Subset Games was responsible for 2012's FTL: Faster Than Light, a roguelike set in space that I enjoyed a lot. It's extraordinarily difficult as so often the odds are stacked against you. The goal in that game was to simply reach Federation headquarters and defend it against the opposing Rebel Flagship. Along the way you encounter much opposition not only from rebels but from obstacles in space and other hazards. Because so many of the game's elements are randomly generated, every run is a little different. It was exciting in a very addicting way to keep trying run after run, hoping that maybe you end up with better tools at your disposal the next time around. To this day I have not completed a run of this game!
Into the Breach is a new game from this developer that on the surface is very different from its predecessor. There are still randomly generated elements and ways to unlock new content as you complete additional runs, but the gameplay itself is more akin to a turn-based strategy RPG. Players command a squad of three mechs that are tasked with liberating various regions on an island. Once a certain number of regions have been liberated, the opposing alien force will attack the area's headquarters and you'll engage in a battle there to save the island itself. There are four islands in total, only two of which must be completed in order to advance to the final area. I haven't completed a run of this game either but I feel a bit more confident I can do so than with FTL, which always seemed completely out of the realm of possibility.
What I like a lot about Into the Breach so far is that the strategy is really engaging. Each of the mechs at your disposal does something very different from other mechs. I've only unlocked about six of them so far, consisting of two different squads, but there is a lot of deceptive nuance in the simplicity of what these mechs do. The starting squad is really straightforward in that it contains a melee, ranged, and artillery mech. The second squad is a little more advanced in that it contains a jet mech that can leapfrog enemy aliens to attack, and then there's a rocket mech that litters the battlefield with damaging exhaust after firing.
All of this is cool enough on its own, but what really sets Into the Breach apart from other strategy RPGs is that you're able to see what actions the enemies will take before it actually happens. This sounds pretty strange on paper but in the game itself it totally works. Every action you take is a response to your enemy's projected future action. This is explained in game by the fact that the characters you assume control of are time travelers sent back in time to save the world from an alien invasion.
It might sound like knowing all of your enemy's moves in advance makes the game easier, but that's certainly not the case. It's a mechanic that makes things a little more even, but the odds are still hilariously stacked against you. Your squad contains no more than three mechs at a time and new aliens pop out of the ground every single turn. Each mission only lasts five turns, but that's more than enough time to get overwhelmed. Seeing the future actions of opponents allows you to manipulate the battlefield to prevent them from destroying towns or permanently taking pilots out of commission. Much like FTL, Into the Breach features permadeath. Mechs are capable of being deployed on auto-pilot, but the unique skills of pilots greatly increase a mech's utility, so it's still very punishing to lose one.
Into the Breach has that satisfying gameplay loop of not being very time-consuming to play, but also being very challenging. Runs end quickly and brutally, but it's not at all difficult to reroll and try again, hoping things proceed a little differently. Maybe you try a different mech lineup this time, or try to achieve a different goal to unlock one of the game's achievements. These achievements award coins that allow you to purchase additional squads of mechs. Considering the level of variety available from just the first two squads, I'm really excited to see what else the game has to show me.
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