History YMMV / XCOM2

* EightPointEight:
** ''XCOM 2'' got an average of 9 from most reviewers (with Eurogamer giving it a Essential 10/10). [[http://www.egmnow.com/articles/reviews/xcom-2-review/ EGM Now]] gave it 7.5, citing [[NintendoHard its difficulty]] for the [[ItsHardSoItSucks lowered score]].
** Website/GiantBomb also caused some minor backlash with Dan Ryckert's 3/5 star review, citing technical issues of which a great many do exist, and for the reviewer himself, appeared to be a constant thorn in his side. Many complained about him playing on the easiest difficulty, although it wasn't a sticking point in the review.

* DracoInLeatherPants: Much like the lesser Vipers, the Viper King sometimes gets this treatment. He gets a lot of sympathy from the fact that he [[spoiler: appears to be sentient, was held captive and experimented on by [[TortureTechnician Dr. Vahlen]], and that "The Nest" story mission requires killing hordes of his offspring and his mates.]] This interpretation tends to gloss over the fact he and his offspring are instantly hostile to any and all humans, and that his cave easily has over a hundred human skulls on display, far more humans than Vahlen ever had assisting her.

** The bug of sniper rifles being fired like pistols returns from the first game, only now UpToEleven [[http://gfycat.com/WearyVastDolphin since pistols are fired one-handed]].

* UncannyValley:

** During the Viper autopsy, Tygan notes InUniverse that the combination of reptile and human features is surprisingly unsettling.

* TheScrappy: The Warlock is probably the most universally hated out of the three Chosen. His insufferable demeanor, cliched fanaticism, loyalty to an obvious villain, and pretentious preaching are pretty much all that define his personality (compared to the stoic, neutral statements from the Assassin and brutal, somewhat charming honesty of the Hunter), no to mention that his KnightTemplar attitude hits a bit too close to home for some. This also factors into his DirtyCoward gameplay strategy, as he almost ''never'' moves from his spawning point, which is at the opposite end of the map with the most cover, and constantly spawns Mooks that are more capable of slowing soldiers down compared to the Assassin's and Hunter's single strikes. This however, has the unintended benefit of making The Warlock the most ''satisfying'' of The Chosen to kill, aided by his VillainousBreakdown.

** The Chosens' ability to gain advantages as fought can get annoying as they stack on all kinds of immunities and abilities. Immunity to Overwatch, immunity to explosives, inflicting Will loss on XCOM troops attacking them, gaining defence for every miss... these are just a handful of the potentially extremely aggravating abilities they can gain.

** The Tactical Legacy Pack DLC provides us with Firaxis' own remake of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbftQpzIyUk the classic "Intercept" music]] of ''VideoGame/{{XCOM}}''. It's as old-school as it gets and definitely deserves the "awesome" label.

** The new design for Bradford has been nicknamed [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain Punished Bradford]] ([[BossSubtitles A man deprived of his sweater]]) by some of the fans.

*** The FoeYay tones of the Ethereals when talking about the Commander, same as Harbinger's.

** "The Most Dangerous Game". It seems simple enough - win a multiplayer match. However, the multiplayer was effectively dead on arrival, making it hard enough to find matches even then. And even if you manage to find someone online this long after release, you still have to beat them and hope the achievement pops.

** Several portions of ''Enemy Within'' involving the Base Defense had already redeemed Bradford in the eyes of many. As of ''XCOM 2'', despite his annoying tendencies during missions, [[FrontlineGeneral his actions at the start of the game]] [[TookALevelInBadass have made him more well-liked]].

** Although ''Enemy Within'' made some attempt to give [[MissionControl Central Officer Bradford]] more badass credentials, ''2'' completely turns his character around. Twenty years of alien-occupied hell have turned the by-the-book and occasionally naïve comms officer into a grizzled, badass [[ColonelBadass Colonel-level]] Ranger armed with an AceCustom drum-fed {{BFG}}.

** Ayybominations/Pectoids/[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure Pillar Sectoids]] for the Sectoids; Ayys for the aliens in general.

** {{Music/DMX}}'s song "X Gon' Give It To Ya" has gained some notoriety in the XCOM community due to "X Gon'" being a {{Mondegreen}} for "XCOM", and has been used in several fan videos. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU_QI61YI5g This]] is a prime example. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRJ7eCiWY7M A mix]] has also emerged. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P3rj0v8Vfc Then someone merged the two.]]

