Tactical Breach Wizards

Its an extremely well curated puzzle game. No random generation but the developers truly made every level a hand-crafted masterpiece with challenges all throughout. Storytelling is solid, characters are unique and lovable in their own ways.

Came for the tactical shooter gameplay and corny humor, stayed for the puzzle-like objectives and earnest emotional journeys. 10/10 no notes

It's a pretty good puzzle game, like into the breach. I do prefer this a bit more since it's hand crafted and not procedural but it's not something you really replay as it's story focused.
The story is pretty good, nothing special, the characters are neat but I have to say a lot of the dialogue, especially early, is very *quirky* kinda marvel quip-esc, which did put me off but as the story goes on it starts to take itself more seriously, which was a relief.
The puzzles were good, I think the optional objectives were very welcome as otherwise it would've felt a bit too 'take loads of turns and just shoot the bad guys' but while some had multiple ways to complete I did feel some required certain upgrades which you might not have chosen.

7/10

This game taught me you can in fact overdose on quips. Still, really fun, stylish, and repeatedly delivers on that feeling of big brain euphoria when you find some new combination of your rolodex of abilities. Just a really slick product from top to bottom. It's also got the capacity for community designed levels, so yeah, expect a cult following for the next ten years or so.

Great game. I came for the meme name, but I stayed for the tactical gameplay and the engaging story.

Note that there are no procedurally generated levels; this is more of a character-driven finish-once puzzle game than a replayable RPG.
If you're fine with that, you're in for fun gameplay and a generic but well executed story with likeable characters and superb humor.
The game doesn't overstay its welcome: Finishing the story took me around 20h of playing, and if you achieve the optional objective in that playthrough, 100%-ing should take maybe an additional hour.
Ignore the superflous 7 hours in my playtime; they were spent AFK.

fuck this game whips so much ass. it's genuinely hilarious, and also makes you feel sooooo smart for figuring out fun combinations. cannot recommend enough

This isn't turn based tactics. It's a straight up PUZZLE GAME
They should say that on the store page instead of misleading people.

If you replace all the graphics with something like "unblock it" (if you know that game on phone), it's pretty much the same game.

Purely a puzzle where there are only a few "right solutions" to any puzzle and not in any way tactical combat.

This is a great game. Every part is lovingly crafted by the devs; this game is a home cooked meal; this game is whatever slop isn't. The story and mechanics and gameplay and lore are one engaging and harmonious whole. The game doesn't outstay its welcome either; it's 30-50 of quality.

I wish I could enjoy this game, as the premise is quite good, and the writing at multiple points did make me laugh, however I did feel kind of cheated that while being advertised as a strategy / tactics game it's effectively just a puzzle game with not a lot else to it

The game is pretty great all in all. I like the art style, the puzzles are simple but complicated enough if you do all the challenges and the story is neat. I'd pay 40 bucks for this game rather than 20 honestly

Really great tactics game that's more puzzle-esque than something like XCOM, but with a lot of cool abilities to use to complete levels in different ways and a charming campaign that keeps things interesting. Easy recommend for fans of strategy games.

I expected a great game from looking at the reviews, but I didn't expect to be this strong in practically all its aspects.

Amazing writing

Breach wizards manages to build an interesting futuristic world through its story in a way that crpg standards, which is unexpected for a game that is not story focused. The devs give us a lot of insight into the world outside the main story through the writing, things like how people get their powers, how the different societies work and organize themselves, how this impacts lives of regular people. And it's done in a way that gives just enough information to fuel the players imagination about aspects not directly told through the story. It gives an impression of a complex an interesting world existing outside of the story.

This extends to the cast of characters that the player meets during the campaign. They all feel alive, colorful and each has their own demons to deal with as part of the events of the story. Their growth is highlighted by interweaving their own struggles into the story and giving them some room to develop, even going as far as giving everyone a short solo mission that goes deeper into their own role in the overall plot.

On top of that the writing manages to pull off comedy really well. The story plays out like your favorite sitcom, managing to constantly be funny without losing a beat on the somewhat serious story it tries to tell. Making that work deserves some sort of reward, because it's not easy!

