Playdate: XCOM 2

Oh! And while I would love for an Exquisite Corps 2, it does feel unnecessary considering the story of XCOM 2 assumes you failed to beat XCOM 1. I would love an alternate timeline play through of just Commander Caravella taking the reins and playing through WotC, since we will never get a conclusion to the amazing Waypoint play through of it.

That's Vinny in the spotlight.

XCOM is relatively boring to stream, but I love it and Vinny so much that I have to watch this.

Edit: Did Vinny use any Mimic Beacons? They are absolutely clutch in this game.

I thought X-Com 2 was better than Enemy Unknown day one, aside from the bugs. WOTC just seals the deal, really. My Commander Ironman run was intense, brutal and absolutely captivating the whole way through. I think people fell off it for three main reasons.

1. It's actually harder than Enemy Unknown.
2. The timers force you to stop overwatch scumming your way through the game.
3. Launch bugs.

really enjoyed this stream would like to see more like this :)

@garr123: Nah not lunatics just people that have gotten used to a slow methodical approach that has been the standard for the XCOM series since the very first game. I appreciate that the game introduced a new gameplay element to vary things up for people that are traditionally more “rushers” than “turtlers” but I think it should have been an optional difficulty setting. That way those of us that want to overwatch from turn to turn and slowly uncover the map can still have fun with that while engaging with all the other tactical options XCOM excels at while allowing our more pro-active players to get an extra challenge with all these timers.

In this day and age I think giving people the option to play the way they want is really important. There are a few titles that benefit from an uncompromising vision like Sekiro, but I really do think XCOM doesn’t have to be some hardcore “our way or the highway” type of experience.

Gotta see more with Diamond!!

@zelyre: So jealous. I had both Hero Quest and Mutant Chronicles when I was a kid, but they are just too expensive on the secondary market these days. Vinny just has them both on a shelf with what looks like a vinyl Goku and other assorted things piled on top.

@vinny Good golly miss molly that is a crazy amount of master piece transformers! Super jealous!

@luciddreams117: They patched in a native option to double the timers, that made all the difference for me when I went back to it.

After watching this I bought Xcom2 and I’m loving it! Thank you so much for the inspiration!!!

Inspire is one of those abilities that's not really clear in the tool-tip. If you use it on someone who still has actions, it won't just give them an additional action. You need to use it after someone is out of turns and then they are granted the bonus.

Man, this makes me want to go back and play XCOM 2 again with the War of the Chosen DLC

War of the Chosen was a wonderful update to XCom2. I'd advise to play with it from the start, it makes it a far better game and it complements the main storyline perfectly.

This was really fun. Thanks Vinny.

Wow. Getting a lot for positive feedback regarding WotC. Seems like it really made the game better. I've put the expansion on my wishlist. Gonna definitely check it out. Scratch that itch that is XCOM.

@antihero: Yeah. I’ve heard nothing but good things. I’ve been really wanting to get my hands on it since we started playing Descent a few years back. I remembered having a board game with goblins and skeletons. I remember little plastic treasure chests. I must have owned a copy of this as a child.

I excitedly called my parents to see if I could swing by their house. After hours of digging through the garage, putting aside boxes of Megablocks, GoBots, and LJN Nintendo games, I found it! The box rattled with minis and cardboard dungeon pieces! Fighting off huge spiders, I pulled the box off the shelf and blew off the asbestos laced dust. Behold! Darkworld in all it’s glory! My childhood really was just filled with crappy knock offs...

@vinny Have you gotten around to playing Hero Quest? Is it worth the price of admission? Any chance we’ll see it on a stream one day?

Thank you Vinny. I appreciate it

Either WotC or a general patch later in the game's life-cycle added a number of game-start options, including "Extended Timers" which doubled the length of both the mission-timers and the overall Avatar Project.

For myself, the "why can't I have unlimited time" argument is a bit like the "while can't I kill all the cops/army until they stop coming" argument in the GTA series. There wouldn't be the same atmosphere of "swift guerilla strikes against a planet-spanning alien empire" if gameplay boiled down to Overwatch-End Turn-Overwatch-End Turn-Overwatch-End Turn ad infinitum.

@matiaz_tapia: Agreed, I absolutely love it!

@killian: Yes please! Anytime content seems low or not a lot of games are coming out, I'd love more X-Com!

Vinny stream from the basement not focusing on FMV games is a little disappointing, I must admit, but X-Com shenanigans are a decent alternative.

I do wish we'd get these type of solo streams more often, even if I understand that it doesn't happen just with the click of a button.

