Capes

I don't dislike Capes, but I want to like it more than I do... Pros: - The 2D art is really dynamic and fun - Mindfire's costume is very cool - Solid voice acting - Solid enough writing. I won't say it never falls into Quippy One-Liner territory but the dialogue has actual follow-through and flow and isn't just jokes for jokes' sake or insufferable zingers at every turn. YMMV though. I like the characters well enough so far as well. - Cool variety of powers and abilities that feel (mostly) unique and offer interesting gameplay options Neutrals: - Costume design leans more "fighting game" than "superhero" which isn't necessarily a bad thing but doesn't quite fit the vibe I want from a superhero game, personally. That's very subjective though and YMMV. - The 3D models aren't bad for a stylized aesthetic but I almost would have preferred the game be entirely 2D. I don't know if that would have been feasible though. But I really like the 2D art a lot. Cons: - Relies (too) heavily on waves and large groups of enemies. Even on the lowest difficulty, you may be presented with a 10 v 4 fight, and on some maps, for every enemy you down two more spawn in immediately or in the next turn. I'm already not a fan of games that rely on large quantities of enemies or wave-based combat as it is, so this has not endeared me to the level design. - Enemies often require 2-3 hits to down, depending on enemy type, which combined with the large groups all thrown at the player at once is... disheartening to say the least. Especially considering the XP flow problems (I honestly recommend changing that from the start so you can level up faster). - Combat anims are fine but the 3D cut scene animations are... not good. Like I get it, but... I'm not gonna pretend the animations aren't kind of janky. Everything else looks great, though. Listen. There's puzzle-y, and there's frustrating, and I think Capes unfortunately leans more frustrating than puzzle-y. It just stopped being fun pretty quickly for me, unfortunately. You ARE meant to grind previous levels, but the game's quick pace and punchiness in general make that feel a little less intuitive than it might in other games so you, like me, may get caught up in wanting to progress but having to go back and repeat levels multiple times just to get the 1-2 extra XP that you need to level characters further. Even missions marked as easy on the lowest difficulty may present a challenge that feels tedious and finicky rather than interesting. Which is unfortunate because Capes is a really cool concept, and something I'd love to play more of, but it just feels like I'm hitting my head against a wall and I have a million other games I could be playing instead, including superhero tactics games. If you want a puzzle-y, quirky tactics game, I'd recommend Tactical Breach Wizards or Into the Breach. If you want 3D superhero tactics, I'd recommend Marvel's Midnight Suns. Wildermyth is also very charming and enjoyable.

I bought this as many reviewers have said it is like Freedom Force, which is an absolute classic. This is nothing like Freedom Force. There is practically no character customisation, no base development, and small shallow levels with no flexibility. You get the heroes you are given, make the upgrades you are told to, and make the moves you have to. Boring, generic, point and click.

Hard to believe the people who made Capes are the same who, long ago, made the top-notch Freedom Force. I'm not thumbing down because custom creation is absent. Nor is it because the charm is gone, along with flight and super-punches into the sky. That's what you get when you swap Silver Age colourful do-gooders protecting normies against heteroclite oddballs for Umpteenth Dystopia's angsty teenagers rebelling against The Corporation's dictatorship. This downgrade was known from the demo, so the hope was on the gameplay and mechanics, which are fine enough. A couple of the powersets on offer are even quite entertaining. What becomes apparent in the full game is that the level design is increasingly inadequate. Some missions are fine, but they become more and more railroaded into micromanagement for optimal moves and actions of each team member. Including their order. If you don't optimise, you may easily fail a difficult mission, or optional objectives, which have much of the same effect: depriving you of experience. Instead of the actual freedom and variability found in Freedom Force, you get railroaded into manoeuvres you don't care for and away from tactical exploration. I'm not even adverse to puzzles, on the contrary, and so I insisted and progressed quite a bit. But the UI would have to be fit for purpose. It's not. In fact, the save system is so rotten that it makes everything worse. It's one slot only, which is obviously a buzzkill, but then your unique in-mission manual save slot gets wiped as soon as said mission is complete. Such instances of tampering from god-complexed developers infuriate me: Don't touch my bloody saves ! I know how I play, you don't, but at least, know your role. Here's am example of how the puzzle-like level design would technically be fine, even without saves: With a rewind button for every move. Thus, we wouldn't have to repeat 100 steps of precise busywork from our save point to the actual change. Could have even been integrated into the story as a Time-based superpower. I quit after facing the impervious boss for the 53rd time. Might have been only the 3rd, but it felt like 53, since her missions are so long and even more railroaded into repetitive micro-management. Invulnerability feels unfair when not used carefully, which tends to spoil the player's mood. Know what an untouchable villain translates into, tactically ? A time limit. And possibly a dead-end, if your slowest guy is at the wrong place when the surprise countdown starts. Anyway, every time I think of Capes and of going back to finish it, I instantly get exhausted. In fact, FF made me laugh a lot, while I can't recall Capes eliciting a single smile.

