When I heard that this was going to be a roguelite game, I thought to myself "Oh no". But I was so impressed with the visuals and so starved for a good Metroidvania that I went ahead and bought it anyway. About 15 hours of playtime later, I feel like I've barely progressed or seen much of the game. Duh. That's what roguelites do. Time sinks that make you play the same tiny thing for hundreds of hours until you get "good enough". Whatever that means. Because it's not like you get similarly skilled like in games such as maybe... Raiden. Or Rockband. Or anything else that actually relies purely on skill, instead of grinding for upgrades and luck. So for me personally, this game is a total desaster and I didn't enjoy myself. But I recognize the finesse, the polish and the fact that it is obviously enjoyable for many people. Hence, my middle of the line rating for it.
Just finished this game after almost exactly 6 hours. So, much like it's predecessor (as far as I remember), it's a relatively brief experience. However, it's visually more appealing and at least as far is I can recall the original QUBE, this one feels more polished when it comes to how everything controls. There are unfortunately a bunch of problems with it though. For one thing, the puzzles are pretty easy for the most part. I think I only recall two where I was like "I'll come back to this tomorrow". And I'm not that good at puzzle games - as evidenced by other reviews where people write that they've finished QUBE 2 in 2 or 4 hours. Also, while the visuals are of course a vast improvement and largely very nice to look at - for one thing, there are some textures with oddly low resolutions here and there (broken lights), some lens flares (those of the big rectangular, red lights) lag behind and overall, I didn't find the design to have enough variety. At least the indoor sections. Outdoor is fine (and looks pretty stunning) but indoor could've especially used more variation in terms of color. It reminded me of that Mirror's Edge time trials DLC where each level felt unique because of its color and structure. QUBE 2 does offer SOME variety but in my opinion, not enough. Music seems a bit odd because sometimes, something fades in but most of the game is without. I think that they should've made a decision on whether there should be no music in general or everywhere. The story is pretty decent but be warned - once you've finished the game, your save will be purged and you have to play it a second time if you want to see a different ending. But... there are no special perks or anything different about that second run. There's no way that I will do that because while it was very amusing, without any incentive aside from a different ending - no.
There, I said it. Especially since so many people compare it to FTL and it certainly has its similarities, I feel like I should write about why I feel that this game is much more enjoyable. It can be summed up in: The player is in control. (Basically) no RNG stuff that can make or break a run. Yes - the levels, missions, selection of enemies and whatnot is randomized every time but you get information about the level you are about to play and once you've chosen one, you're in control of EVERY little thing. Aside from the NPC actions of course. So when things go wrong, you know it wasn't chance but your dumb decision(s). Maybe not that particular turn but 3 turns before and you will maybe think "Damn, I shouldn't have spread out my units so much". And you learn... Sure, there were also learning processes in FTL but still... the randomized aspect was pretty large and so after playing through it a few times, I didn't even really want to finish it with different ships. But with Into The Breach, I keep finding it really exciting to try out different squads, figuring out how to best play with them and figuring out whether there is one particular squad that dominates more than others. I actually WANT to finish the game with all squads on Hard (eventually). I've played this for 26 hours by now - so I've already easily gotten my money's worth, yet it feels like I've basically only just started (finished with only 3 out of 10 squads).
