But I like this one. I find the learning curve a bit steep, But I am getting enjoy the difficulty and the turn based nature of play. I was a die hard RTS fan some of my favorites being age of empires series, the command and conquer games and warcraft/starcraft series. But since the RTS genre seemed to have died, I'm trying out turn based strategy games such as this and the Civ series as a replacement for my RTS itch. How does civ 5 compare to this game? is the learning curve higher? Are there any other games with similar quality in this genre?

Civ V is a very good game, but I wouldn't compare it to XCOM at all. It's more of a broad long-term strategy game, where as XCOM is a small-scale, moment-to-moment tactics game. If you are looking for something more like XCOM, Valkyria Chronicles on the PS3 is very much in the same vien. It's a turn-based tactics RPG of sorts, set in a really cool alternate history WWII setting.

Civilization V is a more complicated game than XCOM, so the learning curve is higher. It is also a bit tougher if you have never played a game like Civ V before.

Before anyone attacks me, I'm only playing XCOM on normal at not once did I ever feel like I was close to losing the game (only too many soldiers) but with Civ V, you will lose a lot of games if you aren't familiar to the genre.

@Starfishhunter9 said:

But I like this one. I find the learning curve a bit steep, But I am getting enjoy the difficulty and the turn based nature of play. I was a die hard RTS fan some of my favorites being age of empires series, the command and conquer games and warcraft/starcraft series. But since the RTS genre seemed to have died, I'm trying out turn based strategy games such as this and the Civ series as a replacement for my RTS itch. How does civ 5 compare to this game? is the learning curve higher? Are there any other games with similar quality in this genre?

I'm about to finish XCOM (just need to mind control an ethereal, down a battleship, and research the thing) and unfortunately the game lost steam for me after the hyperwave relay event. The story dried up, the classes and abilities weren't really diverse, the enemies seemed kinda plain and the terrors mentioned by the GB crew (ethereal, cyberdisk, and sectopod) have not been able to damage anyone on my team.

I'm going to mention some games, but keep in mind that no one on my team has died playing this game. These games had my team wipe several times during boss missions and even during non story type missions.

Final Fantasy Tactics can be picked up for free for the PS3 (also PS1 and PSP) through their playstation plus program. I don't know if that deal is still going, but I think you can still buy it. It was an amazing story, a variety of classes to discovery, plenty of enemies, and some diverse mission types. I consider the game on of the best games I have ever played. In terms of difficulty I'd put it much higher than XCOM, but it has an easier learning curve.

Disgaea originally came out for the PS2, but it's been rereleased for the PSP. If you like anime and have a good sense of humor then this game is for you. It's more difficult than XCOM, has an easier learning curve, but there is a lot of depth here than FFT and XCOM.

Devil Survivor is probably the hardest of the bunch and it came out for the DS and recently got an upgrade for the 3DS. It's another anime themed game, but the story is pretty dark and it takes itself pretty seriously. It does not have an easy learning curve and you need to know what you're doing when you get into a fight. If you saw the Persona 4 ER then you'll have a leg up on the competition since the demons and abilities you use to fight will be very familiar to you. The game has multiple branching paths and a good number of endings so multiple playthroughs are encouraged.

@Kerned said:

Civ V is a very good game, but I wouldn't compare it to XCOM at all. It's more of a broad long-term strategy game, where as XCOM is a small-scale, moment-to-moment tactics game. If you are looking for something more like XCOM, Valkyria Chronicles on the PS3 is very much in the same vien. It's a turn-based tactics RPG of sorts, set in a really cool alternate history WWII setting.

+1 for Valkyria Chronicles