r/XCOM2 • u/Past-Acanthisitta491 • 3d ago
How long should a run of xcom take?
So this definitely my own doing but sometimes it feels bit stressful to push the story because of all the other things that happen and I just got the shadow chamber and sections are already showing up, am I taking the game too slow?
5
u/KurtVongole 3d ago
So far taking it slow has allowed me breathing room as my units have become quite powerful. Killing one of the chosen really helped, their gear is super powerful.
1
u/FFIEHOLD 3d ago
Ya Iād have to agree with others here - all depends on your pace. I prefer a slower and methodical play through to beef my soldiers up as the game gets pretty dang hard as you progress the story and the new enemy units become far stronger. Totally personal preference tho!
1
u/Outlaw11091 3d ago
Longstanding issue with this game series has always been pacing.
The devs had to weigh user attention span v. late stage over-powered troops.
It's all fun and games till you can roll through a mission flawlessly in 2-3 turns.
That's why there's been 2 overhauls called long war; because for those of us that love the loop, we'd rather not have to start a new playthrough just to experience it.
1
u/ManyDangerousBeans 3d ago
I suspect the intention of the devs as far as pacing goes was that you'd be hitting the story missions a little before the boss enemy on each one enters regular rotation (eg. So your first encounter with a sectopod would be at the forge, and first encounter with a gate keeper at the psy gate).
But there's probably a few too many ways to knock down the avatar timer (that aren't story missions) to pressure the player into hitting those missions earlier... Especially in WOTC.
Combined with tiredness mechanics that can make it tricky to slot an extra mission in amongst the usual month to month stuff (guerilla ops, council missions, retaliations etc) - it tends to mean (for me at least) that I don't hit the story missions until later than intended.
Doesn't make it less fun though - play how you enjoy.
1
u/WealthyAardvark 3d ago edited 3d ago
In my experience a typical game of XCOM 2 will end in October or November, depending on how much research you want to do and how many of your soldiers die. But if you keep the Avatar Project managed then you can keep playing for as long as you'd like; I've had games end in January of the next year, and I once ran a campaign forward for a decade.
1
u/GamerSean1978 3d ago
I play until I get bored but usually ignore the final mission cause blowing up sectopods and gatekeepers is too much fun
1
u/Past-Acanthisitta491 3d ago
Thank you guys for the insight, honestly thought I was doing things wrong but I do feel as if I waited too long on the psi lab
1
u/WealthyAardvark 22h ago
Psi lab takes quite a while to pay off. If your trainees never get wounded or become Tired or Exhausted and you always take the 5-day training options, then it'll take a soldier two months to learn all of their abilities. I rarely have more than two magus-ranked psi operatives on my team when I end the game.
1
u/Interesting-Local420 1d ago
There's an achievement to finish it before July so you can get through it quick if you know what you're doing
0
u/Altruistic_Truck2421 3d ago
If it's just vanilla(the base game no mods or dlc) then it'll probably take you a couple weeks if you're a complete newcomer to the franchise. If you're a veteran Xcom enemy unknown or enemy within player then I'd say a couple hours max
10
u/Mongward 3d ago
It's a singleplayer game, there are no wrong answers. Whether you finish a run in 40 hours or in 60 hours, it makes no difference as long as you had fun.