Tactical Breach Wizards is a puzzle game wrapped in a nice tactical turn-based format. It is nicely presented, with charming character design, set in a convoluted, but lighthearted world, and it has a fantastic presentation with its minimalist and colourful art style. However, what it isn’t, is something similar to XCOM, Into The Breach and other games of the genre.
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- Genre: Puzzle/ Turn-Based Strategy
- Developer: Suspicious Developments Inc
- Publisher: Suspicious Developments
- Release Date: 15th August, 2024
- Price: $19.99/ 19,50€/ £16.75
- Buy at: Steam
- Reviewed On: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3.70 GHz, 16GB RAM, NVIDIA GTX 2080
I’ve read a lot of people calling Tactical Breach Wizards an instant classic, and after playing Tactical Breach Wizards for over 20 hours, I can see why people might think this is the case, however I’m still not convinced. The game’s charming and imaginative, it iterates on the turn-based formula by imbuing it with great puzzle design and fantastic character and world-building. I know most of my harsher criticism is going to be directed at the fact that Tactical Breach Wizards leans a bit too much into its puzzling nature. Still, even then, I want to let you know, from the get-go, that I really think Tactical Breach Wizards is still worthy of your time and attention. Just go into it considering what it really is, instead of what you wanted it to be. This should stave off some frustration.
“Why is it that when something happens it is always you three?”
Let’s start with its premise, shall we? This humorous turn-based tactics game is set in a colourful world filled with quirky characters where magic is real and used as a weapon. You’ll be commanding a team of several swat wizards across 4 story arcs, fighting to unravel a conspiracy plot that threatens the world as we (they?) know it.
The character design is just top-notch, and the idea of pairing magic with special forces soldiers is so funny, especially when you see things like a silence wand, a fire warlock whose fire hurts but doesn’t burn, and a doctor who can only resuscitate people by shooting them. Clearly, you can see that Tactical Breach Wizards isn’t the kind of game that takes itself seriously, and absolutely embraces the nature of its silliness. Each of the character’s personalities manifests both in the battle capabilities, but also during cutscenes and door conversations.
What are those door conversations, you might ask? Well, what’s the thing swat folk usually breach? Doors! And this hilarious cast of characters is always deciding to have the most heartwarming and silly of conversations before breaching a door. And you might be thinking “Ah, this only happens once every mission, I’m sure there’s no way they’ll be talking all the time”, and that’s where you would be oh so very wrong. In every single scenario -every, single,one- before a battle, there’s some form of dialogue, some a bit longer than others, but there’s always something. You can, of course, skip it, but you’ll be losing one of the best parts of the game, which is getting to know these characters and the story they’re in.
I’ll deliberately avoid commenting on the story because a lot of the game’s progression and new characters are tied to it. So I’ll just say the game starts with your classical trope of a team member who feels betrayed, loses it, and goes rogue. Everything that happens after that is for you to find out, but it’s quite captivating to follow the adventures of this ragtag bunch of washed-up wizards trying to save the world. As the campaign progresses new characters will be joining your team, and with them new abilities for you to discover new synergies.
Content-wise, despite its linearity, you won’t find yourself lacking in this department. There are, probably, at least 50 scenarios in the campaign alone (maybe more), split between 16 missions, totalling 4 arcs. In between each mission, you’ll be able to tackle increasingly difficult challenges in “dreams”. These “dreams” vary quite a lot from the main missions because they’re more focused on specific mechanics and characters. In the end, the whole campaign will probably last you upwards of 20 hours, maybe more. If you decide to 100% the game, you can expect to be playing Tactical Breach Wizards for 30 to 50 hours.
But how does it play? What are its main mechanics? And how well does the whole swat-magic-infused-soldiers gimmick work?
“I’ve always wanted to use that spell!”