Tactical gameplay?

Breach wizards plays more like a tactical puzzle game than a tactical strategy game, think into the breach rather than xcom. You get to plan and (and redo) each turn to your satisfaction with choices becoming permament only after pressing the 'end turn' button. You get full information on enemy actions all the time and can rollback freely during the turn.

There is a big focus on combos between the wizards, their abilities are very distinct and never really overlap. Each does something completely different and figuring out how to abuse their abilities and game mechanics to complete the objectives is the game here.

The missions themselves are broken up into several rooms that are usually solved in 2-3 turns. Some (especially earlier ones) kind of ask you to figure out 'the one' solution, but this is mainly a form of tutorialising how each ability can be used to abuse the system. The later missions are more flexible in the way they can be solved.

The wizards themselves level up between story missions and I can't remember the last game where I had such a hard time deciding which upgrades to take for my characters. They all feel impactful and interesting, even the simpler ones that simply add numbers to the abilities feel good to take because the abilities are generally designed in a way that they interact with other wizards abilities. And because the player never decides who is deployed to a room you have to think about how upgrades you take synergise with everyone else on the growing roster.

I can't recommend this enough if you enjoy these types of games :)

What I expected: An X-Com like strategy rpg with magic and spells and guns
What I got: Joss Whedon's Wacky Wizard Puzzle Game
The dialog gets obnoxious quick and the game really doesn't want you to go off the rails and experiment too much with clearing rooms to the point where that's almost a set way to clear each room. Wasted potential

Great game with a mix of Into The Breach style puzzle/tactics gameplay with some X-Com flavouring. The writing is especially humorous and is a high point for the game throughout.

Love the idia of wizzard/swat game and the differenc of pepole both in culture and personality is so rich that after playing the game i never found anything like this.

Nowdays the "modern games" try this "diversity" while this game gives you the exact thing yet they never recognize it.

I hope this game find more and more pepole and plays it. Even tough i dislike ending a game i was more than happily accepted this like Titanfall 2 campaing one. Even tough it was a bit sad to part ways i cant realy bear tolet go of this game from my favorite.



For anybody who readed this please support this chads and buy this game. You make yourself a favor, trust me.

The worldbuilding in this game is nuts. First class, really! And the dialogues have a certain LucasArts allure to them. Every character is adorable. The writing is really fun, even though it's capable to deal with tough modern-world themes.

The only downside is that sometimes these dialogues are just too long, but I take this as the collateral effect of a true work of love.

Oh but it's a game, right? So let's also speak about gameplay. I came here as a fan of turn-based tactics, and I beat all the levels/challenges with all the optional objectives (on normal). The thing is, as a consequence of the overall scale of the encounters, Tactical Breach Wizards plays more like a puzzle game, where it's not enough to get things done, because you want/need to get them done in a certain fashion. That said, every hero has a distinctive playstile, with a pre-determined set of abilities that can be customized heavily with perks. Based on that, you can come up with interesting synergies.

Anyway, if you like XCOM and you are keen on a different twist on the genre, definitely go for it. If you are looking for a quirky setting and memorable characters, go for it. If you are Tom Francis and you are reading this, for the love of all that's holy find a way to turn Tactical Breach Wizards into a TTRPG or an adaptation of 5E, or something :D

Absolutely incredible game. The characters, the powers, the banter, the level design: all top tier. Highly recommend.

tried it a couple times and just can't get into it. the action is not particularly interesting and the dialog is cringy to the max. i wouldn't call it a bad game but it doesn't work for me. i wish i had the time and energy to get into xcom again and i hoped this would be a quick substitute.

A fantastic puzzle game disguised under fun humour, cool abilities and great characters.

It's fun! It's good! Jen and Banks are cute together!

Well-written, incredibly funny, and some really tight and fun gameplay that's also respectful of your time. Things move quickly, and it's easy to start over, try a different tactic, or just brute force and come back to later. Thoroughly enjoyed my time in this world, and I hope there's some additional story or something else down the line to flesh out this very fun world that the devs have built!

