History VideoGame / IntoTheBreach

* DegradedBoss: During the Final Battle, one Leader Vek appears in the second phase of the mission. If you're on hard, and have beaten enough islands, another Leader Vek appears in the first phase.

-->-- '''Ralph Karlsson (initial pilot)'''

* ContractualBossImmunity: All Leader Vek have the Massive trait, which makes them immune to being killed off via being pushed into water/A.C.I.D./lava, though it will interrupt their action for the turn.
** That's as far as their immunity goes however. They can still be pushed, stunned, insta-killed by falling rocks or even frozen, making them trivially easy to disable for squads with freezing weapons.

* GenreDeconstruction: To {{Mecha}} and {{Kaiju}}, especially on collateral damages. The main objectives of the game involve trying to avoid unnecessary damages to buildings (residential blocks and power plants) to not only for a sense of morality but also to make sure to have electricity running as any damages to buildings will reduce grid infrastructure.

* GrewBeyondTheirProgramming: One of the pilots, Prospero, was a former gardening robot who now takes pride in harvesting Vek. The other robot pilots do not qualify for this, because they were either explicitly re-programmed for combat capability (Gana and Silica) or advanced enough to not have limited programming (Archimedes).

* HesDeadJim: When a mech is disabled, the CEO or surviving pilots typically react like that mech's pilot is instantly dead. Not always the case -- Medical Supplies and Repair Drop will save the pilot's life.

* ResetButton: You can reset an entire turn once per battle as long as it's still your turn, letting you undo any bad decisions without consequence. Isaac Jones' pilot ability gives you an extra chance to reset as well.

* TankGoodness: Some of your building-sized mechs are just giant tanks, with equally giant cannons to go with it. Some missions also give you smaller tanks that you can use in addition to your forces and you can even unlock the ability to launch mini tanks as support units off of some mechs.

* ContractualBossImmunity: All Leader Vek have the Massive trait, which makes them immune to being killed off via being pushed into water/A.C.I.D./lava.
** They aren't immune to non-lethal status effects however, meaning a squad capable of freezing enemies can take them them out of the fight permanently with a single action, though this won't count as killing them for the level objective.

** Many missions have optional objectives tasking you with defending certain buildings or units.

* ResetButton: You can reset an entire turn once per battle, letting you undo any bad decisions without consequence. Isaac Jones' pilot ability gives you an extra chance to reset as well.

** Isaac Jones' special ability lets you reset one additional time per battle. Because the game features perfect information, you should in theory be able to plan every turn out and never need to reset at all.
*** The only instance when his ability comes in handy then is when the best possible play involves buildings resisting damage, which is the only thing the player can't know beforehand, in which case you get an extra chance.

* FrickinLaserBeams: The Laser Mech, naturally, equipped with the map-crossing Burst Beam by default.

* MultiEthnicNames: Common for the randomly generated generic pilots. There's also ace pilot Henry Kwan, although his ethnic background is not discussed; it's fairly common even today for Chinese citizens to choose English names, not to mention later-generation immigrant families.

* InTheFutureHumansWillBeOneRace: Implied. Several of the human ace pilots are ethnically ambiguous, and while the randomized generic pilots' faces are [[HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic hidden behind their helmets]], the latter often have MultiEthnicNames, suggesting that humanity's remnants have become culturally blended.

* InTheFutureHumansWillBeOneRace: Most of the human special pilots are ethnically ambiguous, and the randomized pilots often have first names and surnames from different cultures, suggesting that humanity's remnants have become culturally blended.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The grid pylons in the final area of the game are uninhabited and do not count against a perfect run if destroyed. This is a good thing since it's also the toughest level in the game.

* AirborneMook: All Hornets and Psions have the ability to fly over terrain, meaning that they're unrestricted by terrain and are also immune to death from being pushed onto a water, lava, A.C.I.D. pool, or chasm.

* ArtificialStupidity: The AI is actually quite good, but one weak area is its target prioritization. It tends to randomly select between any viable target, those being a civilian building, a mech, or a frozen ally. This results in buildings getting immobilized, mechs being targeted by precision attacks they can just step away from, or frozen Vek being freed on the final turn. This is likely intentional, as SpitefulAI would increase the difficulty substantially, and it gives the impression of the Vek really being mindless beasts that only know how to AttackAttackAttack. Some of the squads (particularly Steel Judoka) are designed from the ground up to take advantage of this.

