I get the main appeal of this game is the supposed liberty of action, the different ways to tackle problems, and the free exploration of the space station. Also having a story that revolves around mystery and quite some jumpscares. But for me, I find more engaging stories, liberty and tools in other games, like Deus Ex Human Revolution, that are far better than this game The story is more or less clear in your mind when you have played 25% of the whole game, with a couple of plot twists that you aren't expecting. But they either don't change much, or they change it for worse. This is one of the few games that I decided I was not going to bother finishing. So I uninstalled it and watched the endings on Youtube. And it was more satisfying than playing through a lot of areas that are mostly there to make the game longer than it needs to be. In fact, I'd say that exploration is excessive, and not rewarding enough (because I felt forced to play it by the need to finish what I started, rather than enjoying discovery) So yeah: - Too long for what it is worth - A story that fails to engage the player to make him go through all those areas - Not so much liberty in my opinon. Deus Ex games are far better at that - That much freedom and options in the story are rather pointless. Do not ask for spoilers. - Retrofuturism is not my thing (personal opinion) - You can figure the main plot for the most part, except a few plot twists that ruin the freedom you have.
This has what makes XCOM a good game, but at the same time it's a shorter experience. It doesn't have base building though. Some people hated the timers from Firaxis' XCOMs, but this one is not as harsh (in the easiest difficulty, at least) The enemies and the map get progressively tougher, but once you have more than 2 agents on the field, you can split them to cover more ground and take less time doing your mission. Some features of the game take require a try and learn approach, but most often than not it's worth it. In any case, being a rogue-lite, the worst that can happen is that you have to start again. But the campaign is not too long, so you won't miss too much progress (unlike XCOM) Get the expansion DLC if you can. The price difference is very little, and you get all the features this game has.
Don't get me wrong, it's a good game, and has tons of replayability. Still, it feels a bit short. Maybe that's because after completing 2 islands you can attempt to beat the final island (and it isn't particulary difficult even though it escalates depending on how many islands you have completed on that run) In my case, after playing a lot of hours the first day, I beated the game completing 3 islands out of 4, and doing the final island. It didn't feel like a challenge, like the final boss on FTL (their other game) That game really gave me the feeling of winning against all odds. Despite of this, Into the Breach is a fun game, and better than some other tactical games, but not very deep
This game was incredibly cool for its time. By then, nobody ever made 3D spherical terraformable maps and I'm sure it's not easy to find something like that even now. Yes, the graphics are too simple yet beautiful and comfortable at the same time. Maybe the only drawback nowadays is not having a skirmish mode vs the AI but the campaign is more than worth it. Some maps can be achieved in many different ways (I still remember one of those, where I leave the starting area and move to an island which i keep extending with the spells) Give it a try and enjoy the campaign. It may be boring the first 4 or 5 levels but once you get tools to use the terrain in your favor, it is much more enjoyable. And some worlds are incredibly difficult, like the one in which you have to rescue your shaman in 15 minutes only using your followers like a commando.
