Shen’s Last Gift DLC for XCOM 2 released for Linux

This is the first DLC that actually looks like it's worth the admission price.

Also, the performance improvements in the patch, while seemingly minor, could have a big impact, especially the one bug that was apparently causing some effects to render twice per frame.

So this DLC adds part of what XCOM:Enemy Within added, minus the genetically enhanced soldiers and other stuff that EW had. I wonder if next we'll get the enhanced soldiers, too.

I sure hope so, that was my favorite part of Enemy Within!

Every time I'd gene mod someone my brain would start concocting these stories about how on earth, after the war had been won, these veteran soldiers would integrate back into civilian life: the man who could leap three stories in a single bound. The woman who could sense other creature's electromagnetic fields. The person with two hearts, or the one able to make rage-inducing pheromones. Would these genetic modifications be passed on to their kids, or would it require additional Meld to do so? So much rich food for thought…

This is the first DLC that actually looks like it's worth the admission price.

Also, the performance improvements in the patch, while seemingly minor, could have a big impact, especially the one bug that was apparently causing some effects to render twice per frame.

Performance improvements would be great!

So this DLC adds part of what XCOM:Enemy Within added, minus the genetically enhanced soldiers and other stuff that EW had. I wonder if next we'll get the enhanced soldiers, too.

Yeah, still waiting for the complete game and hoping it will end up being a coherent, flowing game instead of a mess with all these little DLCs all over. I hope they fall into place to create the full picture of what this game is supposed to be.

You can already change soldiers with mind powers, has been in XCOM 2 since day 1. They are Psi Operative soldiers.

The update broke mod support (again), though. Waiting for the update that fixes this update; my longplay saves are useless now.

Is there any official comment about mod support ? Coz they don't work for me as well ...

It is a full game without any DLCs.

It's a working game without, but did you play Xcom (1) before and after the Enemy Within DLC? There was every reason to wait until after EW to play it, to get the full Xcom experience. And starting the campaign all over again midway because of this was bloody annoying.

So I agree with SwiftPaw, unfortunately this franchise delivers the game in chunks for us to stich together before playing it like it was meant to be.


Last edited by Beamboom on 14 July 2016 at 7:39 am UTC

Personally I liked the basic XCOM, and so XCOM:EW was more like a second full game for me -- I find it as a reasonable compromise between development time and user expectations. I had three playthroughs on basic XCOM and then several attempts with EW and LW :) Loved everyone of them. Now, I think that the new XCOM2 DLCs really dont add anything what mods did not add already, so they are more optional and dont really justify the price and time it took to deliver. Modded XCOM2 is as good (or even better) as DLCled one.

It's a working game without, but did you play Xcom (1) before and after the Enemy Within DLC?

No, it's still a complete game. Calling it otherwise assumes that content was ripped away which has no substantiation in reality at all. This is why the portrait analogy is terrible. And saying that it was meant to be played with all the post launch content distorts the development process.

I played both XCOM 1 & 2 at launch and at no point did I think there was anything missing from the experience that made it unfulfilling. Yes EW added interesting toys to play with but both the mechanics and the story of the base game were more than sufficient to create a strong following for the game before that. I played dozen of hours enjoying the original experience without ever feeling that I *needed* what was to come later in the expansion (and obviously didn't know about). That developers improve upon their game with time and availability of additional resources should not be taken as an indication that they're selling a game piecemeal but rather that continuing success allows them to strike out in new and different directions.

Any game that has had more content added for free or via paid dlc months or years after launch falls into the same category. Terraria is a very different game today than it was at launch and a whole slew of new content exists for it that I don't think even the biggest fan would have imagined possible. Is it complete now? Was it complete a year or two earlier? If so, when did it become complete? With the PDS games of the last few years you can ask the same question: at which point does the extra development time made possible by the success of the game stop qualifying as part of the 'complete' experience and when does it start counting as extra? Surely players of CK2 at launch had no expectations that India would one day be added in an expansion or that there would be a start date with Charlemagne.

Ultimately if you feel something is not worth your money, you're always free not to buy it. It's just that the claim that something is missing or otherwise removed and creates an otherwise incomplete experience without having evidence of intent is spurious reasoning at best. Especially when the basis of those observations comes from hindsight rather than from criticisms at the moment. If you're unhappy with a game when it launches, it's fair to criticize it for not living up to your expectations. But to criticize the original product for things that were added later and no one expected really expected them to be there in the first place? That's just outright illogical and unfair. While it has a lot in common with its predecessor visually and mechanically, XCOM 2 is very different in terms of presentation, classes and with a lot of its core gameplay and so you can't assume a 1:1 translation of content.

Here's a tortured analogy of my own to cap off my point: if you go to a cafe and have a slice of delicious pie, you'll probably be all good and happy. If the next time you're around they offer you the same pie with a scoop of an equally delicious ice cream on top for extra money it doesn't make the basic pie any less tasty or not worthwhile :P

With all that said: there's plenty of room for debate as to when something is just a cashgrab or not. And plenty of developers abuse their customers and provide subpar experiences without all the extra bells and whistles. But that's a whole different can of worms to open and the assumption here is that the basic product is great by itself.

