Replayability
Like chess, strategy games are always a haven for gamers that love to milk a lot of hours out of each game. For both these titles, there are way too many different scenarios that can occur in one playthrough that you’ll never see in another.
For Phoenix Point, a lot of the distinct scenarios you’ll find yourself in will revolve around the factions you choose to help and hurt.
Depending on your decisions, dialogue and some gameplay – like raiding vs. trading – will change drastically, especially if you piss off those crazy zealots, Disciples of Anu.
While you will find a lot of reused assets and structures, there is also plenty of variation when it comes to missions in Phoenix Point as well. This is thanks in part to the aforementioned evolving enemies, which make just about every battle unique and difficult.
The only thing that Phoenix Point really fails to do though is provide much of a difference with its difficulties, as Normal isn’t groundbreakingly different in comparison to Legend. That is where XCOM 2 shines.
In XCOM 2, the difficulty settings difference create a whole new game. Deciding to choose a higher difficulty results in less aim assist and more armor, meaning that planning scenarios are more important than even when going into battle.
Even if you do decide to play on lower levels, there is still hundreds of hours of missions to complete across multiple playthroughs.
It is because of that difficulty difference that XCOM 2 squeaks out a victory in this category since it can please both casual and hardcore fans alike.
Winner: XCOM 2
