In tactical RPGs, it’s easy to fall into a familiar rhythm. You’ll always want to take on missions with your ranged attacker, your melee attacker, and maybe some sort of support class. These classes usually get ultra-powerful abilities to help them do what they do best. But rarely do you see games where a single character can equip the top-tier abilities from two different classes at the same time. Even acclaimed classics like Final Fantasy Tactics And Baldur’s Gate 3 put a damper on complete cl ass freedom in the interest of game balance.
That’s why it’s so crazy to see SteamWorld Heist 2 throw a lot of that overboard with one of the freest class systems I’ve ever seen.
SteamWorld Heist 2 follows the format of the original: It is a 2D, side-scrolling version of turn-based strategy games like XCOM where a small squad of soldiers uses their wits to defeat hordes of rival robots. Rather than revolving around percentage hit chances, all of the combat in the game is determined by where you’re aiming. But if you have a rocket launcher without a laser sight, hitting a shot from across the map can be easier said than done.
To gain an advantage, squad members level up after missions and gain new passive and active abilities that match their equipped class. For example, a melee-focused brawler might gain the ability to move after a kill instead of their turn ending immediately. Or a sniper might come standard with a giant laser sight that lets you fire a perfect ricochet off two walls onto an enemy robot’s head.
Image: Thunderful Development / Thunderful Publishing via Polygon
But here’s the thing: your squad members aren’t locked into their starting class. A character’s class can be completely changed at any time by simply equipping a different primary weapon. Give a sniper a shotgun and suddenly he’s a flanker with a lot more movement capabilities and the chance to deal extra damage by hitting an enemy from behind.
This character starts as a level 1 Flanker, but retains his Sniper level and any skills he previously unlocked as a Sniper can be equipped with “Cogs”. As you level up through the different classes, more Cogs will be available to you, giving you much more freedom in creating your classes.
Image: Thunderful Development / Thunderful Publishing
If you take that sniper to max level and then level up three more classes, you can equip the final skills of all four classes at once – and probably have a few Cogs left over. The end result is a sniper that can fire a weapon that fires twice per round, sets guys on fire, heals himself for each kill, and marks a random enemy on the field to take bonus damage. It’s starting to get a little absurd.
If you think this makes the game too easy, the developers have included a wide range of difficulty options to tweak all aspects of the enemy AI so you can ensure it still remains challenging. In my playthrough on the default difficulty setting, there was never really a moment where I thought I had the edge on the opposition. I also found that knowing that my crew of death machines was entirely hand-crafted made the whole experience much more rewarding. The SteamWorld franchise continues to innovate in exciting ways and I look forward to seeing what genre it targets next.
SteamWorld Heist 2 was released on August 8, 2024 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series S/X. The game was tested on a SteamDeck using a pre-release download code provided by Thunderful Publishing. Vox Media has affiliate programs. These do not influence editorial content, however Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased through affiliate links. More information on Polygon’s ethics policy can be found here.
