Wasteland 2: Director's Cut

Combat is tedious, event and hit chances are laughably broken, and it ruins the game. I've started the game twice now and can only get through a few hours before I rage quit from the 5% "gun jam" event showing up on about 1/8 shots, and the 60%+ to-hit chance means that realistically about 1 in 5 attacks will hit.

Fun, if sometimes janky, RPG in the combat style of XCOM.

I love this game. Perfect!!

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Shaky, yet still a wholla lotta gratifyin' goin' on. Let's quickly put your doubts at rest: It's a true inXile game, it crashes at least once an hour, often more. At least as much as the Director's Uncut, or whatever you call the version the director was forced to release at gunpoint. Differences in terms of stories and events are not obvious to me. The obvious upgrade is the looting interface: Most doors and containers now have several ways of being opened, and they are all preset as a shortcut when you inspect the object. That's neat and saves you quite a lot of clicks. Incidentally, that also makes the adventure easier to solo (clearly not the intended way to play, but an old tradition for challenging replays.) Perks have been added to character progress, including a few good ones. From now on, my comments concern both the DC and original versions. The game has a huge flaw: An enormous chunk of my playtime (possibly half of it ?) is spent waiting. Waiting during load screens, in particular after crashes or critical failures. And waiting for interaction progress bars that constantly waste my time on purpose, again and again, ad nauseam. It's a nasty feature, and it's justified only once in the entire game, in a stealth section (without stealth mechanics) that requires you to disarm and unlock things as quickly as possible to avoid patrols. Anywhere else, it's just gratuitous pain. Mechanics are RNG-based nearly everywhere, instead of using classic and reliable thresholds. It's one root of the super-flaw mentioned above, and to several others, albeit to a lesser degree of annoyance. Thus the loot is a constant lottery, and not a smart one; it doesn't roll between things of similar values; one can be a hundred times worthier than another, for the same container. Another example is weapon stripping, with a higher skill amplifying randomness instead of letting you select whatever mod you are looking for. Character creation is good and so is the intro, the hook. First impressions always go a long way. Excellent presentation as well, good-looking and amply voiced. Exploration is interesting, with some memorable locations. It's semi-open, more Metroidvania style than open world, which keeps the challenge levels in check. Quest-givers and quests are abundant, as well as opportunities for tactical or moral decisions, to which consequences are fairly clear in advance. Combat is also abundant, varied, tactically rich enough, and fairly vivid for a turn-based system. Its interface is clear and simple, with all necessary indicators for movement, covers, areas of effect, interactables, and so on. It's nearly perfect. The imperfection is the camera's propensity to miss what matters during an enemy phase. The weakness of combat is strong weapon unbalance. While snipers and melee dominate the field, SMGs or heavy weapons, for example, bring nothing to the table, like half a lettuce to a barbecue. The flawed Stats/Skills system of Wasteland and Fallout still favours Intelligence indecently. You do want those skills points when you level up. Regardless, mechanics make Charisma useful beyond lowering prices, in an attempt to render it combat-worthy. It uses a radius of influence, a skill to rein in disobedient companions, and a perk to disturb enemies. On the other hand, companions that often do whatever they want in the midst of combat, instead of waiting for your orders, bring an amusing level of chaos, even when they zigzag like cretins without attempting anything, or when they go area of effect with no care in the world for friendly fire. (Thinking of it... I haven't tried a companions-only squad, with no leadership; now I'm curious.) By the way, there is a small incentive to recruit people, but none to actually use them once your team is full and balanced, which happens early enough. Minor remarks about the skills: - You meet a fair number of suffering people whom your medic isn't allowed to help in any professional capacity. Several of them even ask, not for painkillers, but to be put out of their misery. I don't know, I've never met a doctor who shoots their patients first and diagnoses them later. Must be an Arizona tradition. - Animal followers are more trouble than help, have a very short life expectancy, yet are hard to replace. - Stripping weapons will make you rich early. - Brute force will break your legs a thousand times, as you always try to kick down doors, literally, instead of using the crowbar you're holding. And brick walls too. The frustration is strong in this one, yet the game manages to be thoroughly entertaining. Interesting stories and colourful characters indeed, enjoyable shoot-outs for sure, though the biggest appeal might simply be the physical handling of the puppets in itself, so satisfying, addictive.

I liked it enough to back the sequel's Kickstarter---err Fig campaign.

as absolute boring chore to get through, terrible writing combat and encounter design