replay value?

[ShouteN]

Hello guys, how is replay value in this game? For example I replayed xcom 2 for like 7-9 times, with and without mods. How are things with this game?

[Major Fret]

IMO it's pretty good. You've got:

-Multiple difficulty options, which not only includes the difficulties themselves, but things such as 1 save file or mercs dying rather than being in a downed state
-Adding to that are some of the achievements, such as playing with only one or two mercs, which isn't something you're gonna be able to do without a guide on your first playthrough.
-Plenty of sidequests with different outcomes. Sure, most of them either have good or bad endings, but getting some of those endings without a guide can be a bit tricky, especially for a first time playthrough
-Equipment drops are pretty randomized, which can lead to interesting results. In my latest playthough, I got a HK 21 machine gun (best one in the game) in the first weapon shipnent I attacked
-I also think weapon variety is a lot better here than in JA2. Weapons have much more distinct roles so you can play around a bit more with certain characters and what weapons you give them. I've used early weapons such as the Winchester, M24, or Double Barrel Shotgun late into the game, or even throughout the entire game.
-You can start the game with all sorts of combinations of mercs. You can spend big on one merc, or try and recruit many mercs to fill various roles. You're also not likely to be able to recruit every merc during one playthrough which gives you another excuse to play through the game.
-There's also mods, which will include custom campaigns down the road.

I'm already on my 3rd straight playthrough, which isn't something I can say for any game I've played in recent memory.

[No Time For The Lost]

On the second play-through now with different mercs, and the next difficulty up. Easy see me putting in 300 hours into this over it's lifespan.

Brilliant achievement to make a game with such dedication in the current climate of pants gaming.

[[SCZ]Celestrian]

if you take your time, clear every sector and do every quest, it´s easily 50-80 hours for a single playthrough.
currently sitting at 180 hours on 1 full playthrough and the 2nd at around 85% (f*cked around quite a bit).
no idea what my achievement status is (dont care about that) but that is probably another one or two playthroughs (quick ones tho).

if you want to clear / loot everything, you will run 3 squads with all bases covered, which kinda makes some mercs pretty much fixed, however there´s still room so swap enough people to keep it interesting. playing the strategy is the game, but the character interactions are the main attraction.

also mods (most character mods are kinda ret*rded tho... pretty much all if u ask me).
give the demo a shot and play it again every couple of years, like JA2.

[Noobiecanoobie]

Just finished a 3rd play through trying different team size, composition and different tactics. Looking forward to a 4th play sometime. Last games I replayed a few times was Phoenix Point and Astroneer. It's otherwise rare for me to replay a game.

[Herr Morlock]

Just to make that clear: I do not say, that this (pretty fine) game has no replay value. But I don't see it that ecstatic as other users in this forum.

I have played around 50-60h, propably seen around half of the game. Cant remember if its the easy or normal difficulty. Almost no mods. Have played JA since JA -Deadly Games (which is inbetween JA 1 and JA 2).

This game is good. But it needs some better balancing. MGs are not overpowered anymore, but now sniper rifles are insanely OP. You can oneshot pretty any enemy with around 80% with your starting mercs, if you managed to survive with them till midgame.
And then, the enemies can not do a lot to you anymore, unless they are starting close to you and they are massively outnumbering you.

And honestly, it started to become a bit boring because of it. Even with the very likeable and interesting chars and all.
I would say, it has as similiar replay value as Xcom 1, if they improve a bit about this OP snipers. But maybe not as much as Xcom2 long war.

It's a good game, you should get it! But dont expect it to be better than Xcom2 LW. It will be different, in a positive way.

PS: I guess, it's difficulty flattens with time, when your time and gear improves and the enemy forces have a hard time to hold up with that. In Xcom, instead (at least in the LongWar mods) the difficulty managed to adjust better to your progress. Maybe even a bit too good. But this game, it is a bit too less, if you ask me. I remember JA2 as much harder than JA3...

[gribelo]

Good replay value. I guess its always good in this genre. Pretty much all similar games (and this one included) I played had good replay value. Even the same battle is never going to be exactly the same if you restart it.

Its safe to say that you will enjoy to replay it after some time if you enjoyed it in the first place.

[Triplefox]

The replayability is tied to strategy. If you play the game with a conservative style, filling out your roster and always resting and healing and training everyone to the max, then you can take most of the sectors with a team of 20+, which is very simple because they can all carry snipers and each get 1 headshot/turn, overpowering the enemies with brute force.

