There were overwhelming reviews of this game that AI is cheating by being able to see future gem drops or even set gem drops to be in AI's favor. Some people argued that AI is not cheating as player can get lucky turns too. Well, I wouldn't go to Vegas and tell them that the slot machines are not biased since players can win from slot machines too. The core problem of the game is that it's made of lengthy battles which are largely depending on luck. It's very easy for players to run into a situiation where they are 10 mins into the battle already, did perfectly well and get everything in control but suddenly AI got a few godly turns (or run out of moves in forge / mage tower). This basically kills all fun of the game.
The experience of this game will be like most of the other point and click classics you have played.
I spent 1000+ hours on ITB and if you liked ITB you will also like Metal Slug Tactics. It has more game element than ITB and eventually you will spend more time on calculation compared to ITB. They are reasonably balanced and fun to explore.
The game is not very friendly to players with low agility. Back to the arcade time, I needed to spend about 30 continues to play through captain commando or warriors of the fate. It has not changed for me playing 198X. The problem is that in 198X you don't continue where you explode but instead will start from checkpoints. It neither provides save functionality to let you keep your progress. I failed the horizontal flight shooter for 15 times and have to stop but there is nothing but 'quit game' provided to me.
The game is trying to provide a mix of everything and have done it right. It provides us a unique combat mechanism where player manipulates timeline instead of battle field. The problem is that there are too many factors in damage computation so that it's hard for player to estimate effectively. The in game tool tips are in addition a little bit ineffective explaining it's already complicated mechanisms. My initial playing experience was like 2-3 stars, but once I have some basic understanding of the mechanism and the collection and grinding elements kick in, it becomes 4-5 stars.