** The Alien Hunters DLC introduces the three "Ruler" aliens, that [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules act differently than every other enemy in the game]]. While some players like the addition, because it requires you to be careful and much more proactive to not get utterly destroyed by them, others despise it for the exact same reason because it essentially locks you into one style of play until the Rulers are all dead. It isn't even entirely clear what the new rules are other than they get extra actions sometimes but ''not always'' when your soldiers do things.[[note]]In 'War of the Chosen' it was changed so they get an action when they ''see'' one of your soldiers take an action of their own, not including "neutral" actions like reloading. If you take actions out of their line of sight, they won't respond.[[/note]]
*** The plot of the Alien Hunters DLC is nonsense on many, many levels. The most obvious question is "How did a lone human scientist with minimal equipment make insanely powerful versions of organisms and their equipment, that are tougher than a literal tank and can move at least seven times faster than any other being that exists"? But also, how is it that the Rulers can cheat the system like that anyway? How do completely alien species have the ability to passively mind control terrestrial reptiles? How can fragile-looking viper rulers shrug off punishment that shouldn't have just killed it, but literally vaporized it? How did Vahlen give them teleportation powers? If they had disregarded the plot to make wildly popular and well-balanced new enemies it would have been acceptable. With how bad the new Ruler mechanics were, though, most felt the whole DLC was very poorly executed all-around.

** The Alien Rulers from the ''Alien Hunters'' DLC get to make "Ruler Reactions" that interrupt XCOM's turn, [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules breaking the "I go, you go" turn sequence followed by everything else in the franchise.]] Fire at a Ruler, it takes an aaction. Throw a grenade, it takes an action. Take out another ADVENT troop? It takes an action. Like the timed missions above, there's a mod to remove this mechanic from the expansion because it ticks so many people off, and "Ruler Reactions" are probably why ''Alien Hunters'' is the only ''Enemy Unknown'' or ''XCOM 2'' DLC not to have a Positive reivew score on Steam.

* NauseaFuel: Like Vahlen's alien autopsies in ''Enemy Unknown'', Tygan's alien autopsies are... not for the squeamish. That every other movement of his splatters the camera with AlienBlood isn't the problem, but the disgusting "squish" sounds the corpses make constantly, interspersed with the snapping of bones, can be hard to stomach.

* NauseaFuel: Tygan's alien autopsies are... not for the squeamish. That every other movement of his splatters the camera with orange blood isn't the problem, but the disgusting "squish" sounds the corpses make constantly, interspersed with the snapping of bones, can be hard to stomach.

** The prevalence of timed missions with limited turns is also a point of contention. The two usual camps have been set up, one saying it is key to the tense mood of the game, the other an annoying ScrappyMechanic that should be at least be made optional to turn off. Also, one of the intentions of introducing turn limits was to discourage players from turtling up and crafting elaborate overwatch traps and just sitting and waiting for the aliens to come to them, [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome which they often did in EU and EW]], but many fans complain that enforcing a more-aggressive playstyle in such a ham-fisted way is needlessly restrictive and clumsy. The ''War of the Chosen'' expansion gives you multiple ways to extend these timers (including two options set before starting a new campaign), [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap to the relief]] [[AndTheFandomRejoiced of the detractors]].

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Xcom/comments/7oqwyq/xcoms_methods_are_unsavoury_and_i_fear_for_the/ As a reddit post points out]], XCOM are now either a heroic [[LaResistance resistance against earth's occupation]], or [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters a terrorist organization]] who, while having noble goals, [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized will stop at nothing to see them through, collateral damage, civilian casualties and ensuing chaos be damned.]]

** The writing in the ''War of the Chosen'' DLC. Some people like the sophisticated way the Chosen speak, especially as they [[BossBanter condescendingly taunt the Commander at every turn]] both in the AO and in the ''Avenger'', as it makes it the more satisfying to [[RecurringBoss defeat them until they return later]]. Others are turned off by the Chosen's [[PurpleProse long-winded, forced poetic style of speech]] and non-stop dialogue that they speak at every turn in the game, forcing the game to stop until they finish speaking. Since there is no way to disable the Chosen voices by default, [[https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1137638215 a mod called "Hush Little Chosen" exists]] to shut up the Chosen for those who cannot stand their dialogue.

** The prevalence of timed missions with limited turns is also a point of contention. The two usual camps have been set up, one saying it is key to the tense mood of the game, the other an annoying ScrappyMechanic that should be at least be made optional to turn off. Also, one of the intentions of introducing turn limits was to discourage players from turtling up and crafting elaborate overwatch traps and just sitting and waiting for the aliens to come to them, [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome which they often did in EU and EW]], but many fans complain that enforcing a more-aggressive playstyle in such a ham-fisted way is needlessly restrictive and clumsy.

** The writing in the ''War of the Chosen'' DLC. Some people like the sophisticated way the Chosen speak, especially as they [[BossBanter condescendingly taunt the Commander at every turn]] both in the AO and in the ''Avenger'', as it makes it the more satisfying to [[RecurringBoss defeat them until they return later]]. Others are turned off by the Chosen's [[PurpleProse long-winded style of speech]] and non-stop dialogue that they speak at every turn in the game, forcing the game to stop until they finish speaking. Since there is no way to disable the Chosen voices by default, [[https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1137638215 a mod called "Hush Little Chosen" exists]] to shut up the Chosen for those who cannot stand their dialogue.

