Tactical Breach Wizards

从战棋机制本身的设计上来说，由于主角团能力过于超模，甚至有了无限再动的连携导致游戏本身没什么难度，也破坏了策略深度。比较出彩的地方在于结合机制的叙事以及几个基于机制的谜题关，比常规的打倒敌人有趣得多。但是，tactical breach wizards真正的卖点应该是战棋之外的部分，本作的world building以及角色塑造出乎意料的好，台词风趣诙谐，故事虽难说出人意料但工整流畅，不乏灵光乍现的精彩片段，乍看仅仅是高概念的现代巫师世界观最后落实的也很扎实，这种老派的decent writing现今看来果然也是难能可贵的。

Yeah this game rules. It's also funny. You feel like a genius making these huge plays - there's so many good tools and abilities to play around with.

There's a very anachronistic Progress Pride flag in a cutscene that comes off as pandering. It isn't indicative of the rest of the game, but if you prefer to steer clear of anything with that stuff in it, you've been warned. Now, if you aren't bothered by that or can see past it, this game is a blast. Is it closer to a puzzle game than XCOM? Yes, but it's a *really fun and inventive* puzzle game with more ways to complete your objectives than you might think. The writing and worldbuilding is generally solid and I ended up liking the characters quite a bit by the end. While there's a lot of "milennial humor" it tends to land more often than not. Despite what some reviews might claim, this isn't a just a"muh church bad" plot. There's a pretty fleshed out amount of lore that goes into that aspect of the world, and while it becomes the focus of an Act, it's still just a larger part of the overall international thriller story. All in all, very charming, makes you feel the the smartiest of pants when you pull off a tricky manuever.

I know I am pretty alone with this opinion, but I do not enjoy the game at all. I tried the demo back in the day, which I also did not like but a friend of mine told me to give it another chance. The "overwhelmingly positive" rating made me think twice and so I did, but the UI is horrible, the dialogues are cringily trying to be funny at any cost and the puzzles always have the same solutions. The level generation in the story does not have enough RNG (if at all?). Also the abilities aren't really that fun. Sadly I'll have to refund this. I liked the idea a lot, but did not enjoy the execution. I'm not saying it is a bad game, but it is not for me.

snarky gandalfs i like it

Reminds me of "Into the Breach," but what I like about it is a coherent plot rather than randomly generated levels. This game is a labour of love and you can see it. One of the few games that I actually managed to complete lately.

Here is a game that has everything I want: An exceptionally well-written script with delightfully droll and witty characters all of whom are hiding much more depth than it might seem at first glance. (And all of whom I was entirely in love with by the end, especially Dessa Banks, I hope she has a good life.) Truly, excellently balanced combat puzzles that rewards just futzing around with abilities until you crack the exact perfect way to solve a room AND get all the bonus objectives all at once (a delicious dopamine hit, I must say). An uncomplicated story with enough heft to it that it's not just set-dressing, but it's not so over-bearing that the incredible world-building gets over-shadowed by it. And the world-building IS incredible. There is something to be said for a game that starts with a genuinely simple premise: clear rooms with magic; and then expands on that in some incredibly fun directions. Not everyone has magic, but there are some kinds of magic it seems anyone can learn (the breach seals), people unlock their magic only in truly desperate situations and then their magic is one hyper-specific thing. But you can share it with others. Kind of. Also animals have magic too. And it leans so fully into the political and economic ramifications of that. When world-building ties into the plot and that ties into the characters and their motivations and goals and the issues they're wrestling with and none of it can be extracted from the rest without the whole thing falling apart? That's the good ♥♥♥♥. That's aspirational, is what that is. It's a game with very simple mechanics and rules: here are your characters, here's what they can do. Here are the enemy types and what they can do. Solve it. Low bar of entry, high ceiling for mastery. And it keeps adding new enemies all the way through until the end just to keep things spicy. (Some enemy types are way more infuriating than others, but none of them are beyond what your team is capable of. It's like the game is handing you something and saying "this is the challenge, it looks tough, but you have everything you need already" and it's TRUE. And the feeling of rising to that challenge, of meeting the game where it is, that's spectacular. I have never felt smarter, never felt dumber, never been more pleased as when getting through a roomful of twelve guys in one turn and a truly sinful amount of movement coaxed from Jen. I love Jen.) The achievements were a riot of fun also. This game did something I really enjoy from achievements: they had fun with it. Sure, the usual story progression ones, yeah. But the others were such a delight. How much bodily trauma can you inflict on a single enemy with Dall's charge? Let's find out. How much of an insult is it to just straight up ignore Steve Clark Traffic Warlock in the final confrontation? Yeah, he's never recovering. What happens if you target yourself with Jen's chain lightning skill? Exactly that, yes, and now you have an achievement for it, congrats. And there's one for throwing yourself out a window also. Good job, wizard! This game is such a spectacular creation; I'm obsessed, I'm sorry it took me so long to get to it, I miss the characters already. Go play it right now.

Good puzzle game.