@mrbubbles: Again, the same question, how is that artificial? Why should they have found a different way of making the game difficult? What's wrong with adding a turn timer to increase difficulty? It's effective, it adds tension and it's thematically appropriate for the setting. I get that maybe you don't like it but that doesn't make it artificial. That's not what artificial means.

@dgtlty: If I could give you a few tips:

Get as far towards the objective as you can while setting up an ambush on the first squad of enemies you see. Try to really make that ambush count and wipe them out or at least try to kill one or two enemies completely so you keep moving. Hopefully those first enemies aren't tying you up for more than a turn.

Then just keep pushing towards the objective. Like others are saying here, the Specialist can hack remotely but he needs line of sight. So have a specialist and push him towards that objective ASAP.

Also I really recommend checking out and using the gear at your disposal. Some of my favorites are the flash bang (outstanding for that first ambush and limiting damage enemies can do to you as you are pushing towards an objective) and the equipment MVP for me is the Mimic Beacon, which basically will make an enemy squad waste an entire turn attacking nothing if you do it right. Try those and see if they don't help you out. They can certainly give you room to dick enemies around while you make your way to the objective.

at first i hated them, but as i've learned how to play the game better i think they are probably essential

I've always loved the Xcom games until Xcom2. The turn limits and the pressure in the missions to move faster totally kills the game for me. I was ready to buy it until I saw the gameplay. People say "It's not that hard" etc, but that's not the point. I enjoyed the previous incarnations because I could explore the battleground at my leisure and snipe at the enemy. The very existence of the artificial urgency is a total turn off.

It's sad that Xcom had gone in this direction. Another old favourite destroyed.

@vwsinger: wait...you haven't played it?

Because it's fine. It's hard, but not because of the time limit. That literally never once came into play for me.

@vwsinger: I thought the same and picked it up on sale 2 weeks ago and it is really a great game. You just can't sit in one spot overwatching all the time which made me actually get better at XCOM.

It's the same as the meld in EW.

Don't like them. I prefer the original (and the original to that) to the sequel. In the sequel, it feels like, you have to be a mean, lean, killing machine from the get go. No room for mistakes... and... I dunno, I'm just not feeling it, but maybe I'll jump back into it one of these days.

I especially hater timers when the AI is bringing in extra forces, since you have no way to know how many and when it will end. Timers could work but I feel like they're not properly implemented.