Invisible Inc.

This game has a lot of fun mechanics, but is hampered by its rougelike basis. It would benefit from interesting level design, and a solid campaign, instead of going for replayability (the game isn't complex enough to really warrant that). Also, the ending is really unsatisfying. It frustrates any sort of feeling of accomplishment, and doesn't even have the saving grace of being unique. Same plot that's been done thousands of times.

This is a great game, you really feel the tense atmosphere - not at the start of a mission, but when you're backed into a corner, with no abilities left, guards closing in on you, and a dwindling number of rewinds left (the games undo button, if your last move goes all to hell). Maps are redesigned every time you play them for a fresh take every playthrough, though they can be a little cluttered and confusing. And upgrades are interesting and the timer in the game makes you debate whether you should be buying equipment or upgrading your agents. Personally, given the tense nature of the game, I think it would have been better if xp and cash were not one and the same, or had a toggle for that option. For their part, the developers have put a lot of tweaks into the game, where you can decide how much time you have, number of rewinds, knock-out timers etc, allowing you to make the game easier or harder, or just rebalance it by making one element more difficult while making another less so. The problem with so tense a game is that it can be frustrating. Like the "oh your controller is broken, were you playing Dark Souls?" joke, pouring a lot of time and effort in the game only to lose an agent will make debate the merits of breaking the closest thing to hand. Especially, since the game uses a checkpoint save after every mission and you cannot undo such a loss. So far, I have seen only one bug issue and unfortunately it was with the one thing that might mitigate that loss - the ability to enable mission restarts. If it all goes horribly wrong, you can do the mission again, however, upon seeing a mission go badly, the option - which had appeared before on a prev mission - did not appear, leaving me stranded and angry. So much so, I uninstalled the game then and there. Bugs like that need to be fixed asap, especially in this type of game! Aside from that issue, I enjoyed the game greatly. Its a lot like Darkest Dungeon; making the best of a bad situation, which I loved.

I avoided this game for a while because reviews were middling, but what a huge mistake. This is the best tactical game AND the best stealth game I've ever played, and I've played plenty of both. Klei has crafted a true masterpiece here, and I wish this game was popular enough for them to improve the campaign. The tactical combat here has been polished to perfection. Unlike X-Com, you won't master the game quickly and then find missions boring. The tension constantly builds up, and even when your agents are buffed up, you're in constant danger of being overwhelmed. Much of this comes from the fact that you're not eliminating the enemy here -- you incapacitate them for a few turns, and they'll be back angrier than ever as they try to hunt you down. I never would have thought stealth could work in a turn-based setting, yet this game proves me wrong. Enemies waking up after being knocked out is near-impossible to do in a realtime setting without overly punishing the player, but it works marvelously here. Every facet of the tactical game has been thought out in-depth, and it all fits together like a beautiful puzzle. The greatest weakness of the game is in the overarching campaign. In order to raise the stakes, you're playing the game in ironman (ie. rogue-like) fashion, which is something I love. But to make the rogue-likeness palatable to beginners, the game starts you off in Beginner mode, which is easily beatable (yet still nerve-wracking). This results in gamers finishing the short campaign, seeing the ending, and now being expected to replay the campaign in harder modes, where the game-proper really takes place. This is a problem. There's a reason rogue-likes don't let you get to the endgame easily. Klei was afraid to double down on the rogue-like aspects, with the result being that most players feel the campaign is too short. Additionally, the ending, while fine narratively, robs you of the motivation for replay. Nevertheless, this is a modern classic.

(*Game of the Quarantine) Holy shit. I really love what this game is doing. I remember seeing some little ads here and there as far back as maybe 2016, and always intended to check it out but never got around to it until now. I'm a huge fan of turn-based tactics, have thousands of hours with XCOM 2, Jagged Alliance 2, and Invisible Inc really hit home for me. I can't stop playing it. You don't have a grand, overarching story or a ton of micromanagement. It's pretty straightforward, and it's just a certain type of gameplay loop that I can't get enough of. I read somewhere that Klei has no intention of making a sequel, and I think that's a damn shame. This is my personal quarantine game for 2020, hands down.

In Invisible inc you play as agents of a recently defunct spy agency that is attempting to survive.... Kind of like in Archer but, not employed by hapless degenerates. If you are new to Klei, this company takes an established genre polishes it and adds its own flavour to a game. I would say that: Klei games lack high level complexity, but are entertaining to play. I have got to hand it to Klei for being consistent with their art style and high visual quality of their games. I have played the Shank series and Mark of the Ninja and have not been disappointed in Klei's iterations of beat-em-up and stealth genres. This turn based strategy rewards, stealth, non-lethal take downs and punctuality. Unlike Shadowrun, an agent of Invisible Inc can't light the place up, blow the smoke off his pistol, and call it a day. All guards are equipped with heart monitors that alert a central security system of any deceased personnel -- you can't shoot away all your problems but you can taze them to your satisfaction. It is the fine art of sneakery that will allow you to obtain your goal. Remember, you are on the clock. If you spend too much time on a mission, you will be met with nosey well-armed reinforcements. A few features of this game make it extra entertaining for me. The first is this tone of the game: there is a real sense of urgency and desperation to survive when you play that adds to the excitement of the game play. Second, are the random maps which keep the game from getting too stale. Lastly, is the incremental challenge that is placed in each level; I like how sometimes I win just by the skin of my teeth. 7/10