Capes is the rare superhero game that actually understands tactics, which already puts it ahead of half the genre. The turn-based combat is properly smart. This isn’t a “click ability, win fight” situation—you need to think, plan, reposition, and then rethink when everything goes wrong anyway. The real fun is in the team-ups, where combining heroes at the right moment turns a desperate situation into a glorious, villain-shaped mess. When it works, you feel clever. When it doesn’t, it’s absolutely your fault. The story drops you into a brand-new superhero universe and, mercifully, doesn’t act like you’ve been reading the lore wiki for ten years. It’s fun, sharp, and refreshingly self-aware, with interesting dialogue. Voice acting is strong across the board, giving the heroes real personality rather than the usual “generic brave voice #3.” These characters feel like people who argue, joke, and occasionally make very bad decisions—exactly what you want from a superhero team. Overall, Capes is tactical, challenging, and genuinely funny. It respects your intelligence, rewards clever play, and manages to be entertaining without taking itself too seriously. A smart strategy game in a cape, and one that actually earns it.

I just completed the campaign on this, probably 60 hours or so. This is a really solid game. I don't know how it was before the devs did their difficulty balancing pass, but it was not bad at all on normal difficulty. In most missions, the player picks which 4 heroes to bring along. In several missions the game dictates 1 or 2 of the heroes that need to be included. Also there are a few missions that one have 1 or 2 specific heroes in total going on the mission. I much preferred the first 4 heroes and brought them anytime I had a choice. I found the hero abilities to be fun and varied. Using the team-ups (augmented ability if 2 heroes are within 3 tiles of each other) provided a nice boost to their power and tactical choice of trying to keep them in range, or burn some movement points to get them in range. I didn't find the missions extremely puzzle-like, as in you better move here and use this skill on turn 1, do this on turn 2, etc... The optional objectives that give bonus skill points dictate what you may need to pay attention to during a mission, but isn't a strict limitation. Also, on normal difficulty it is perfectly fine to miss some of the optional objectives and still upgrade your heroes enough to keep up with the power curve. There were also several missions where I did all the optional objectives on my first try - there are bonus skill points given for meeting all objectives in the same play of the mission (this can be turned off and have those bonus skill points be included in the pool for completing the mission). Missions can be replayed to get the other objectives, or level up different heroes but I only did this once. There are a diverse set of characters of different nationalities, a lesbian, someone using they / them who I couldn't tell if they were male or female (no, they weren't named Pat) - but that is all fine by me. Some dialog was a bit cringy, but it did try and touch on some 'deeper' emotions and problems. I certainly wouldn't play this for the story, but it didn't get in the way of my enjoyment and some of it was good. This is a solid game that deserves better than the mixed review rating on Steam.

This game deserves more than mixed reviews! It's a solid entry for the grid base SRPG roster. The whole claim that the game is puzzle based is simply false. Yes, the all in one feature is stupid, and you should turn it off in the options. Some missions are increadilby hard (don't like a challange? Play it on easy, you wuss) but really fun. It feels nearly impossible in some of the harder missions to hit the - all in one- feature. Especially without save scumming. Which is not gameplay any one aspires for, right? Story - Mediocre, but solid enough. Voice acting - for the most part excellent. Music - Does its job. Controlls - Made for mouse and keyboard, but worked okay-ish on the steam deck. Charcters - Design is fine, some better than others. Equally goes for their abilites. Some heroes are really fun, others feels just decent. HUGE plus for the team up abilities! It offers that little extra spice and can be the difference between winning and losing! My biggest complaint: The level up upgrades can sometimes feel underwhelming. We want new cool stuff, not stat boosts. Some heroes have much more intresting upgrades while others just get increased range. Still a fully upgraded hero feels signitically more powerful. Took me 20 hours to playthrough with very little gridning. A solid 7/10.

I enjoyed the gameplay, but the story or the interaction between the characters could've been better. An elderly superhero, who gives the younger generation of superheroes a base or shelter, but these younger ones continuously disobey him. He tells them not to go do things, and they keep on going out to do it. One would think he would've been respected as someone who is more experienced and live in this world of superheroes and villains longer. But no. Anyhow, the game is still fun!

This is a top-notch turn-based tactical game. It leans more toward the puzzle side of the genre, similar to "Tactical Breach Wizards". Or like "Into the Breach", but without the random or roguelike elements. The story is meh, and the visuals are ugly, but I don’t really care because the gameplay is outstanding. It’s sad that this great game ended up being overshadowed by the DEI controversy.

El juego no es el mejor del mundo pero se puede llegar a disfrutar, tiene ideas buenas pero peca de querer que juegues como ellos quieren. Lo que si que no tolero es que un juego sea tan sumamente woke. Que te pongan una chica lesbiana no pasa nada por que ya es el pan nuestro de cada día y lo tenemos más que aceptado todos, sabes que te lo van a meter en algún sitio y de alguna manera y me parece aceptable dentro de lo que cabe. Ahora, lo que si que no tolero es que la segunda chica que sale la llamen ``elle´´ o ``heroine´´, eso ya es el colmo! No entiendo la necesidad de querer inventarse pronombres o palabras que no están en el diccionario. Solo por eso ya digo NO al juego.

The game itself is decent, and the most negative reviews are about an issue you can simply disable in the settings, basically I would give it a thumbs up so far. But seriously.... your first Characters are: Black man from nigeria (for whatever reason his origin is important, its not mentioned on any other hero) Lila haired lesbian/Bi woman Brown guy in wheelchair Strong independent asian woman Latino Meanwhile all white characters so far are evil or complete meatheads. They just tried to check every single box possible. I guess a trans hero will be following soon. I mean, whatever, at least it doesnt have the usual woke garbage shoved into your face like other games do, but this is just a thumbs down for me. Might change this into positive if the rest of the game keeps beeing decent. Edit: Aaaand the next Hero is a muscluar something with deep voice and breasts. Sigh....