That's my original copy which was mostly intact... somehow. I even have one of the expansions. I also was able to dig out my original Battle Masters game from the parents basement, but setting that up is... a task. My son and I played Hero Quest a bunch but haven't in awhile. I've got my fingers crossed that my younger daughter might be into it at some point (it still requires a bit of reading) because my son doesn't like being all four characters and I wind up playing DM and also two of the four heroes. I do think it's a great intro into RPG mechanics and that style of tabletop, but not sure I would buy it used if they are asking big prices. There must be something that is similar or could be house-ruled to be made similar out there now. Or download the PDF of the rules and campaigns and get in on one of those Reaper Minis kickstarters and build your own.

@dasakamov: I’m not sure why it’s such a strange argument when the previous game worked exactly that way and it played great with many people enjoying it. You’re acting like the timers were a norm or some necessity when the series has worked just find without them while still remaining challenging in many regards.

I love XCOM 2 (got in with WOTC). I was disappointed that they didn’t use XCOM 2 for The Exquisite Corps, because of how much cool stuff they added. It was so nice to see Vinny so happy while playing this game.

Because of Vinny talking it up on the podcast and the collection getting a phat discount recently I actually bought the PC version. In the middle of a Hard mode Iron Man WotC run and am having a blast. Funny how this already great game could be made even better when it runs well, and loads quick, and hardly ever crashes. I had double timers turned on during my last WotC run on PS4 and it was too easy so I have them off this time and it feels just right.

Again today ? please

So it's years after the game's original release, and a few days after I took it off of my backlog for a spin (with no prior experience with the series) . I've fallen in love with it, bought the expansion, and while I'm getting my ass handed to me in every way imaginable, I think 'hey, Giant Bomb probably has a good quicklook or playdate from when this came out!'.

Imagine my surprise to find a playdate as the most recently uploaded video, smack dab on the front page. God wants me to play this game.

X COM 2 is fairly more popular than 1 at this point, maybe not around this parts .But If 3 ever comes up it will be made on the back of 2 and WotC for sure.

As far as the game design argument goes, I do think people misremember some of the flaws of 1 that where related to how the turns where structured. Which was made better by turn timers and objectives. It is not an argument of gate keeping and difficulty...I think that is misremembered too. A tiny but important example is healing. You had to be next to a player to heal them, and for less damage vs you can heal up to 2 remotely with one support. Or you can get the jump on enemies vs them always getting a jump on you.

XCOM 1 was certainly move novel at the time ( but again, not more popular...people Looooooove 2), but the accessibility thing is simply not true. You got enemies discovering you and moving into flanking positions always and the game was made slower and duller by having players accommodate this flaw by always having to move and overwatch to literally counter it.

People boasting about how 2 was more difficult and some fans of 1 could not get past the difficulty is also a matter of folks finding ways to be jerks. No shortage of that.

Remember when rockets had a chance to just hit something else randomly? Man...that was sure something. ( and you an mod that back in if you want)

xcom2 is amazing once you mod it

underwhelming before dlc+mods tho

Exquisite Corps: From the Desk of the Commander General

Man, do I need to replay XCOM 2 now?

@matiaz_tapia: I believe that plenty of people like it. Personally I just don't like timers so despite any possible improvements that has always been a big reason why I never actually got the second game. Maybe when it goes on some crazy sale with the WOTC bundled in I'll finally bite the bullet and see for myself.

I could watch Vinny play Xcom 2 forever - shame he isn't playing with WOTC enabled!

x-com 2 with the addon is so, so good. A pretty big improvement over the first.

HeroQuest!

Really wish they'd do The Exquisite Corps 2...

The end game of XCOM 2 kind of poisoned the well for me. Only played it once.

But then War of the Chosen salvaged it beautifully. I’ve probably done 4 or 5 play throughs of War of the Chosen.

Did Vinny ever show off his Transformer collection?

X-Com 2sday. Do it!! It's the follow up to Pokemonday!

@luciddreams117: it is so much better with War of the Chosen

Exquisite Corps was probably my favorite GB feature. Plus War of the Chosen is an amazing game so seeing the corps return for another go round with it would be a dream come true.

@mellotronrules: yes this 100%

Excellent effort there from Vinny. If it was me, I would of last half my team.

XCOM 2 finally getting the love it deserves, although at this stage, almost criminal to play without WotC.

Damn, time to get back to LWOTC then!

More XCOM 2 streams!!! Exquisite corpse season 2 please!!! would love to see how the rest of the crew adjusts to the new structure and pacing, as much as I loved and still love XCOM. After XCOM 2 + WOTC I don't think I can ever play through the original again, (tactical DLC is also super rad, love getting to play as Bradford)

Please do the same with phoenix point. I would love your input on this game

I would totally watch a Vinny play through of war of the chosen. This was a very fun watch