As a fan of Tactics games and old school Metal Slug, I've had my eye on this game for a while. Admittedly, the game ended up not being what I originally thought it would be... But I still ended up enjoying the game!

Let's get this out of the way; if you're expecting Final Fantasy Tactics, Fire Emblem, or Tactics Ogre, this game isn't it. It utilizes a roguelite structure rather than continuous progression, meaning that any upgrades to your characters will last until the end of the run. You pick from a handful of missions in a specific region on each run until a boss appears, and beating that boss clears the region. There's not really much of a narrative beyond that, so if you're expecting a story-driven epic, this isn't it. The game is very much driven by its gameplay, while the narrative is kept to a minimum.

In terms of mechanics, this game places a HUGE emphasis on movement. Not only is it your primary means of positioning, but it's also your primary means of survival. Moving accumulates "Dodge", which is something of a misnomer as it really functions more like Defense. The father you move, the more Dodge you accumulate for that turn, which lessens the damage you take during the enemy's turn by the amount of Dodge you've gained. You can further that by utilizing Cover, specific spots on the map designated by blue squares, which will further reduce damage you take additively with Dodge. Where most Tactics games discourage you from rushing into the enemy, you're actually rewarded for it in MST... assuming you position well. The other part of positioning is that when you attack an enemy, if one of your allies is in range and adjacent to that enemy, they will "Sync" and perform a follow up attack. This is where the bulk of your offensive pressure will come in, so you really have to think ahead when positioning your characters. Aggressive use of Sync and Dodge lets you have an aggressive play strategy for a tactical RPG, so it proves to be a clever way to adapt "Run and Gun" to a tactics game.

That said, the game has a few hiccups. The learning curve in the game is rather steep, as they put you through a rather simple tutorial with LOTS of walls of text, and then immediately do not pull punches once you get to the regular missions. Not all regular missions are equal in difficulty, either. "Kill all enemies" and "Kill specified target" missions tend to be easier, while things like "Escort" and "Destroy the Convoy" missions are much more demanding. Difficulty also isn't particularly linear; I found the hardest boss to be the first one, while every other boss thereafter was comparatively easier.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention this, but the game has bugs. Quite a few of them, actually. Some are hilarious visual bugs that aren't actually of any real consequence, while others will soft lock the game and force you to quit. Fortunately the game auto-saves so the soft locks never cost me any progress, but it was a source of frustration.

Ultimately, while the game is buggy and the difficulty is very front-loaded, once the game did click for me, I found myself enjoying it, and the variety of characters and builds means there's a lot of replay value if you want to try out every combination. It's definitely very different from other Tactics games, but at the same time, manages to embrace its own identity and incorporate the series Run and Gun roots into the Tactical genre in a surprisingly fun way.

As a fan of Tactics games and old school Metal Slug, I've had my eye on this game for a while. Admittedly, the game ended up not being what I originally thought it would be... But I still ended up enjoying the game! Let's get this out of the way; if you're expecting Final Fantasy Tactics, Fire Emblem, or Tactics Ogre, this game isn't it. It utilizes a roguelite structure rather than continuous progression, meaning that any upgrades to your characters will last until the end of the run. You pick from a handful of missions in a specific region on each run until a boss appears, and beating that boss clears the region. There's not really much of a narrative beyond that, so if you're expecting a story-driven epic, this isn't it. The game is very much driven by its gameplay, while the narrative is kept to a minimum. In terms of mechanics, this game places a HUGE emphasis on movement. Not only is it your primary means of positioning, but it's also your primary means of survival. Moving accumulates "Dodge", which is something of a misnomer as it really functions more like Defense. The father you move, the more Dodge you accumulate for that turn, which lessens the damage you take during the enemy's turn by the amount of Dodge you've gained. You can further that by utilizing Cover, specific spots on the map designated by blue squares, which will further reduce damage you take additively with Dodge. Where most Tactics games discourage you from rushing into the enemy, you're actually rewarded for it in MST... assuming you position well. The other part of positioning is that when you attack an enemy, if one of your allies is in range and adjacent to that enemy, they will "Sync" and perform a follow up attack. This is where the bulk of your offensive pressure will come in, so you really have to think ahead when positioning your characters. Aggressive use of Sync and Dodge lets you have an aggressive play strategy for a tactical RPG, so it proves to be a clever way to adapt "Run and Gun" to a tactics game. That said, the game has a few hiccups. The learning curve in the game is rather steep, as they put you through a rather simple tutorial with LOTS of walls of text, and then immediately do not pull punches once you get to the regular missions. Not all regular missions are equal in difficulty, either. "Kill all enemies" and "Kill specified target" missions tend to be easier, while things like "Escort" and "Destroy the Convoy" missions are much more demanding. Difficulty also isn't particularly linear; I found the hardest boss to be the first one, while every other boss thereafter was comparatively easier. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention this, but the game has bugs. Quite a few of them, actually. Some are hilarious visual bugs that aren't actually of any real consequence, while others will soft lock the game and force you to quit. Fortunately the game auto-saves so the soft locks never cost me any progress, but it was a source of frustration. Ultimately, while the game is buggy and the difficulty is very front-loaded, once the game did click for me, I found myself enjoying it, and the variety of characters and builds means there's a lot of replay value if you want to try out every combination. It's definitely very different from other Tactics games, but at the same time, manages to embrace its own identity and incorporate the series Run and Gun roots into the Tactical genre in a surprisingly fun way.