This game went so hard. It has been a long time since I played a game with writing this good. It's funny, it's witty, it's clever, and it's downright heartfelt. Someone put their soul into this game. The combat is engaging and they add new options at just the right rate. This was a great play.

The final mission is so much harder than every other level I faced in the game. I don't know how I beat it. But, yeah, this game was really good. Tactical Breach Wizards scratches that X-COM itch without the worry of a 99.9% attack missing. There's also a good storyline with fun writing and characterization.

Graphics: 1/2 Love the minimalist art-style. Probably the weakest part of the game.
Music: 1/2 Feels great in general. Keeps you focused in the turn. But nothing special that I would listen to later.
Gameplay & Feel: 2/2 Excellent strategy game with plenty of possibilities. All the characters feel good to play though some clearly outbalance and outshine the others. The game allows character swaps from some missions and many approaches to the problem also depending on the level-up perks of each characters. I can only imagine how insanely difficult it is to balance games like these.
Mechanics & Difficulty: 1.5/2 Great difficulty options and all feel great for me personally. I would say, after trying out some of the additional missions and a harder difficulty, I might end up having way more fun in the end from the challenge.
Story & Lore: 1.5/2 The world-building in the short time this game goes was simply amazing. There's a weak bit in the investigations board. I expected some puzzle-solving there too, but otherwise the politics, character lore and general story makes the world feel bigger. There's no options that actually impact the story and is quite linear otherwise.
Overall: 7/10. A great tactical strategy game for the price. The kind of game I could play a few times and never forget about. If this game had a DLC or additional content, I would gladly pay for it because of it's amazing value.

Good writing. Unique gameplay. It's very puzzle-solving. The characters are great. Upgrades are crazy-awesome. The optional objectives can be fun, but it feels okay to skip them as you can come back later. (or not)

And there's some hints on the most obtuse late-game story missions. I *did* forget about that one ability.

Just fantastic all around.

such an amazing game, the art and the writing are both phenomenal, gameplay is fun and challenging and lets you experiment as much as you want. 10/10 Steve is the best traffic warlock

Really loved this game from start to finish, really got connected to the characters and invested in the story in a way that made me wanna see it through. Well written, funny dialogue at times, interesting story.
Was fun too, expected something like XCOM but was surprised when it was more focused in room-to-room gameplay but I shoulda expected it since it's kinda in the name. I like the different abilities, and the synergies I found between doing things with certain characters in a certain order, feels really rewarding.

Kinda wish there was more story to play even though the story is concluded but goes to show how much I enjoyed it. Currently playing through the dream sequences and replaying story where I didn't complete all challenges

Game's flush with cringey Marvel-tier humor and almost nothing else with the dialogue (seriously, why does everyone ever have to make a bunch of stupid quips and one-liners?), but conceptually the lore & world is really fresh & neat. Plays more like a puzzle than a tactical strat game, but still a good one.

Edit: Ugh and the anxiety dreams...this entire game reads like an angsty teenager's therapy confession.

Edit 2: Good god, and the "centrist dads" comments. Game's great, but whoever wrote this should absolutely never find work again.

Edit 3: Ugh...did two writers/teams handle this? It's back-and-forth. The overall writing & feel of the game are so damn cringey and adolescent, but then I see stuff like Zan's history (avoiding spoilers here, but if you're far enough you know what I'm talking about) or Rion's "origin story", and I'm just like...damn, that's good.

Story-Rich Tactical Strategy Game

Graphics/Performance

It should run well on just about any computer made after 2018. The graphics aren't super impressive but goes for a more cartoony effect.

Gameplay

The turn-based tactical strategy in this game is amazing. It lets you rewind actions taken during your turn, so you can experiment to your heart's content. Each member of your team serves a different purpose and has abilities that reflect that. They also gain new abilities at a perfect pace to keep things fresh throughout the campaign. I also like the mini-game of connecting different notes with strings on the map. It really helps keep the story from getting too complicated and serves as a reminder of what the team is working toward.