** The final mission involves you [[spoiler:having to fight your way through a massive map holding a whopping 20+ enemies (most maps on their hardest difficulties only have 11 or so enemies). Not only that, but when you trigger the final boss fight, you have to kill not one, but '''three''' Avatars who will constantly be teleporting around the map and spamming psionic abilities. Meanwhile, the portals in the room are constantly spawning endless waves of enemies every turn, meaning that if you take too long to kill the Avatars, you will eventually get overrun through sheer numbers. The only real stopgap you have against such odds is the Commander himself in an Avatar, wielding a devastating Psionic Rift attack that can catch and severely damage huge numbers of enemies at once, and even this is hampered by its lengthy cooldown time. Thankfully, the Avatars are ''always'' the first unit of their pod to move when they spawn in, and their spawn points are also fixed, so if you manage to set up a decent overwatch crossfire at the right time, the FinalBattle becomes much easier. However, this requires a lot of inside knowledge you're unlikely to have unless you know the game by heart or [[GuideDangIt read about it in a guide]].]]

** Dodge. It gives some enemies (and XCOM soldiers with the right gear) a percent chance to take partial damage from an attack. But that this chance isn't shown, and it takes priority over critting. So, even if you have a 100% chance to hit and crit, you may only end up doing a tiny amount of damage. And did we mention the AsteroidsMonster that splits when it's ''non-''fatally shot has this power? Oh, and there's ''no'' way to mitigate it in the base game except using explosives (which are limited), Combat Protocol, or psionic powers. Alien Hunters gives us the Bolt Caster...and that's it. That's the only weapon in the game and DLC that can't be dodged. Some people say they'd rather just ''miss''. Firaxis eventually acknowledged the problem and patched out Dodge on 100% hits and shots from concealed soldiers.

** The fact that Ruler Aliens move after each soldier's turn. Fire at it, it moves. Throw a grenade, it moves. Take out another ADVENT troop? Moves. Like the timed missions above, there's a mod on Steam to remove this mechanic from the expansion because it ticks so many people off; it's cited as a detriment in a large majority of negative reviews on Steam.[[note]]The Alien Hunters DLC is actually the ''only'' non-cosmetic DLC released for either ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' or ''XCOM 2'' to not have a Positive review score on Steam (the [=DLCs=] for ''VideoGame/TheBureauXCOMDeclassified'' also don't, but then again [[SoOkayItsAverage neither does the game itself]]).[[/note]]

** The resistance fighters present in some "War of the Chosen" missions are surprisingly good combatants and can do a lot of work in fighting the aliens. Unfortunately, their competence extends to gunning down any XCOM troops that get mind controlled, as well as Codices that haven't had their cloning ability countered, resulting in them duplicating like rabbits.

* SequelDifficultySpike: ''XCOM 2'' is more brutal than ''Enemy Unknown''. In the first game, Sectoids only start with the ability to buff their fellows with Mind Merge, and don't gain the ability to MindControl your units until halfway through the game. Out of the gate in ''2'', Sectoids are a much much more dangerous enemy thanks to Mindspin, which has equal chances to disorient, induce panic or outright mind control one of your units. You also have rather strict time limits on nearly every mission, the Terror mission's equivalent has a minimum of 6 civilians rescued to be a success, and an overall timer that forces you to push your way towards the game's finish line and doesn't stop counting, unlike the panic levels of old once all countries had satellite coverage, although you can counter its advance.

** Even the bread and butter ADVENT Troopers can be this. Unlike nearly every other enemy in the game, they only really concern themselves shooting at you or Overwatching, instead of wasting special abilities; in the early game on higher difficulties, where a Sectoid is no concern due to their frequent overuse of Reanimate, Troopers can kill scores of XCOM operatives if they get continually lucky with their shots. This isn't helped by the fact that they come in squads, and are usually led by Officers, whom have double the health, and can give them an aim bonus. It gets even worse late-game; where troopers get health, damage, and accuracy upgrades, not to mention grenades which they will gladly use against bunched-up soldiers.

* ThatOneAchievement: "Exquisite Timing". Complete the final mission by June 30th. On Commander or tougher. You start on March 1st. The description says July 1st, but if the ingame calendar actually hits that, the Achievement won't pop, Getting this Achievement is most certainly dependent on RandomNumberGod giving you early and frequent Engineers or Scientists, as well as the needed resources, to build the necessary facilities and complete the plot-advancing research in time. And even when you make it, the tight schedule means you'll have to take on the final mission with tier two gear at best and possibly not a full squad of Colonels. The final mission is difficult enough with full upgrades and promotions as it is, never mind being underequipped and underleveled. Oh, and just to make it ''perfect,'' you have to be playing on Commander difficulty or higher. [[FromBadToWorse And if]] you have the ''War of the Chosen'' addon installed, chances are you don't have the time and resources to take out the Chosen before your final assault, which means you'll have to fight all three of them as well before you even reach the FinalBattle.