Welcome to the next game in the Defenestration Trilogy by Publisher Suspicious Developments. Tactical Breach Wizards is a turn-based tactical game about wizards in Kevlar beaching doors and knocking people out of windows. A lot of windows. So grab your broom or spell-casting assault rifle, and join me as we dive into this to see if it’s any good or should be cast out the nearest window.
In this review I will be going over the following.
Story
Tactical Breach Wizards exist in a modern world with public transportation and traffic cops. The only difference being that some people have magical powers. Their powers are usually unlocked from a traumatic event. These people do their best to find practical uses for their new found powers. Others decide to continue being a traffic cop even though they are a warlock that can summon ghost cars.
You lead a pair of ragtag wizards down on their luck. They are on the run from the local authorities while trying to stop one of the most powerful wizards in existence. Along the way, you will be joined by some colorful characters and have some interesting conversations. It is up to you and your band of misfits to stop the wizard before anything worse happens.
Gameplay
The main focus of Tactical Breach Wizards is combat. In between combat encounters, members of your party might stop to have a quick chat. What better time to catch up on the past than outside the door you are about to breach? There will also be a chance to level up some of your abilities and try out a new outfit before jumping back into the next series of battles. Since combat is the focus, let’s start there.
Breach
Every combat starts with a breach. Most rooms only have one door to breach through, but later, there will be more breaching options, especially as you start to expand your team. It’s important to figure out who you want to breach through the door first. Depending on what opposition is in the room, certain character abilities might be more helpful than others when first entering the room. Don’t stress it too much. You can always reset it.
Actions
Tactical Breach Wizards uses a points-based combat system. Every character starts their turn with one movement point and one action point. Positioning is key to not taking a bullet to the face. It is also important to set up combos with your squad or get the right angle to defenestrate someone. You can only move once, so choose wisely.
Your action points are for using abilities. Some more powerful abilities require mana as well as an action point. Mana can be found on levels by picking up Intel or doing certain actions, such as sealing a door. There are also specialty items that some characters will unlock. It is typically a free action to use those times. One action point might not sound like a lot, but each character can accomplish quite a bit during their turn if you plan it out correctly.
Combos
One of the biggest things to keep in mind is setting up combos. Cooperative interaction between your characters is sometimes the only way to defeat an enemy. At the start of the game, one of your characters does very minimal damage while the other carries a magical assault rifle. It is important to make sure you are chaining their abilities together to get the maximum use of their abilities every turn.
Objectives
Another thing to make sure you are keeping in mind is the objectives. Tactical Breach Wizards have objectives for every encounter. There are main objectives and secondary objectives. The main objectives must be completed to move on to the next encounter. The secondary ones are completely optional. Secondary objectives are there for players who want an extra challenge.
Sometimes, you might have to come back once your characters have leveled up to try it again. Completing secondary objectives gives your characters confidence. Between missions, you can unlock different outfits depending on how confident that character is.
Trial and Error
The developers of Tactical Breach Wizards really focused on allowing players to perfect each encounter. They really wanted to let you try and try until you are completely happy with each turn. You can see what each enemy unit’s intent is during your turn. Before ending your turn, you can use the Foreseeability to see into the future. In other words, the enemy takes their turn, and you can see if any of your characters get shot. If you don’t like the results, then you simply rewind. Either back a couple of steps or even all the way to the beginning of that turn.
You don’t even have to wait until the end of your turn to rewind. You are free to use it at any point. That means you can move, rewind, move, rewind, etc., until you find that exact angle you need for a defenestration. It is also a blessing to use when you are trying to perfect a level to get all the secondary objectives. Just make sure you are completely happy with your turn before you end it because you can’t rewind anymore after you end your turn.
Conversations
Another big part of the game is the story and the way that they tell it. Tactical Breach Wizards does its storytelling in a way that I think is quite unique. The story is told through the characters’ conversations. And a lot of that is done right before breaching a room or even during the fight. The conversations are typically filled with humor, and I often catch myself laughing hard enough for someone in the next room to hear me. I was often laughing at the subjects that were brought up right before a breach. That and the fact that the ragtag group was so broke they had to take the public ferry to chase down the bad guys.
Leveling
There is a short break between acts in the story when you have a chance to level up your character’s abilities before the next mission. Abilities are usually unlocked by story events, but you can use skill points from leveling to upgrade them. There isn’t a whole lot of depth to the leveling system. Each ability only has a handful of upgrade options. Simplicity is key here. What Tactical Breach Wizards lack in depth, they make up for in creativity of the abilities.
Conclusion
So, with all that being said, should you go pick up Tactical Breach Wizards or cast it straight out the nearest window? The developer is pretty upfront that they are not trying to be the next XCOM or Into the Breach. Instead, it’s a nicely little packaged turn-based tactical game with funny characters and an enjoyable story.
I absolutely loved the humor throughout the game. I always looked forward to seeing what someone was going to say next. I also thoroughly enjoyed the combat. The ability to rewind as much as I wanted really took the stress out of the game. That doesn’t mean the game isn’t challenging, it just means you are able to work your way through the challenge at your own pace. It also allows you to fully utilize all of your character’s abilities to try to find the best path forward.
Tactical Breach Wizards is a game you should check out if you play turn-based games. Even if you don’t play very many tactical games, I think this one is worth giving a try. It’s just a blast the whole way through.
A review key was provided by the developers at Suspicious Developments.
