I'm finding this a really enjoyable game, with enough changed from EU/EW to make it worth being a new game, but enough the same that familiarity helps you out - within limits.

The one downside to me first of all - performance issues. The game claims to detect appropriate configuration settings for your system. It seems to be rather... optimistic, shall we say. If you're getting performance issues, turn things down. The game wants to use a lot of shiny graphics effects, and they really push a GPU. Turned a couple of things down or off, and it runs nicely for me now.

I've seen a lot of concern about the time limits on missions. I'm not sure what proportion of mission types have turn limits, but it seems like most missions have turn limits of some sort. Most of them are not "complete mission in this time", that's only on some forced evac missions. Most are "achieve main objective in this time". The turn limits don't force you to completely rush, but they prevent you from overwatch camping the whole time - which is probably the point. Even retaliations, the new version of terror missions, feels more highly pressured, because you need to rescue a minimum number of civis for the mission to be successful, and it's not a small number. I find the extra challenge of this stimulating, and I'm not one to play on high difficulties.

Combat works mostly like EU/EW, but with various little changes which are all to the better. Melee attacks - from the Ranger's sword or the Skulljack, for instance - put a new spin on things, and the fact you can take a move as part of the same action makes them much more useful. you can even choose which suitable adjacent tile to make the attaack from, which is handy - beware using the slash or skulljack command from the command bar, it will pick a tile for you, and while it appears to try to do it intelligently, it's often questionable. Reloading no longer ends turn (though does use an action), so if you are in a protracted firefight, thus not moving, you can stay where you are, reload and shoot.

The strategy level feels more pressured too. There's more going on, and soldiers will be injured through multiple missions early on. The new doom tracker, the Avatar Project, feels like an extra pressure as well. It keeps plugging along, and you need to beat it. I haven't beaten it yet, so I'm not sure if I'm keeping pace well enough, but it feels tough. It feels like I can't just farm, I need to actually push forward with the plot at all times. You're always doing something useful, of course, but you are called to do missions more often than you can manage with experienced troops by month 2, in my experience. Still, trying to get rookies through missions then increases your bench strength.

And as always, rookies are handy for one major thing... "rookie, take point!"

Graphics are a considerable improvement over EU/EW, in my opinion. More realist, less action figure/cartoony, with more fidelity generally. That's true even with various things turned down a bit.

I have no hesitation recommending this game, as long as you do actually meet the minimum requirements for system spec.

I'm finding this a really enjoyable game, with enough changed from EU/EW to make it worth being a new game, but enough the same that familiarity helps you out - within limits. The one downside to me first of all - performance issues. The game claims to detect appropriate configuration settings for your system. It seems to be rather... optimistic, shall we say. If you're getting performance issues, turn things down. The game wants to use a lot of shiny graphics effects, and they really push a GPU. Turned a couple of things down or off, and it runs nicely for me now. I've seen a lot of concern about the time limits on missions. I'm not sure what proportion of mission types have turn limits, but it seems like most missions have turn limits of some sort. Most of them are not "complete mission in this time", that's only on some forced evac missions. Most are "achieve main objective in this time". The turn limits don't force you to completely rush, but they prevent you from overwatch camping the whole time - which is probably the point. Even retaliations, the new version of terror missions, feels more highly pressured, because you need to rescue a minimum number of civis for the mission to be successful, and it's not a small number. I find the extra challenge of this stimulating, and I'm not one to play on high difficulties. Combat works mostly like EU/EW, but with various little changes which are all to the better. Melee attacks - from the Ranger's sword or the Skulljack, for instance - put a new spin on things, and the fact you can take a move as part of the same action makes them much more useful. you can even choose which suitable adjacent tile to make the attaack from, which is handy - beware using the slash or skulljack command from the command bar, it will pick a tile for you, and while it appears to try to do it intelligently, it's often questionable. Reloading no longer ends turn (though does use an action), so if you are in a protracted firefight, thus not moving, you can stay where you are, reload and shoot. The strategy level feels more pressured too. There's more going on, and soldiers will be injured through multiple missions early on. The new doom tracker, the Avatar Project, feels like an extra pressure as well. It keeps plugging along, and you need to beat it. I haven't beaten it yet, so I'm not sure if I'm keeping pace well enough, but it feels tough. It feels like I can't just farm, I need to actually push forward with the plot at all times. You're always doing something useful, of course, but you are called to do missions more often than you can manage with experienced troops by month 2, in my experience. Still, trying to get rookies through missions then increases your bench strength. And as always, rookies are handy for one major thing... "rookie, take point!" Graphics are a considerable improvement over EU/EW, in my opinion. More realist, less action figure/cartoony, with more fidelity generally. That's true even with various things turned down a bit. I have no hesitation recommending this game, as long as you do actually meet the minimum requirements for system spec.