Battle are turn-based affairs, with an interesting twist due to Zan’s special ability. Zan (the Gandalf-looking guy with a massive crystal staff inside the barrel of his M4)~is a Navy Seer, meaning that he can see the future, but only one second ahead. He can also foresee multiple futures, depending on the decisions people will make. This translates into gameplay in two ways: every enemy action on a given turn is telegraphed, and you can infinitely rewind every action you took on a given turn to adjust for optimal results. Basically, you’re playing Tactical Breach Wizards inside the head of Zan, while he looks for the strategy with the best chance of success. Once you find that, you press execute, and the rest of the turn unfolds, if you’re happy with the result, things move forward.
This permanent rewind mechanics might sound a bit silly at first glance, but believe me when I say is incredibly satisfying to use, because more often than not you’ll be looking for the optimal solution for every situation, and there’s going to be a lot of “Eureka!” moments when, during your 5th rewind- you’ll remember that using a wand push combined with the False Prophet, and a proc from your gun-toting wizard equals to pushing a massive treat to your whole team into the exact location you wanted to for it to be thrown out of a window with a shield charge. Having the ability to use the rewind system with no repercussions means that the whole skillset of your crew is a toolbox you can explore to your heart’s content. It’s a great design decision that only works if the game’s properly built to support it (I can’t imagine this working in something like XCOM, for example), but here, it’s just fantastic.
Pair that rewind mechanic with a system, that rewards you for doing certain tasks and achieving certain victory conditions during the missions and there is a lot of consideration to do, a lot of planning and a lot of trial and error. It’s really good. The only downside I have with this system is that there’s going to be a lack of replayability in the long run. Compare it to something like Into The Breach, a game that randomly generates campaigns every time, and it’s still a fresh experience even after all these years, and I don’t see Tactical Breach Wizards reaching the same level of, let’s call it, longevity- and not that it needs it, because it’s very much a self-contained experience, like all other games from this developer, but it would be nice to have. There’s a map editor where players can create their own maps, and I’m sure the most imaginative ones are going to have a field day with this.
“Obviously.”
I still think that while the game’s skills work amazingly with one another, I think that they could have gone a bit wilder with their magic, and I say that because, when the characters are outside of their cutscenes and door talk, only two of them really feel like proper wizards. The soldier Gandalf just feels like a regular soldier with the ability to project images of himself (yes, I know that he’s the one that sees into the future, but that’s more of an implicit thing throughout the game, other than an active ability he can use). The Riot Shield girl also doesn’t have anything spectacular other than a teleport she can use to change locations. It’s just kind of a wasted opportunity, and I really miss games that let me use their skills to pull off absolutely insane shenanigans, even if it isn’t necessarily balanced.
These skills can be improved through the game by accumulating experience points, and they’ll become more powerful as you move later into the game. Some of these changes are quite substantial and can radically make you adapt your strategy: skills that proc with others, making for scenarios where an enemy can be attacked multiple times with a single attack; the ability to use the most powerful abilities more than once; Increasing their attack and push stats. This improves a lot on the basic abilities and makes them feel more varied throughout the whole campaign.
The enemies also don’t feel very threatening, and outside of the big shield-carrying ones, most of them are pushovers, quite literally, because I don’t think I mentioned that you’ll be eliminating a lot of enemies by throwing them out of windows. Yes, that’s such an important thing in the game the definition of “defenestration” is always available for you to read. It’s quite funny.
To end this review on a positive note, I would like to applaud the team for one thing, and that’s how much they care about accessibility for players who might be struggling with its difficulty. You can skip every mission you want if you’re struggling with it, so that way
Final Score 8/10
Tactical Breach Wizards is a charming, witty and mostly well-designed title that definitely deserves your attention. It’s an interesting mix between puzzle and turn-based strategy that manages to feel mostly balanced throughout the whole campaign, and not overly limit the player in their moves and strategies. It’s a great looker, with a very cheap price tag that won’t break the bank. Other than the lack of replayability and some uninspired skills, there’s very little to point out. Just don’t go into it expecting it to be something it is not, and that’s XCOM, Phoenix Point, and Into The Breach.
Pros:
- Charming and charismatic characters;
- Engaging and interesting story that holds your attention the whole time;
- Turn-based tactical gameplay that doesn’t feel overly puzzly.
Cons:
- Missed opportunity with bland skills on some characters;
- Enemies are pushovers;
- Not a lot of replayability.
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