While some sidequests could only be available to players who made certain choices, the completion of other sidequests could potentially provide additional context to a problem at hand, giving the player insight into how making a given choice may impact the p


Regardless of how victorious players were in XCOM: Enemy Unknown , Firaxis Games continued down a canon storyline with XCOM 2 that assumed players had ultimately lost the fight against the technologically superior alien invaders. This more or less sets the tone for the new War of the Chosen expansion: there are some fights you just can't win, and the impressively deep expansion pack for XCOM 2 piles on the signature pain that strategy fans have come to embrace in almost masochistic fash


This would be especially effective if particular characters weren't locked behind single decisions, rather than chains of choices that would encourage the player to experiment with their choices and greatly enhance replay value through tangible assets that are only available under certain conditi


XCOM 2 is extremely deadly in the early game, and soldiers often end up dying with a single unlucky critical hit from an enemy. In XCOM 2 , the Grenadier and the Ranger are two of the most powerful classes at this stage, and players should consider comprising their team of multiple of these if the early game is proving difficult in Ironman m


The final nail in the coffin for story upgrades that this game needs is a better balancing act. One would think Square Enix would be more interested in showing off its gameplay rather than its text for a demo. It seems someone was thinking the opposite because the few battles in here are about an hour apart each. Hopefully the final game won’t burden players so much with too much story all at o


For those who have been waiting until XCOM 2 hit consoles to see how it follows on the story of the first game, the twist from Firaxis is the kind of bold and ambitious that would seem alien to other studios (pardon the pun). After spending an entire campaign - or two - battling an alien infestation with the backing of world governments and cutting-edge technology, Firaxis took the fate of the world out of the players' hands: Humanity had lost. The Aliens won. Twenty years have passed. And XCOM has been scattered to the w


The core thrill of seeing a squad erupt from 'Overwatch' to let barrages loose on an unsuspecting enemy is augmented by the new tweaks to Squaddie classes. The standards remain (Sniper, Grenadier, Specialist), but the 'Assault' class has been replaced with the fearless and furious Rangers. And before player assume the name means these fighters are ranged characters, realize that sprinting across a battlefield to unleash a sword attack point-blank has a distinct melee feel. The turn-based gameplay remains the same (although clearly increased in difficulty), leaving the fiction to inform the meaning of the mechanics - scrounging alien technology, attacking research centers and extracting assets - and in turn, letting the desperation of the campaign amplify the story ramificati


That is to say they released a demo to the public in the hopes that they can then gather feedback for the final release. Chances are they will launch another demo down the line showcasing their progress on Project Triangle Strategy. Hopefully they can change that name because it is a mouthful. There are bigger things in this game that need fixing tho


If it isn't evident already, this is a meaty expansion. Firaxis Games has done a splendid job adding details that have far-reaching implications for the game as whole, and this makes playing through the game with the expansion enabled feel like a completely new experience. It's a huge challenge to take all the new introductions in stride at once, but nobody plays XCOM because it's e


The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is regarded by some to have the greatest open-world in the genre's history. It's easy to see why, as Breath of the Wild 's map wastes little space despite its enormous size, with things to do and see around every cor


Beyond this, players can bolster their own forces with a few clever additions to the original formula. Soldiers can now gain ability points for performing tactical moves, like flank shots or ambush kills, and spend them on additional skills to use in battle. While the original menu of two skill options still exists, a few seemingly random third skill slots are available for purchase now, making each soldier's respective skill tree even more unique. Soldiers can also bond with squadmates they spend time on the battlefield with (a la Fire Emblem ), and commanders will even be able to rank up these skills so that bonded soldiers can utilize unique combat moves in battle. Soldiers also require rest after each mission lest they become fatigued and more susceptible to developing fears that can impact them in bat


As well as providing a beautiful view of the SLG game rankings's landscape, Shadow of the Colossus ' cover art is brilliant for two main reasons. Firstly, it shows the game's "David vs. Goliath" theme in a very striking way with the enormous size difference between the two figures. While the second, very spoiler-heavy reason is that it foreshadows the game's ending . Wander has his sword out, ready to fight the colossus, while the enormous creature has its back to the playable character, seemingly not interested in fight