The Exquisite Corps: XCOM Enemy Within - Part 39

The final mission of this game is boring as hell, so skipped straight to the ending and was greeted with magic. I don't even care that I haven't watched The Exquisite Corps since like... episode 3, Dan being right about just needing to kill the final boss and getting a 35% shot off is exactly what this series deserved.

@bladededge: Considering the game shows you a lower % to hit than the actual chance is, that shot was much closer to 50/50 anyway.

Dan - Take the shot !

I've tried to get into this series multiple times and bounced off hard every time. Stuck this whole video out and the ending is totally worth it. "No, it's bullshit" is Vinny just summing up Dan's existence as Alex tries to rationalize the universe.

What a beautiful ending to a beautiful endurance run.
o7

This series was a pure joy, thank you so much Beast Crew, well played.

This is the fucking worst

That was painful

That ending was...Exquisite.

This feature was my favorite thing on the site while it ran. I might have to finally get started on Waypoints XCOM2 playthrough as I don´t expect them to return to this series anytime soon. Or maybe I´ll even get around to playing one of the games myself.

For now, I suppose I´ll follow the spin-off show where Commander Navarro goes into space to murder and/or romance some other aliens.

@alex Those other 2 enemies weren't the same as the final boss you kill for the win. Aside from their helmet design being different, they have one less row of health. I believe they're actually the same female-looking aliens with mind control and reflect that you often encounter at the end of downed UFOs in the late game.

@ghost_cat: You can't beat 35 percent

I'm with you Alex, that was a stupid way to win regardless of the shot. I was thinking the worst when there was only 10 minutes left in the video at the start of the final battle, and did not expect this ridiculous outcome at all. I stopped watching this series like 30 episodes ago, but it was fun to watch this conclusion (Honestly, I don't feel like I missed anything at all...).

All time great GB video here! It's got tension! Action! Suspense! Conflict! Drama! Humor!

Good show, Beasters! Damn good show! Take a bow, everyone!

Ha! Well think about it this way: Dirt Bike missed a 75% point blank shot during the mission. A shot that was only 75% because of RPG mechanics. Lady luck then paid it back in the end and balance was achieved.

Anyway, nice job fellas. This video was pretty fascinating from a tactical psychology point of view. Shows pretty clear why militaries almost universally use similar command structures with ultimately one person making the final call in the field (after deployment). Try to command by committee and you get exactly this kind of second guessing going on. Good tension in the video between defensive approach and offensive. Defense is nice and all but it can be safer to kill the threat straight off as there is no need to defend against alien who is already dead.

In my playthrough I was also a little surprised that killing the boss meant game done, however I also instinctively focus fired on him because video game logic dictates that killing the named big boss most of the time means instant win.

Honestly, I could not think of a more perfect ending to this series.

"Nah, fuck XCOM"

*XCOM ENEMY WITHIN logo appears*

Is "rein supreme" a tribute to the great horsies out there?

Great. Dan's behavior has been reinforced.

welp

I'm excited for Exquisite Corps 2: Even More Exquisite.

I upped my premium just to see this thing through, it did not disappoint. I'll always tune in for Abbey and Alex being frustrated by Dan.

[SPOILER] 35% CHANCE TO WIN.[/SPOILER]

The real Rycket luck was having Abomination floating in the sky for 2 turns, just sitting up there for the sectopods to hit, which they only managed to do once.

This series was the best and worst of Giantbomb.

At times it was hilarious and dramatic. It was also frustrating and long. But goddamn if it wasn't entertaining.

Please don't do Xcom 2. I think it would literally kill one of you.

This is the type of thing that leads to people dying in a sweat lodge.

Missed the last 15 episodes or so and just happened to catch the end half of this. Nice job, crew!

This is the best thing. The. Best. Thing. Holy hell.

" 35%? It might as well be 100% to me."

I can only imagine how infuriating it must be to watch this for some. Not using the psi abilities at all. Failing to check the status of the enemy out of fear. The second guessing. The panic.

But those final moments make it all worth it.

DAN RYCKERT IS THE LIVING MANIFESTATION OF DESTINY

I have proudly watched this series from day one being an XCom fan and the commanders won as they lived.

Summary: Alex "The Rock" Navarro, Abby "Big Money" Russel, Dan (Dave?) "The Fury" Ryckert.

You three provided such a varied playstyle every episode was a joy, even in the grindy parts. I would breathe a sigh of relief when Alex would take the helm, be giddy waiting to see what big guns Abby would buy and test, and my soul would shake as I watched the Fixer charge in and deliver righteous justice at an astounding pace.

Every week I waited for that email notification to come in and I could see what the Corps got up to next. Thank you for the wonderful ride.

o7

So they're not going to train up their PSI soldier/get PSI armour before the final mission? Okay...

I guess it's normal difficulty so the game's going to hand them a win anyway.

Its not bad game design. They were clones and the real one got killed.

Finally the last episode. I'll watch this one. Well i'll watch the ending. I skipped the last i'd say 20 episodes...

@swiftoid: It’s challenging enough on normal - not everything needs to be a nerve wreck inducing level of difficulty to be considered a “worthy” win.

They got maximum rank in their Psi solider anyway, and they aleady got Psi armour.

Abby was trying to shoot the boss too. The Ryckert luck siphon meant she was out of position and her shot missed.

40:00 Dan to Abby "It would be foolish to take that shot with that low of a percentage"

That's why Dan is the best

This series could not have ended more perfectly.

What makes it even better is that it was on an absolute knife edge because Abby was trying to just rush to the finish, and add that to Dan's reckless nature, if they hadn't made this shot things could have completely fallen apart on the next turn.

That final room was a microcosm of the entire series, beautiful.

I am wondering about this:

If Abomination has Sniper Rifle equipped here, will he see a different list of enemies? I think he probably will. There are multiple instance where they were defaulting to pistol.

Def one of the best series on GB.

o7

Who would have thought taking out two Sectopods from above on normal difficulty could be so ardous -_-

Did they ever once use one of Ziang's psi powers?

Just beautiful.

o7

The Earth is in your debt, Commander Ryckert

Loved this series!

Bring on XCOM 2: war of the chosen!

@humanity: Isn't it nice to be given some some of challenge though, so you learn to get better at the game?

Alex needs to slow his roll about the final boss. Dan got sort of lucky by deciding to go all out on the main Ethereal, but in no way is that bad game design. If they had kept going longer they would've realised that other enemies would keep spawning in indefinitely so it's clear that you're meant to concentrate on the boss.

@df: Actually it wouldnt. If Abomination has any shot, be it with the sniper, it would show the skull with the aim marker there, telling you : "You have a squad sight shot, but you need to change to the sniper".

Besides the image you took, shows Abomination before he passes through the corridor, and it's not shown, but Dave has no vision past Dirt cause there is a big wall between them

i told yall mfers to trust the process

it's counter intuitive. even after achieving your objective in a mission, the game always asks you to mop up every single enemy on the map. it makes sense to expect the same even in the final mission.

@swiftoid: Sure but it’s not like you can run through normal difficulty with a blindfold on - I’m just against this notion that normal is some story mode where you press a button to progress.

Credit where credit is due: Dan was right about focusing fire on the Boss. Whether he came to that conclusion incorrectly is another thing, but it's common sense in any RPG.

Bugs me that they didn't use "rift" or even look at it - it mulches sectopods, because their will is counted as "0"