Sound

The soundtrack is okay; there are some memorable tracks, but mostly it's serviceable. The drum roll after completing a room makes the results screen a treat to see.

Final Thoughts

If you're looking for an awesome tactical turn-based strategy game that has a surprisingly heartfelt story, memorable characters, and doesn't overstay its welcome, look no further.

2 thumbs up from a pointy hat wizard.

A really fun and challenging game, which grows in depth and excitement as you progress through a really well paced story. I especially enjoyed the banter between characters during both missions and down time, and made me really invest in them for their personalities, not just abilities during missions. Highly recommended!

Honestly, Suspicious Developments never miss. Tactical Breach Wizards has great, replayable gameplay paired with incredible writing that manages to simultaneously be funny and tackle serious topics with surprising depth. I really struggle with finishing games but this one has kept me interested from start to finish.

Also worth pointing out that this game respects the player's time to a ridiculous degree. Difficulty is widely customisable in fun ways, you can skip cutscenes or everything but cutscenes, rewind mistakes, jump around the campaign, make your own story recaps or choose to experience a ton of (both gameplay and story) content that's entirely optional. I don't think I've seen this done so well anywhere else.

Generally just a really well made game, go play it.

Holy shit dude, this game fucks. I don't even like turn based tactics games but the charm + the way the characters mechanics combine + defenestration make this one of my favorite games.

Fantastic, can't recommend it enough. Fun gameplay, engaging characters and story, good writing.

Come for the game-play, stay for the hilarious writing.

If you are tempted to get this because you thought 'Oh, it's like X-COM but with wizards' like I did, you won't be disappointed. There is flexibility with how you build the wizards you recruit, a huge variety of ways you can solve a lot of the puzzles, the narrative is compelling, the characters are fun to get to know and the dialogue is supremely witty. I was very, very happy with this game experience, especially after the DEVs made it easier to select your missions without losing progress. Will definitely keep my eye out for anything else they do.

this game is fun as hell also funny as hell.
honestly though this game is great, it has interesting combat mechanics that are unique, characters are fun. just a well rounded fun experience.

This game makes it feel so good to throw people out of windows that I might have developed a kink for it.

I will not be stopping.

Suspicious developments DOES NOT MISS.

No filler, 100% killer. A snappy, cerebral tactics game that is a total joy to play from start to finish. Add in the goofy / radical wizard theme, and that would be enough to make this an easy recommendation.

But that's not all. The writing is funny (and not just funny; really, really funny). The characters are layered and interesting. The setting is cool, and the plot has some really neat twists and turns!

It kind of pisses me off how good this is. Its the kind of game you wish you had come up with yourself; the kind of game that makes you wonder why so many "bigger" games don't try this hard.

10/10. Stellar.

The writing in this game is unbelievably good and this game is 100% completely worth the price just for the writing alone. The gameplay is pretty great too though. Very similar to Into the Breech but you can rewind as much as you want on a given turn so you're more free to treat it like a puzzle game and play around with different strategies and test out ideas.

This game is probably one of my favourite games from last year that I finally got around to play. Not only is the gamplay incredibly fun and rewarding, it also rewards thinking outside the box. On that note the gameplay itself is less Strategy game and more of a Puzzle game where unlike Xcom you don´t rely on chance to hit or win a fight but more on how to efficently defeat the enemies in each room. For that matter there are also a lot of optional challenges in each room which when completed gives points to spend to unlock skins. This means if you want to unlock all the skins and give yourself more of a challenge you can but you don´t have to. Apart from the Deluxe Edition Skins everything else is unlockable from these challenges and it doesn´t feel like these were cut out to sell die Deluxe Edition. There plenty enough skins to unlock even without just by playing the game. All this ist just optional though, for people that want to just play the game without worrying it is perfectly possible. On a side note the gameplay enables fun and also really silly solutions for the rooms, theres rarely just one solution and thats it, you can usually just mess around and try out different thing because the game lets you rewind everything you do in the turn. So all in all gamplaywise the games great and it is very fun to just mess around to find the solutions. Then theres also the story, which without spoiling too much revolves around a colourful group of weirdos trying to stop a world war which is as silly as it sounds. The thing is though I really like the characters in this game everyone is so funny and sometines very aware of the inherent sillines. All the characters in the main party are very unique and funny in their own way and it is just a genuine blast to see them all interact with each other. The most important thing though for me with the game was that it was game that was supposed to be funny and it was which is great. So to shorten the previous paragraph the games story is very well written as are the characters. All of this leads me to conclude that this game is not only a great game but also that this game has become one of my favourite games to play and I would highly recommend you check it out.

