Into the Breach 9+

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.

The game’s rules are simple enough, so it isn’t tough to master, and the boards are all well thought out puzzles. The range of difficulty is huge, and there are other adds, as well. It doesn’t take exceptionally long to run through, but there is a giant variety of ways to play and a good bit of randomization, so I’ve run through dozens of times without getting bored. Even now that I’ve gotten almost all of the achievements, I still roll back to this game fairly often to do it again.

Like FFT, It’s a turn-based strategy where each player/figure has its own specialties. Where a lot of those games get really bogged down in overcomplication and menu-juggling, this is clean and easy without a ton of prep work between boards. Just the right balance of simple and challenging that makes it worth getting. Well done.

Ever since it’s release on PC and Switch, Into the Breach has been one of my favorite games of all time. There’s an incredible amount of depth, strategy, and narrative packed into an 8x8 grid. Having played the PC/Switch versions for hundreds of hours, I was thrilled to see that this game was coming to mobile AND getting new content.

I love this game, but I have a few notes for future updates.

1. For whatever reason, I can’t listen to outside music or podcasts while playing the game. Whatever I’m listening to stops as soon as I open the app. The music and sound design of the game are great, but sometimes I just want to listen to a podcast while slaying Vek, you know? Please, please address this in a future update.

2. There is some bug that reverses the choice I make for new content. Sometimes, I check the boxes for the new content, but I’m stuck with the classic missions and enemies. When the new content boxes are unchecked, new enemies, missions, and weapons appear. This specific issue seems very fixable in a patch.

3. I’ve noticed a bug where the grid-defense percentage fluctuates mid-match. I’ve mostly noticed this happening in “unfair mode” when the grid-defense starts at 0%. Again, something that seems fixable in a patch.

Overall, I’m thrilled that this game is free for Netflix subscribers and finally available on mobile. If you address these issues, I will happily change my review to a solid five stars!