Permadeath in the Xcom series is a bittersweet pill. Bitter because when a trooper dies, they're gone forever (and it's often your own stupid fault). Sweet because it makes the soldiers under your command, and in turn the orders you give them, matter in a way that few strategy games can rival.
Permadeath will be returning in Xcom 2, that much is certain, but it turns out we're also getting additional soldier customisation options that'll likely make that permadeath feature all the more heartbreaking when it makes an appearance.
"We've actually pushed character customisation further," Firaxis' Garth DeAngelis told PC Gamer. "You have to be able to name your characters, that's personally one of my favourite parts. You've got to create your own stories, and character customisation has been pushed. We've doubled down on character customisation. There's so much more you can do with it, there's so many more knobs you can turn now that feed into the resistance theme."
DeAngelis told the same site that players will be able to pick the gender and nationality of each soldier, and there'll be more accents coming in the sequel too: "All of that stuff that you couldn't do in Enemy Unknown gives even more agency to the player-it gives them exactly what they want."
Xcom 2 is heading to PC (sorry console owners, it's a PC-exclusive at the moment) in November. You can find out more about the game here.