If you play for the speedrun achievement(one in-game month), or the solo or duo achievements, you can't use this strategy, and it can require a lot more creativity if you also aim to get good-ending slides. Just finishing one run of the campaign is the start, not the end.

[Twelvefield]

There are different endings you get depending on how you fulfil your objectives. I think I got one of the worst endings possible, Grand Chien would have been better off if I hadn't intervened. So, you can always play to get a different ending, and you do that by going through the game's quests. There are a lot of quests.

Then too you can always try approaching the game with a different set of mercs, and either set up house rules or mods to buff or nerf the various different playstyles. There is a lot of variability and creativity, although it's easy to ignore all of that and just play a set strategy like using silenced sniper rifles.

[uncle nick]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3053664599
Haha, there is no need to replay, ...if you never end the game.

Currently in Day 213 of a never ending campaign.

[Meddle92]

I played it through twice I'm in the middle of a third playthrough. Don't get me wrong the game isn't unfinished by any means but this game will get better over time they are adding an ingame weapon store next month and I have a feeling over the next year or 2 we are going to get some ingame content DLC/FLC.

[Oubley]

Originally posted by uncle nick:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3053664599
Haha, there is no need to replay, ...if you never end the game.

Currently in Day 213 of a never ending campaign.

Are the levels randomized? Or is it essentially a linear campgain?

Someone said battles won't be the same.... Why won't they be the same?

[uncle nick]

Originally posted by Oubley:

Are the levels randomized? Or is it essentially a linear campgain?

Someone said battles won't be the same.... Why won't they be the same?

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3093958711
Currently at Day 356, $5.8 million in funds.

It's the same campaign, same map levels; but battles are dependent on outposts spawning attack squads, diamond and weapon shipments.

The attack squads are spawning from Corazon island and F7 outpost. Attack squads comprise of Corazon hired mercs with random weapon class. The last squad encountered in combat comprise of 2 Guards and 3 Ordnance Experts, all with high end weapons, equipment and American accents. I think the vanilla game scales up their composition depending on your merc's skill levels. Combat is different everytime, the Corazon hired mercs deploy into the map level, then conduct their advance to contact patrol. For example at Flee Town, what they do seems to be random. ie sometimes they patrol and stop at the docks, sometimes at the mansion gate, sometimes at the Northern entrance of the market.

The diamond and weapon shipments are coming from the East. These are Legion attack squads, again like the Corazon mercs, they are scaled up according to your merc skill levels. Since all my mercs are mostly around level 6-9, the enemy difficulty, class and loadout is higher end, and they do almost always return fire during the repositioning phase of combat. No two actual combat encounters are ever the same.

[Noobiecanoobie]

Originally posted by Oubley:

Are the levels randomized? Or is it essentially a linear campgain?
Someone said battles won't be the same.... Why won't they be the same?

I'm nearing the end of 4th play through now. Even the unavoidable battles turn out differently each time, partly by the game and partly by the way I play. Also, it's much more fun to replay than create a never ending scenario. Starting out with a small inexperienced squad and leveling up perks and weapons is more satisfying. The game is certainly not a linear campaign. As with any story, there is a early game, mid game and end game. Even the final three critical battles can be played in different order with more consequence than order itself.

Some things the game does:
Different enemy spawn locations and patrol points. Nothing is static or frozen in time.
Different routes for mobile enemy groups. You'll end up doing battles in different sectors.
Some adventure choices cause different combats at different times with consequences.

Some things from my own play through:
Enter sector from different directions as you're traveling to and from different locations.
Play with different mercs. Each has different skills, strengths, weaknesses and conflicts.
Play with few or many, play with paid or free.
Play with ranged weapons. Last play through had a team of 3 with focus on sniper scouts. This time I'm focusing on melee.
Play with different weapons like more explosives, mortars and machine guns vs rifles.
Play with save scumming to make that critical shot or accept the results and deal with injuries and losses.

[uncle nick]

The only major difference with the never ending playthru, and starting a new game ...is whether you want the mercs to keep existing skills, or lose all their skill levels & perks and re-start fresh.

At anytime, i can continue playing the game to the very end like a normal game; but i will lose all the merc's levelled up skills and perks.