On my first day of playing this game I binged 14 hours and blew off several commitments. An excellent game.

tl;dr: 10/10 - awesome gameplay, interesting story line, great characters, very nice twists in all of these aspects. A bit easy even on Hard, but not any less enjoyable because of that. It's one of the reason I play video games. Play it.

Long version:

Was looking for a game to scratch my tactical itch, but didn't expect to find one with a great story line and lovable characters.

At first I thought the humor was too much in-your-face and missed the mark for me, but then I found myself chuckle and before too long, I realized there's much more to the story and the characters, and so many things that sound weird or like a joke at first actually have some meaning to it. I loved the unexpected twists.

The gameplay is awesome. So many ways to puzzle your way to the end, and such interesting ways in which its turned on its head every now and then, so you have to use what you've learned in different ways. The learnable skills pretty much all felt meaningful, and I often couldn't quite decide which one to acquire because many sounded interesting.

If I had to name one downside, it's the difficulty, though. I take a long time to solve the rooms, but tend to plan it thoroughly and switched to Hard early on. Still didn't break a sweat. There's many ways to customize the difficulty though, and crank it up even further than I did. But I didn't feel like doing that either, and the game was still a lot of fun the way I played it.

This game has been made with love. Polished gameplay, intersting characters and an amazing world building.

If you're thinking this game might be for you, it's probably for you. Very intriguing tactical and positioning combat and gameplay, incredibly silly character banter that politely fades away just as the drama gets more intense (then pops back up just in time to hit that perfect comedy relief), and characters and plot that make you want to see the story through to the end. Then a post-game that's great for returning and grinding out completion on!

Buy it. It's good

If the trailer doesn't sell you on it, I don't know what to tell you. The gameplay is X-com with no RNG and infinite rewinds, so there's no crossing your fingers hoping something works; what you see is what you get. The story is excellent, and the writing is absolutely sublime. I was satisfied when the campaign ended, like I just finished a perfect meal... but I want more. I want more of this game and I want more games like this.

En 2013, j'avais adoré Gunpoint du même développeur. En 2017, j'avais trouvé que le feeling de Heat Signature (toujours de la même équipe) était très bon sans réussir à rentrer dans un genre moins fait pour moi (sorte de Hotline Miami revisité en rogue-like spatial). Quand on met les trois à la suite, une chose est sûre, les dévs ont un kink un peu particulier autour de la défenestration. Et c'est contagieux puisque c'était déjà le cas dans leurs deux précédents jeux, il savent rendre ça hyper satisfaisant de faire passer des méchants par la fenêtre !
Tactical Breach Wizards est donc cette fois un tactical orienté puzzle puisqu'on peut rembobiner toutes nos actions pour recommencer jusqu'à obtenir un résultat qui nous satisfasse. En ce sens, et je l'ai lu ailleurs, on pourrait le comparer à Into The Breach même si le feeling est tout à fait différent et les deux jeux pas si semblables. Néanmoins, Into The Breach étant le dernier tactical que j'ai aimé (et n'étant pas particulièrement fan du genre autrement), j'imagine que TBW plaira peut-être plus aux amateurs de puzzles et peut-être moins au fans hardcore de tacticals.
C'est aussi bien plus narratif qu'Into The Breach et j'ai pris plaisir à suivre l'histoire et ses personnages tous très attachants. L'Univers "magiciens du futur" est très chouette et assez inédit je crois. Ça permet d'offrir à chaque personnage des capacités qui changent de ce qu'on a l'habitude de voir. C'est très bien écrit, sérieux et drôle à la fois. Bref, c'est un coup de cœur et je suivrai attentivement les annonces lorsqu'ils prépareront un nouveau jeu !

