A substantial improvement on the classic XCOM formula, both at the strategic and tactical level. Encounters are much more engaging, with smaller maps more conducive to unique and fun situations. Lots of clutter was removed from the strategic campaign, limiting the roster to a comely set of distinct characters instead of tens- or even hundreds- of flat, personality-less characters that could be broadly broken down into a subset of archetypes. Contrary to my expectation, XCOM: Chimera squad allows for _more_ squad variety than previous entries.