Into the Breach

This game is deceptively simple and surprisingly compelling. It is probably the most refined and polished game I've ever played, with not a single aspect that doesn't contribute to the experience. From the bite-sized combat that respects your time, to the puzzle-like challenge that respects your intellect, this game gets more and more fun as you engage with the mechanics. The sprinkling of story and characters feels sparse, but very memorable. The sheer focus and originality of this game is something to be lauded. It successfully delivers a fun turn based experience even when you know what the enemy is going to do.

I've read some reviews of this game and got interested since I don't own any high end PC or Laptop, so I decided to give this game a try. My first thought before playing was, that it would be nice to have a game that I could play turn by turn while writing a thesis or so. And than I started it, and it sucked me right in. This game is so beautifully designed and so fantastically playable. So easy to learn yet so hard to master. Last thing I know is, that when I start this gem, time flies. "Just one more round...", I said to myself and after I played five more minutes, two hours passed by. Get this Game, it is almost violently delightful !!

The most essential fact you need to assimilate before playing Into The Breach is this: You will lose. Your enemy is brutal, and you're facing overwhelming odds. Even the most perfect game at the beginning can turn into a living nightmare a few islands ahead. And of course, that works in the other direction as well. Snatching an unlikely victory after looking at the battlefield for 10 minutes trying to find the most optimal pattern of attack/defense/evasion feels fantastic, and it is well worth the tort--, I mean, effort. If you've played FTL before, then you already understand. If you haven't, well... my friend, you have one hell of a ride ahead of you. Easily the best 9 bucks (at the time of writing this) you can spend right now.

Originally, I got this game for free on Epic store, but figured that it was waaay too much fun to play so far, to not pay any money to the Devs after finishing it. In some way this feels a lot like FLT - You dont need full screen to experience the whole game in its entirety, and the Art-Style is so well done, just like the Text and post- and mid-battle crys which are easy to read and understandable. Considering that this is the game that came after FTL and from the same Devs - this game is truely better in so many ways: Eventho the game is basically still played on a 2D Platform, the isometric Water/Lava And Mountains additionally to the perspective give this game much more spatial visuals and a feeling of distance, while also offering 3D gameplay like air drops, visible artillery shots, or chasms that can swallow enemies. The possible starting troups are very variable, but the fact that you can chose them and pick one specific Pilot to put in the Mech of your choice, give this game a big replayability bonus that is quite addicting and feels rewarding and in control even when you make tiny mistakes in one way or the other. Additionally, you can even randomize your entire Squad or make a custom one for additional challenges, which in my opinion increases the replayability even further. Even when I failed the very last mission on the very last island because of a single 1-damage attack, it still felt like it was an astonishing run and was motivated to retry. Having fun is all I got from Into The Breach. This is quite obviously a rogue-like, where you can unlock different starting options, but it never felt like I lost entirely, even when half of my squad was wiped, because the pilots will be replaced by AIs that control the Mechs on your behalf after the mission. "Into the Breach" managed to make small mistakes still feel like progressing, which is something hard to get in the masses of rogue-likes that kill your run before you know how.

I like the idea of the game. BUT it feels like when you play you cant win so you instead try to lose in the least painful way. The Game often drops you into a Mission that is impossible to complete without multiple buildings being destroyed. A good strategy game would have a way to complete each level without heavy loses but this game is off the wall random & unfair often times. Played the game hundreds of times but only beat it twice. Most of the time as soon as I run into a scenario I cant solve I quit