Tactical Breach Wizards is a turn based puzzle game where an ex-military wizard and a private detective wizard must team up to stop a group of terrorist wizards from starting World War 5.

Gameplay

• This review is going to sound negative, so the first thing I wanted to say is that this isn’t a bad game, its just not as good as I hoped it would be. I was expecting a tactical combat game similar to Xcom or Banner Saga, but actually Tactical Breach Wizards is more of a puzzle game whose puzzles involve turn based combat, if that makes sense. The most accurate comparison I can think of is Into The Breach, which I did enjoy, and I do also like puzzle games, but somehow TBW just felt a bit disappointing for me.

• A large part of the combat system is designed around getting instant kills for knocking guys out of windows, or back into walls/objects to deal collision damage. One of your allies can place an instant death portal on almost any wall, that you can knock an enemy into. But you’ll encounter more powerful enemies which have knockback resistance, and some missions put the biggest threats in the middle of a room, several tiles away from a window, which makes those instant kills harder to set up.

• Another complication is that the starting characters’ attacks are quite weak, relative to the number of enemies in each mission, and the size of their health bars. Eventually you’ll recruit two more characters who actually have good damage dealing abilities, but they still need to be upgraded first, so it wasn’t until the game’s final chapter that I really felt in control.

• Another reason this feels like a puzzle game is because the order that you do things is very important, especially when you need to deal with enemies who can perform counter attacks on your turn, or change which of your characters they’re planning to attack based on who is closest to them. Fortunately, because one of your characters can see the future, the player has complete freedom to rewind/undo moves during your turn if you make a mistake.

• Also, the player doesn’t choose which characters to take into each mission. Your lineup is always decided by the story*, so each mission is less about “what tactics do I want to use?” and more like “what tactics does the level designer want me to use?”. (*You can replay already completed missions later, with different lineups).

• I’m not complaining about the game being too hard. I was never stuck on any mission for too long. It just often felt messy and inefficient, more annoying than fun.

• Most missions have optional objectives which reward the player with confidence points, which can be used to unlock cosmetic outfits. I did some of them, but I didn’t stress about others. For example, if an objective was “finish in 4 turns” and I finished in 5, I didn’t spend ages trying to do it quicker, I just took the win and moved on.

• Another important mechanic is that most missions will have a limited number of enemy reinforcements entering the map from doors, which can be sealed to prevent them from spawning. I think my feelings about the combat system are most accurately summed up when I say that the best way to deal with enemies is to not fight them at all.

Story

• This is the best part of the game. Very well written, with several interesting characters, and amusing dialogue playing off some interesting ideas. Like a Pyromancer who can’t kill anybody because his flames are only hot enough to cause mild irritation. Or a Necromedic who can only heal people if they’re already dead.

Technical

• It took me 14 hours to complete the story.

• I didn’t encounter any problems with framerate, bugs, or crashes.

Recommendation

I have mixed feelings about Tactical Breach Wizards, and honestly I still don’t understand why I don’t like it as much as everyone else seems to. I think the most important thing is just to understand what kind of game this is before you play it.

The strongest points are the writing and the gameplay. The characters interaction is often hilarious while tackling a crisis and facing tough situations. And the gameplay is a breath of fresh air in both its innovation and the freedom to try and find the best possible outcomes in every encounter. I was expecting to be able to assemble my own crew like in x-com, but it is not exactly like that game. you have a set team you work with (at least up until the point of the game I am at). But I can already recommend it. Very entertaining while making you think at the same time. Thanks for the game and for not holding the player's hand, unlike some so called AAA titles!

