Into the Breach

Despite the success of FTL (the developers’ first breakout game), one of its major criticisms was that there was too much RNG (this is true). Into The Breach seems to be Subset Games’ direct answer to that with its chess-like gameplay that puts much more control into the player’s hands. Whereas in FTL you could lose because the same weapon missed five times in a row, your losses and mistakes in Into The Breach always feel they’re your fault, even if there’s still a bit of bad luck mixed in. Every turn of this game is like a new puzzle to solve, and you will often find yourself pulling off moves that save you from a seemingly impossible situation, creating a very fun core gameplay loop. The game is further elevated by beautiful pixel sprites and animations and a highly groovy and motivational and at times even emotional soundtrack by Ben Prunty. You can expect a ton of replay value out of this game especially since the release of the free Advanced Version update which adds more of everything to the game (still only 5 islands/levels total though). The controls are also rather intuitive on mobile so there should be very little difficulty in learning the game. IMO this is the best and most accessible turn based roguelike out there besides Balatro.

This was my first foray into Netflix gaming content and I could not be more pleased. This game easy to play and yet is strategically complex. The variety of units and enemies make each battle a lesson in adapting tactics on the fly, especially as the mission demands become more challenging. I’ve played everything from FF tactics to Fire Emblem to XCom, and after decades, it’s a pleasure to find that this has something new to offer. The core upgrade feature is so fun bc it’s totally reversible, as it should be switching parts on mechs, and the use of “timelines” in battle & out of makes you invested in actually not trying to just go for perfection through repeated attempts/save file manipulation, but through sticking to saving the timeline & forgoing perfection for the best you can pull from yourself. Also this game makes it super easy to just drop what you’re doing and comeback to it later. Suffice it to say, I highly recommend. Well done, studio, and I hope Netflix continues to find strategy games & games in general of this quality, not just reskinned candy crush or whatever. Substantial games, like this one, last the test of time and bear revisiting over years.

This turn based strategy rogue-like game manages to walk a tight rope of keeping elements streamlined and approachable while also having there be a lot of variety and depth. The game can be challenging but very satisfying when you have a good character or team build and manage successful maneuvers and combinations of attacks and abilities. And I am a fan of the pixel art and the little details they put into it like the subtle character portrait animations. I think it’s got a good premise and interesting world reminiscent of “Pacific Rim” meets “Edge of Tomorrow”. Though the story is concise, with no lengthy cutscenes they keep you in the action, and even with fairly sparse dialogue manage to give you a sense of the personality of the characters. There are dozens of unlockable mechs with different gameplay styles, several unlockable pilots with different attributes, and a bunch of weapons and tools you can swap out with the constraint that each mech can only assign two weapons or tools at a time. This game is definitely worth your while, though I will warn that the challenge on some runs can feel brutal.