Battletech

[Kaede]

So, who's getting this game? Game looks to be awesome and a good introduction to the series for newcomers like Mechassault was for me. Was going to have a giveaway on release for a spare copy but Matt asked for it.

[Corenat Rovarnus]

looks like the HD version of Into the Breach

[Kaede]

I'm honestly surprised this game is getting released tbh I don't doubt harebrained studios, they more than delivered with the shadowrun games, it's more the patent trolls harmony gold, 'creators' of the Robotech series. But from what I heard their license to Macross (the guy who designed the Macross mechs sold similar if not the same designs to the guys who made Batteltech) will be expiring in a few years so maybe we'll get some Macross anime and games coming west, maybe even the SRW games they're already subbed in English recently to it's possible.

[Interovegas]

This game was announced before into the breach. East and west continue to suck at finding successful mech games.

[Kaede]

I dunno man, the original mechwarrior games where huge in the 90's, even having full on mech cockpits to play the games (dad actually went to one in Chicago. when it opened) and is steadly making a comeback since the release of MWO. Plus the tabletop version is getting new editions of the starter & battle boxes so thats a plus. Only thing I can think of that made the original games fade away is because of Microsoft doing dick with the ip until 2016 when they licensed it out.

[Interovegas]

Is the combat system of mechwarrior RPG actually satisfying though? +I'm saying mechwarrior is nearly the best of the entire genre, even across east and west. Often the best of mecha anime and film is more entertaining than much of the mech game genre (RIP hawken).

[Kaede]

I can't give a really good opinion of it, I played it once and had fun. This was also in high school so about 10 years ago and most likely a different version. But I do wanna get back into the game, mostly because I kinda wanna paint my own lance.

[Kaede]

Well game has a release date ,24/4/2018, can't wait to get my key. Little disappointed that there will be no clan mechs in the game, love me some Mad Cat and Summoner, but hopefully mods or a sequel will fix that.

[Interovegas]

All hail, though this crpg thing is like the new craze huh? Battletech, Divinity Original Sin 2, and a slew of other xcom likes.

[Kaede]

Not surprised, people have been clamoring for a return to actual RPGs for years. Too bad Bioware won't get in on the action and instead make drek like Anthem, almost makes me wish they never joined EA and remained with Microsoft, at least they were making good games and not chasing commercial success.

[Kaede]

[Kaede]

After about nine hours of gameplay, I have this to say:

1) game engine seems to be abit weird, with long loading times and had one time it froze on the cinematic moving of a mech. But I also need a new CPU because mine is somewhat old.

2) people slag on the game not giving enough information but, you hover over the weapon you wanna fire and you can see exactly why the hit chance is what it is.

3) I am only slightly annoyed at the pronoun choice, but more annoyed that you can't have blonde hair (what kind of Steiner doesn't have blonde hair and blue eyes.) and that for some reason every character looks asian even if I try and make them not look asian.

[Corenat Rovarnus]

lol the racial yellowwashing, must be backed by the people's republic

[Kaede]

But I'm not Liao (space China) or Kurita (space Japan), I'm Marik (space America). Guess they took the massive interbreeding in the universe to mean everyone has yellow fever.

[Interovegas]

Is the tactical gameplay essentially strong?

[Kaede]

Lots of text tldr its good, and differentiates itself from similar looking games like xcom.

It is pretty good, unlike a game like xcom, battletech encourages you to always be on the move with the inclusion of an evasion system if you move even a little bit you are harder to hit for one attack. Positioning is also more emphasized, the back of a mech is more vulnerable to damage but you have only three places to attack, if your facing it's side you deal more damage to that side and it's components, and by using called shots you can take out a mechs individual pieces ,take out the arms to destroy weapons, critical hits on ammo storage instantly destroys that part that held the ammo and injures the pilot, cripple a leg to knock them over for free called shots and make it so they cant sprint or do a death from above attack. Speaking of attacking, all the bots are fully customizable, from how much armor each part has, what weapons you use and where they are placed, and the weapon variety is pretty good from SRM LRM , the electric PPC gun, three different types of lasers, machine guns, flamers to overheat an enemy to shutdown their mechs, and my personal favorites the auto cannons which vary from medium range guns to sniper rifles depending on which types and all the weapons have varying degrees of effectiveness. And the very last thing is the classes of mechs light, scouts who can move around the most and get the most evasion and harass bigger mechs, medium jack of all trades master of none, Heavy who do all the heavy lifting and carry the most guns, and Assault aka heavier heavies. All have different tonnage limits and can different hardpoint locations so the skies the limit as to what you can make. There are more things I can say like the pilot skills that determine your class, injuries and the business sim that is the single payer, but I'm going to leave it at that. I suggest you look up a few game play videos to see it in action.

[Interovegas]

You mention "the business sim that is the singleplayer". It includes 1v1 mech chess as well?

[Kaede]

Yeah, the main game is a business sim, your a merc group trying to stay afloat you have to take missions to get money which is used for general upkeep of your mechs, pay your mechwarrior's salaries (which go up as you level them up), buy weapons and equipment, and pay off your large debt to the banks ,which how you interact with them can affect the status of your loan, and the game even implies that bounty hunters will be sent after you if your credit status gets bad, all the while having to deal with the morale of your unit which you can be effected by increasing or decreasing the monthly amount that will get deducted from your account, and random events that can affect company morale, status of pilots to give them buffs or debuffs in battle, and how well your med and tech points ,how long it takes your pilots and their mechs to heal up to be used again, are for that month.

As for 1v1, there is a multiplayer element that is provided through paradox servers.