Easily one of the best turn-based strategy games I have ever played. I enjoyed every second of playing through this game. It has a very solid combat system that rewards experimentation and clever solutions and doesn't shoehorn you into using super optimal strategies-- If I wanted to resolve a puzzle by bashing into an enemy repeatedly with Dall, I could.

More than this, and rather unexpectedly, was the story behind the game. The world-building is solid and very interesting, a creative gumbo of different aesthetics. The way that the contemporary styles meshed with the more traditional fantasy stuff was a ton of fun to figure out. I love Zan's three-shot assault staff, Rion's sleek mafia druid aesthetic, Dall's entire riot priest attire. It was all very fun and creative and something which I would come back to repeatedly. This aesthetic should become more popular and I would love to play more games in this universe-- In fact, I think I might start working on putting together something for a TTRPG campaign set in this world because I enjoyed the world building *that much*.

A world is nothing without its characters, though. This game did not fail to deliver. From Jen to Rion, every playable character is an absolute joy to meet. As we go through the game, we watch them evolve and change. I remain a big fan of Zan and Banks. Zan's journey is one that I found rather unexpected, given the nature of its beginning. I thought Zan was going to be a little generic-- But as we find out more about him and what he did, I realized that this was a very unique take on the type of character that someone like Zan tends to be. While he might be garbed in the usual trappings of a tragic hero-- Unfairly discharged for making a terrible choice and burdened with the knowledge of an oncoming catastrophe, Zan is far from your usual trope-ridden pastiche and represents a character which I found to be an extremely refreshing breath of fresh air. I can say the same for everyone here, frankly. Jen and Dessa are hilarious and both lovable in different ways. Dall feels a little exposition-heavy at times, but I seriously love her commitment to her cause and her general attitude, plus she's a kickass rebel. Rion is the one that we spend the least time with and, even then, I think the decision to have him go back and forth with Dessa was a good one, given that Dessa is probably one of the most likable characters in the game. Introducing a new character and making him cozy up to our proverbial protagonists proverbial partner was a stroke of genius that I seriously appreciated.

I could probably sing this game's praises for a while. But I wont expound upon this. I love this game, you'll probably find you love it too. Extremely refreshing game, I hope to see more of this world and more from these folks in general!

This is a very clever little tactics game, though it ends up playing a bit more like a puzzle game in a sense. Most of your characters' abilities do not deal direct damage to your enemies. Instead the gameplay emphasizes positioning, both of your guys and the enemies. Most of your abilities will be focused on pushing the enemies around in some fashion, into walls, into each other, into environmental objects, out of windows or eldritch portals, that sort of thing. Everyone's abilities synergize together to create a lot of fun interactions, and the game is consistently feeding you new enemies or objects or mechanics to maintain your interest, it's very well paced in this regard. I also found each character's kit to be really inventive and outside the box for the genre. Your "medic", for instance, cannot heal people directly, but can kill and revive them, or just revive them if they're already dead. You can revive enemies too, in a confused state. This is just one example, but there are countless more, and it shows how creative and thoughtful the game's design is.

The difficulty settings have a number of options you can tailor to your whims, and each mission has some optional, character specific side objectives, like making sure nobody takes damage, or blocking a certain number of reinforcements, meant to serve as additional optional difficulty and reward. Trying to fulfill all of these can make missions more difficult, but it can also guide you towards solutions you may have not come up with otherwise, and provides points you can spend on new outfits(the most important part of the game it goes without saying).

The story is meant to be humorous, though it knows when to take itself seriously when the moment calls for it. Some of the humor lands, some doesn't, this is entirely to personal taste. I thought some of the dialogue started to veer a bit too much into the "Marvel Quip" formula, but it never gets anywhere near as bad as like, Forspoken if you want a comparison. I'm willing to overlook it honestly, because everything else is really good. The character writing, worldbuilding, and overarching plot are all fantastic. I found some of the moments in the story to be genuinely poignant, which is shocking coming from a game where one of your recurring antagonists is a loser traffic cop.

Really give this one a look if you're a fan of this type of game, it's well worth the money.