Battle Chess
Into the Breach is the highly anticipated follow up from the makers of FTL, this time tackling the mech vs monsters theme, with very innovative turn-based strategy mechanics. It is a fantastic game I'd easily recommend to a fairly diverse audience: fans of run-based roguelikes, turn-based strategy, mechs, general scifi, puzzle games, etc.
The overall setup is fairly simple: monster emerge from underground to terrorize the planet, and the player is tasked with managing pilots and equipment on a team of 3 mechs to stave off the threats. A time travel narrative layer is added on top, so at the end of each run (fail or success) one pilot is sent back in time as reinforcement for the next cycle. Achievement points are used to unlock new squads that play vastly differently, and for each run the player can choose to defend 4 islands in different order, which scales enemy variety and difficulty. Campaign randomness is turned down in Into the Breach compared to FTL, but it is still very replayable, as I found myself itching for just another couple hours-long run.
Mechanically, the game's main selling points are 3-fold: 1) Every battle occurs on an 8x8 grid, all visible from the start. 2) Enemy actions and environmental hazards for the next round is clearly labelled, with no random RNG percentage or range of values. 3) Mech and monster actions can often pull or push nearby units to interesting effects. Tying into the time travel narrative, every enemy move is clearly presented on screen, removing any guesswork from the equation. Combined with various abilities to move units around, this makes for very interesting multi-step plans to deal with the imminent threats. For instance, punching an enemy into the line of attack of another monster not only protects the original target structure, but also lets the knocked back enemy take damage from friendly fire. Or, launch rockets into the middle of a pack of monsters, crashing one enemy into a mountain for extra damage and another into an adjacent river for instant kill. Knocking units around, or stepping into attacks to protect other units feels vividly "mech"-like, in a way many action games even fail to convey. Each turn is a small puzzle, as the player desperately tries (and it usually feels that there is a solution) to find a way out the current conundrum. At release, grid screenshots were posted on twitter, as requests for help or just sharing moments of joy. Fans are even adopting Chess-like notations of the grid to describe these moves.
For a short, run-based game, Into the Breach also has very effective narrative and character portrayal, from veteran writer Chris Avellone. Simple lines of reactions oozes individual personality. (One of the most powerful pilots is an insecure nervous wreck) Dialogue with the island directors, and the mission objectives hint at ruthless disregard of the planet. (Also some depiction of mistreatment of droids/AI)
Overall, for me Into the Breach is a complete package, with its theme and mechanics intertwining perfectly, on top of great pixel art animations, and thematic soundtrack.
