Whenever I see “turn-based strategy” or “tactical RPG” it’s an almost certain marker that the game is not for me. I’ve never had much patience for turn-based anything in general and very few (in a grand scheme of things) games and game series approached the concept in a way that I found exciting. Due to that, my initial reaction to Tactical Breach Wizards was dismissive – no matter how good the game could be, it had a high chance of being not my cup of tea whatsoever. But after seeing highly positive reception that especially focused on the writing I decided to give it a chance. When I learned that Suspicious Developments, the developers of the game, were the team behind Gunpoint, I got even more curious as while that game was also totally not my thing, it was inventive, understood how to mix planning and exciting action and was quite funny from what little of it I have experienced.
And even so, Tactical Breach Wizards exceeded all my expectations and are one of the biggest highlights of 2024 for me.
The concept behind the game is not unlike what you might’ve seen in other mission-based turn-based tactics. You have your team of characters, who have a limited amount of actions they can do per turn. There are enemies, who might also get reinforcements after certain turn. Each side takes said turns as you attempt to achieve whatever the mission goal is in the most efficient and clever way while trying to keep the team alive. There is no dedicated stealth aspect to it, so it’s all about planning and executing active skills that are unique to each of the team members and utilizing the environment optimally.
The last points specifically place Tactical Breach Wizards in a situation where it can almost be categorized as a puzzle game. You’re never locked into extremely specific rules of “how the level is meant to be played”, but there are ways that are better (and usually more fun and funny) than the others. Defenestrating enemies (throwing them out of windows) is an instant-KO, for example and collision damage for enemies that are pushed back into an obstacle is almost always better than any direct damage you may do. Which you don’t even often have access to, as some of your characters only do actions that manipulate enemies instead of damaging their health directly. You get more team members as the game goes and even though some might feel very restrictive at first, as you play you will learn to use each ability in super creative and not immediately obvious ways. With game nudging you towards this experimental thinking by placing additional challenge goals that are fully optional but provide characters with “confidence” that allows them to wear different clothes.
You’re probably already seeing how quirky the game might be from just the gameplay description, but the story and character writing here is just incredible. It is somewhat reminiscent of the Terry Pratchett’s novels – and I don’t mean just the humour, but the engaging and genuinely interesting story as well. I’m amazed at how well this game manages to balance out the ability to be silly and funny all the time, while also telling a great story with proper character development, serious stakes and drama. It’s so good, nothing I can say on it will do it justice – it simply must be experienced.
And since I’ve mentioned that this is not really my type of game at the start, I’m happy to say – I still loved playing it on the default difficulty. I didn’t do all optional challenges and didn’t complete all of the harder optional missions, but the only genuine difficulties I’ve had were usually during the introductions of new characters and other than that, only the final set of missions had a few really tough moments. Otherwise, the pace of the game, the difficulty, the way it teaches you how to do things well – all was top notch. Even said challenges themselves were such a wonderful hidden tutorial at times, where if the game said you could finish the mission in one turn, it motivated me to think hard about all the tools I have and finding new unexpected uses for abilities. The presentation and soundtrack make the whole experience really pleasant as well… Honestly, there was just one mission with a train where I felt the goal was presented not clear enough and it was one of the very few missions where not achieving the goal meant you basically had to restart the mission. But even then – the missions are quick.
I had an absolute blast with Tactical Breach Wizards. To the point where I almost want to see more games set in this universe, although this might risk ruining the magic (pun not intended). Definitely give this game a go – even if you’re not into this mix of genres, you might love it just like I did.