Into The Breach - RPG Codex Review

Each game follows the same path: you are offered four islands and a fifth Vek Bowser Castle that you must ultimately assault for a win. Each island carries a separate theme: temperate, desert, frozen, and Republicans winning fifty elections in a row. Once on the chosen island, you progress through sectors, each providing a small reward for fulfilling objectives. Throughout the campaign, you need to protect cities as they're the on-field pips representing your Power Grid – more or less the campaign’s “HP.” If the Power Grid goes down, you lose.

The mechs are piloted by unique though somewhat disappointingly undeveloped characters. Each pilot can level up, gaining crucial skills like adding HP, move speed, or super useful traits like ignoring crowd-control effects. Mechs can also be ‘leveled’ in a way, using reactors to boost their engine power so they can equip new gear or upgrade the ones they already have.

Into the Breach’s gameplay is simple: over the span of a few turns you manipulate enemies around an 8x8 grid to protect the Power Grid. Mechs start with one skill and almost all of them involve displacing enemies; conversely, most Vek are singular in their offensive. Like Heroes of Normandie, you’re also shown in what order events will sequence. It is sequencing which is the lynchpin of Into the Breach, as you’ll often be forcing Vek into killing one another. This allows for pleasing moments where you nudge and scoot critters just where you want them, hit end turn, and then watch the mini-Rube Goldberg unfold with fratricidal aplomb.

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Darkheart said:

Nice read!
Although, this confirms my suspicion that the game is more of a puzzler than what I understand of a tactics game.
It will eventually end up in my library wether I want it or not. So I will give it a go then.

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you said:

"Republicans winning fifty elections" ??????

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screeg said:

It's a metaphor for a hellish post-apocalyptic wasteland. Though parts of the States are like this already.

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