Recent reviews by CodeRedJack

Summary: This felt like an easier version of the first game with enough of the same mechanics and ambiance to capture my interest completely. I beat it in ~25hrs without a hard focus on completion, but since beating the final boss, I have found 2 new areas that I missed in my run through. Check every corner, this is a Hollow Knight game. 13/10, my favorite game of the year. I look forward to what they do next, Great job Team Cherry.


The Brain Dump:
I absolutely loved this entry in the Hollow Knight world and overall found this to be about 60% as difficult as it's predecessor. That said, the primary weapon or 'crest' that you start the game with does make chain-bouncing downwards thrusts significantly more difficult. This is largely non-impactful as you will encounter an option to return to HK1 controls pretty early in the game.

Final boss was a bit of a meh-burger in terms of difficulty, although it was beautifully designed. One caveat, I do not know if there is a 'true ending' style encounter such as in the first game. I have reloaded my save pre-fight and found 2 new areas of the map I had not yet seen before, so there is potential that there is. I'll forget to update this if I do find it but I am sure there is a guide or something out there.

As far as bugs or glitches, I really only ran into 2. During two different boss fights, I managed to
1) Got stuck bouncing against the ceiling and having to dash to float to the ground, I had to get merc'd and everything was fine after that. For the Devs -> This appeared to be a interaction with Triboio's bombs as I was stuck on the ceiling and they were stuck to the ground, I have no idea how I did it
2) Was hanging on a wall in a late game fight and the boss karate chopped me through the wall where I fell to my death off screen. For the Devs -> This occurred while wall grabbing with the non-slidey accessory attached to the left side pillar of the White Rose boss battle. She hit me and poof I was inside the pillar falling.

Everything I loved about the first Monster Train and dialed up to 11. This is a perfect sequel. 100000/10.

POE 2 is a phenomenal game and I am loving nearly every minute of it. Yes, there are some fairly annoying bugs currently like not being able to auto summon the free skeletons off my scepter when I have less than 30 spirit left over or not being able to activate 30 cost auras when I have less than 50 spirit remaining.

But overall this is a great experience. The difficulty that is often whined about is exactly where I think it should be. I am currently in Act 3, Level 46 Infernalist (Witch), solo, only a dozen or so hours in the first game, and I am refusing to read any guides or builds. Yes, I die and on some bosses, I die a lot, but I find that stops when I choose to dodge when I am supposed to and dps when I am supposed to. Act 2 boss was a 2 attempt boss, you just need to pay attention to the context clues and move out of the fire.

If you want a face roll GIMME BIG NUMBAS arcade fest, go play Diablo. This game is for the gamerz

This game is good.

Brass Tacks: Im 75 Hours in and am still learning new ways to use the mechs, discovering new interactions between enemies, and look forward to every battle.

TL;DR - This game is really good and definitely worth the price tag. It is a turn based strategy game in the Advanced Wars style of tactical combat. This game, however, puts a lot more emphasis on the manipulation of character positioning. A lot of this is due to the very satisfying friendly fire mechanics. Want to kill that bug? Why not move that other bug over on space and have it do the work for you. Every turn is an incredibly satisfying puzzle and you'll never feel like RNG got the better of you.

While Into the Breach may look (and possibly feel) a bit shallow in its depth at first, I was astounded by the depth and variety of play that can be found for the $14.99 price tag.

First Impressions:
As a huge fan of FTL, I purchased Into the Breach with high expectations. With these high expectations in mind I originally was disappointed by this title. As mentioned above, at first glance the game seems pretty straight forward. It is punishingly difficult until you learn that this game is much more about positional manipulation than straight up pixel murder as seen in other tactical games.

We've been dating a while (20-40 hours):
I have developed a minor obsession for the game, granted I did disable the sounds about 20 hours ago. I have discovered how to get the most of out my unlocked mech teams and consistently get hit with waves of satisfaction at a clever execution.

Maybe I should put a ring on it (60+ hours):
This is definitely a game that I am going to keep coming back to. Its lightweight in terms of time commitments and the ability to jump right back into the game exactly where I left it has become my favorite feature. I play Into the Breach while waiting for queue in other games, between dungeons in Wow, pretty much whenever I don't want to wait for something else.


What is it??

Into the Breach is a turn based tactics game where you take control of a team of three mechs and use their various skills to kill subterranean aliens that are hell bent on toppling buildings in procedurally generated maps. There are 4 islands in the game that each feature unique environmental hazards and features. One, for example, will feature maps that have pools of acid that can double incoming weapon damage to anyone affected by the green goop. After completing at least 2 islands you unlock the alien homeland which will allow you to take the fight to the bugs and finish attempt to beat that playthrough. Each island is separated into zones, each with their own procedurally generated battleground and bonus objectives. An example of the hidden depth is found in these bonus objectives. If you manage to complete all of them on the island, you get a extra reward after the final fight.

There are many teams of mechs to choose from in the game and each team of mechs has a general theme which is seen in the 3 challenges associated with the team. Each team specific challenge that you complete gives you a coin which can be saved up to unlock new teams of mechs. So far my favorite team centers around the use of acid and healing off of bug kills. They can put out massive damage but the hitch is that every time this team uses their weapons they damage themselves.

Each mech has a pilot that gains xp and randomized skills as they level. When you lose or beat the game you can send one pilot into the next game to give yourself a bit of a boost. Throughout the game you can find and unlock special pilots, which will then be unlocked as the starting pilot in future playthroughs.

Overall I highly recommend this game, especially if you are even slightly interested in tactical strategy. If you enjoy this review or think of how I can review better in the future, please feel free to leave a comment below. I am just starting out and any critique or comments would be helpful as I try to get more active in the gaming community.