already quit watching after he dismissed a bunch of units by accident

This isn't him being a heel for show. This is him just not caring.

Genuinely enjoyed this episode. Dan was pretty reckless at times especially with cover but it made for a fun and very fast-paced match. Also loved his excuse for Tim's death.

Why haven't you guys been capturing aliens? Take their weapons, get bonuses to attack them, and make your research go faster by capturing aliens.

Dan seems to be getting bored. Even his run in and shoot and not care tactics just feel phoned in ;/

I totally get it though, playing every third mission weeks apart, would make it hard to get into the game. I just hope it doesn't get too many good units killed.

A very relaxed game of xcom!

Lucky crits.

Exactly, he isn't feeling it anymore. which is fine. But his recklessness could very easily make cripple the chances of the other two by killing units they need and are trying to level up. OR just randomly choose abilities that might not be the best like he did just now, he didn't even read it. Just clicked it.

The way Dan started i assumed he was trying to get Tim killed.

Tim's death.

There's nothing I could have done.

Dan continues to kill people

Definitely a mole.

A tip of the hat to your tip of the hat to Abby, Alex. Nicely done.

Yes, less wrestling references, more obscure British stuff noone will understand!

Love this series and I think being mad at Abby and Dan's recklessness or Alex's overcautiousness is part of the joy but this is the first episode where I actually questioned the future of it. This is a long game and it only gets tougher. If they're not into it I worry the comments here will turn from anger to rage...

I know I haven't played this game much, but shouldn't one of these commander's have given Letterman a mech by now.

I'm generally not one to comment on the quality of the content, but definitely getting vibes from Dan from his past few videos that he is totally checked out. It doesn't really lead to an entertaining experience, especially when you are talking about a longer series that people have invested time in.

Oh boy. I'm done with Dan episodes.

I mean, it's hard to tell if this is just shtick or a total lack of interest, but this series has basically devolved into Abby and Alex making a real effort to play smart and get through it with Dan then just seeming to go out of his way to do the opposite. Maybe have Dan and Vinny switch roles for the feature?

I am a Dan guy. That said... Dan, please, for the love of Christ, use cover. I think this might have been the most reckless, lack-of-thought run by Dan so far.

If the xcom project fails, it'll be during a Dan episode.

Honestly, with how absurdly forgiving this game is towards the XCorps, I like Dan's haphazard playstyle, it's more entertaining than the super-cautious play that guarantees success. Especially fun are Vinny's reactions when Dan ignores his advice.

I hate to say it, but it's actually become really not fun to see dan play this. what a bummer

Not the first feature Dan has completely checked out on.

Like it when Dan plays because I know at least episodes for the following two weeks will be enjoyable to watch. I feel for Vinny having to watch the chaos unfold before him.

You know, don't most people have plasma weapons by the time the get to the base assault, let alone weeks after the base defense?

Lol oh Dan....

I do wish Vinny had more emphasis on trying to get Dan to give squaddies the kills

I really wish Dan would give this feature the focus and attention the others gave Sunshine while they were playing, at least.

This play feels like the equivalent of playing one of those jetpack-less secret levels by running full tilt and just shrugging when you fall off.

I like that Vinny was more hands off here.

Dan is the only one playing this feature as it was presented 3 different driving players playing with 1 save having vinny in the passenger seat.

I liked the feature up to now, but Vinny always had one hand on the steering wheel and a foot on the brakes instead of just giving directions/suggestions.

If dan's reckless driving damages or totals the car, just let it happen, it's part of the fun.

Let abby and alex deal with the enemy within :)

This series is a wreck and reminds me a bit of PUBG. Towards the end it was plainly obvious they were just playing for the sake of playing rather than actually liking the game which just sucks the fun out of it. Quite a few of GBeast's features feel rushed like they have other places to be and this was another example. Dan seems like he doesn't care and it shows but at least Vinny is hands off with him. Abby doesn't like the game and not only does it show, it sucks the life out of the episodes where she is playing. Vinny is also incredibly hands on when she's playing. What is even the point of having different commanders when Vinny dictates every move. That leaves Alex the only one who seems to be enjoying the game.

I'd much rather watch someone play conservatively that actually likes the game and wants to play any day of the week.

I know I'm not the first to say this, but Dan's schtick is growing tiresome and is starting to make me actively disinterested in this site.

38 minutes after a week's wait seems awfully short, and yet somehow, Dan made it seem far too long.

But hey, last two episodes were great. Let's focus on that.

Vinny is the best