No, it's still a complete game. Calling it otherwise assumes that content was ripped away which has no substantiation in reality at all.

That's a bold claim. Very bold. Unless you're part of the project and knows. Cause yeah, that's what I assume. I assume the features in EW was designed and implemented all along the development process of the main game, with the intention of being included in a DLC, but developed along the way and could - if they so chose - have been included on release day.

There even was empty room in the user interface for the new features, especially the smaller ones regarding administrating/equipping your soldiers. It became so obvious to me when I installed the DLC and everything magically fitted straight into the game like hand in a glove.

I don't know this of course. Can't prove anything. But the content looked very, very held back for DLC purposes.
And quite frankly, from a developer perspective - it pretty obviously is.


Last edited by Beamboom on 14 July 2016 at 5:49 pm UTC

@Swiftpaaw
You continue to miss the point entirely: there is no necessarily complete experience and that's the case with most video games these days as developers will continue to add stuff until it is no longer profitable to do so. Waiting is your prerogative but implying that something is half-baked or incomplete without actually experiencing things is disingenuous. Your so-called "complete experience" is not necessarily radically different nor does it necessarily follow a master plan by the developer in terms of vision and design.

I assume the features in EW was designed and implemented all along the development process of the main game, with the intention of being included in a DLC, but developed along the way and could - if they so chose - have been included on release day.

It could very well be that some or all of the ideas in EW were discussed during the original development process. Any project with a target date and limited budget will often see ideas scrapped because they can't be implemented at all or don't work well; sometimes we see hints of this in the form of unused assets and remnants in code. But your certainty that it was cut or that it was wholly conceived beforehand because of DLC purposes is a far bolder claim than mine. I can't defend Firaxis or any other developer on the basis of mere speculation of their intent but my post set out to address two things that were being complained about generally: 1) The nature of expanded content, paid or free, in modern games and 2) Whether or not XCOM 1 & 2 felt like coherent, fun experiences without any extra content.

I can definitely see where you're coming from but I hope that you can also see how and why others would disagree when you simplify a game to some arbitrary standard of completeness. It's why I asked the questions later on in my earlier post about when a game is complete. It's my belief when you're talking whether or not a game is good you should judge it by how it is at the moment, not at how it might be a year or two later and with the benefit of hindsight. By general opinion of people who have played the game, XCOM 2 is not just a working game but it's a complete game that's mighty fun to play.

It may sound academic but it's not really. Liam hated the previous DLC and didn't feel it added anything good to the game (and I felt the preceding anarchy's children was useless as well) but you can't fault the original game for that. Criticism of any product must be in its due context at its current time. Which is why game reviews are seldom updated after they're initially published.

I can definitely see where you're coming from but I hope that you can also see how and why others would disagree when you simplify a game to some arbitrary standard of completeness. It's why I asked the questions later on in my earlier post about when a game is complete. It's my belief when you're talking whether or not a game is good you should judge it by how it is at the moment, not at how it might be a year or two later and with the benefit of hindsight. By general opinion of people who have played the game, XCOM 2 is not just a working game but it's a complete game that's mighty fun to play.

I understand your point of view and technically you are of course right: It was a "full" game, and it was a good game.
To put it this way: Had the DLCs never been released, would I then describe them as "complete games"? Yes, yes I would. Not only would I describe them as complete, but very good. As they are. And I'd never know what I missed out on.

All I am saying is that I can only describe how I felt when I installed the DLCs. And that was that this, now, was the complete game, how they had envisioned it. The pieces fell in place, the picture was complete. It was clearly a better game, the additions were real and provided a wider experience. And above all, it was damn annoying that the content wasn't there at first cause I had now come so far into the campaign that restarting with noob soldiers and the same story all over again was really pretty damn frustrating after I had built up my squad as good as I had during the first, non-DLCed playthrough.

So this time around I won't do that same mistake. This time I want ALL the content before I start playing. I want the complete experience! And it should have been included with the main game. That I insist on. :)

And btw, I'd probably rate this franchise as the best franchise on Linux so far. They are stellar.


Last edited by Beamboom on 14 July 2016 at 10:19 pm UTC

@Beamboom
Like I've said, it's fair enough to want to wait. I often do the same for games that are clearly released in a poor state or where they announce big expansions right away. I get it. It's just annoying to see people be dismissive in general about games just because there's DLC out or planned. Whether or not something is to be recommended or fun shouldn't depend on what's on the horizon! ;)

Ultimately, I'll admit it's a pet peeve of mine. As a gamer I think we complain too much about silly things sometimes. I'd rather we focus our animosity on developers who don't deliver on ports or are terrible at communication.

All that said, in this case, in particular, I'm not sure this is stuff that should have been included in the base game. It feels like an afterthought and doesn't really mesh well with the main theme of the game. And content-wise, it's all small potatoes compared to the beefy EW expansion. But that's my opinion as someone who has been playing the game on and off since launch. Since there's no more announced content AFAIK, you should be able to get your 'complete' experience now. It's my personal hope that they'll announce a proper expansion pack at some point though. Seems like an obvious choice given the game's success.