It is hard to believe it, but Subset games have outdone themselves by creating a masterpiece which is even better than their previous title FTL. Into the Breach seems such a simple game at first sight, but the level of depth it can reach, the options you have, the choices (the sacrifices!) that you have to make put it among the very best of strategy games that I have ever played. It is an extremely captivating game to play. It has extremely high replay value. It has excellent (and funny) dialogues, and on and on and on... A must play.
It is a game of many parts/sub-genres. Whereas I definitely understand the glowing reviews, there are parts of the game that I did not like that much. The positives were all told by others, let me tell you what I did not like that much. Caution: This review will sound much more negative than my actual opinion of the game. The non-combat exploration part of the game plays like a platformer, a la Lemmings or Mario or whatever. You have to make excessive use of all kinds of teleportation and telekinesis skills to solve puzzles, to reach objects or locations and so on. I am not a fan of this style, so for the most part this felt like a chore for me. Huge maps save you on loading time you have to endure in other games when travelling, on the other hand they damage the feeling of immersion; e.g. a short walking distance from a quiet peaceful town you have monster/demon/undead infested locations. In short, the world doesn't feel real to me. On a similar note, I am not a fan of the tropic environments full of color and sunshine that dominate the locations in the game. One does not get the feeling of grim urgency or desperation the story dictates when you are on a paradise island. This is a personal preference obviously... The ending felt rushed. I felt like whatever final choice I make, I and my party end up at the same position. Otherwise, terrific game. For me, not the perfect RPG however.
I remember playing FNV first when it came out. Unfortunately, it was riddled with bugs and I remembered getting frustrated. I played it again recently and after all the patches (plus a few mods) it runs close to perfect with few minor bugs. The main story I personally find not that interesting, but the various NPCs, factions, and side quests are some of the best in a RPG. The writing is worlds above what Bethesda has in its own Fallout games. Most of the voice acting is also superb, which helps with the immersion. Pity that Obsidian didn't get another chance to make a Fallout game.. P.S. The DLCs are disappointing and not worth playing, IMO.
My impressions after a few hours of gameplay were not very positive. I was not familiar with the numenera setting and reading detailed descriptions of everything around you was not much fun, the story sounded too similar to PsT and the early environments and characters I found to be very dull. I slogged through and at the end I was very impressed by the game. After you move on from the city you start at, you move to more interesting locations, get to know much more interesting characters and the story becomes darker, which is good. After finishing the game I was left pondering the ending (one of several endings left to the choice of the player) and I felt for the main protagonists of the story. Besides the very slow beginning the game has a few other weaknesses. The combat system is not the best, to put it lightly, although there are only a few mandatory battles in the whole game. Character progression and strategic decisions play next to no role, as the game is holding your hand throughout and has the feel of reading someone's (victorious) adventure rather than facing challenges in which you can fail. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the new Torment game. An interesting story, memorable characters, some resemblance of choice and role playing, it's all there.