* AcePilot: Each starting pilot (called "Time Travelers") comes with a unique special ability and you can recruit additional special pilots through recovering Time Pods or having a perfect run on an island. [[spoiler: Once you unlock each, you can choose them instead as a starting pilot.]] All pilots will level up to upgrade the mech they pilot with extra power, movement or health. Both Normal and Time Traveling pilots can gain two of these skills, meaning time travelers will end up with an extra unique ability.

* AcePilot: Each starting pilot (called "Time Travelers") that you choose comes with a special ability and you can recruit additional special pilots through recovering Time Pods or having a perfect run on an island. [[spoiler: Once you unlock each, you can choose them instead as a starting pilot.]] Your non-ace pilots can also be leveled up to develop their own special abilities, but they will only ever unlock two special abilities to your time traveler's three.
* AchievementSystem: There are achievements for completing global tasks and ones with certain squads. Each one you earn also gets you a coin, which you spend to unlock new squads.
* ActionBomb: Blast Psions turn all other Vek into Action Bombs, exploding upon death.
* AndTheAdventureContinues: [[spoiler:When you win the game, the heroes go their separate ways, heading off to save other timelines. And just like what happens when you lose, you can choose one to keep in the next run.]]
* AfterTheEnd: The world has already been largely destroyed by rising sea levels, but an invasion of building-sized alien insects threatens to destroy everything else that's left. At the beginning of a new profile, the latter has also already happened which prompts the only survivor to go back in time to try again.

* ArbitraryMissionRestriction: All battlefields have optional objectives to gain reputation, reactor cores, and grid power. Completing every optional objective you can on an island earns you an extra reward.
* ArmyOfTheAges: You command a squad of time traveling pilots who breach between timelines to stop the alien invasion.

** Fully upgrading a squad's starting weapons often works just as well if not better than getting newer ones, as they are designed to synergize well with each other which gives them an advantage over a new weapon that might seem stronger at first glance.
** The Rift Walkers, the first squad you control, are armed with weapons that deal damage and push enemies around. Compared to other squads, they're straightforward, but in a game with telegraphed attacks and where positioning is essential, they're useful nonetheless.

** Abe Isamu. He doesn't get any flashy abilities like most of the other special pilots, but lowering all attack damage on him by one (including his own feedback damage from certain weapons!) is surprisingly useful throughout the game.

* BreakOutTheMuseumPiece: Archive Inc. is all about this trope. Some of their missions have the player protecting "Old Earth" artillery or tanks, while others feature satellite launches and strafing runs by "Old Earth" bombers. The equipment is surprisingly useful, since they've maintained it well.

** Isaac Jones' special ability lets you reset one additional time per battle. This is practically useless if you can do well without resets to begin with.

* DroneDeployer: There are a series of weapons that deploy smaller tanks that can shoot enemies, give shields to allies, and more.

* HeroInsurance: An instance where the game's treatment of it as a SubvertedTrope is part of the gameplay as the destruction of buildings, infrastructures, and mech meant that it can cause loss of grid electricity, reputation, and pilot respectively.
* HoldTheLine: Your only true objective in battles is to survive enough turns and not lose so much grid power that you need to abandon the current timeline. Everything else, including killing Vek, is optional.

* KingMook: Some of the bosses you face are leader versions of the normal Vek you face against. They usually deal a ton of damage and can hit many tiles at once.

* EasyModeMockery: Playing on Easy cuts your score in half. Additionally, one achievement can only be unlocked by completing a run on Hard.

* BreakOutTheMuseumPiece: Several missions involving Archive Inc. have the player protecting old-earth artillery. While they might not be particularly mobile, they're surprisingly useful.

* ArtificialStupidity: The AI is actually quite good, but one weak area is its target prioritization. It tends to randomly select between any viable target, those being a civilian building, a mech, or a frozen ally. This results in buildings getting immobilized, mechs being targeted by precision attacks they can just step away from, or frozen Vek being freed on the final turn. This is likely intentional, as SpitefulAI would increase the difficulty substantially, and it gives the impression of the Vek really being mindless beasts that only know how to AttackAttackAttack.