Mecha Break’s recent update is an awkward attempt to win players back, but is it enough?

Mecha Break was promised to be the mecha game that we’ve all been waiting for and, in many ways, it delivered just that. Unfortunately, its producers and developers followed an easily telegraphed route by aggressively flooding the game with microtransactions and as a result, the player-count for the game fell from almost 80,000 to an average of 20,000.

With a ‘Mixed’ review score on Steam, no doubt the developers are aware of an urgent need to track back the damage of its launch. In defence of Mecha Break, its major issues are less to do with gameplay and core mechanics, but more its aggressive live-service design and microtransaction creep.

A recent update to the game on July 28th aimed to win back players – quality of life upgrades, weapon tuning and balance patches galore, but can this be enough to rescue the game?

New content has been added through the Striker Archive: Stellaris launch. This includes Pilot 014, Lu Hui, and an exclusive Stellaris MK-III design. The Cygnia Union Noble set and several July livestream cosmetics are also available for purchase.

There have also been quite a few balance changes, as laid out below:

Hurricane builds seem to have benefited the most from the latest patch, and their stun is going to wreak havoc on melee builds. Meanwhile, Inferno buffs see energy costs go down while Booster Kits activate instantly – another force to be reckoned with following the update. These balances and buffs have been well-received by players, and the quality of life updates have too.

Better Mission Token rewards have also been incredibly useful to players. Payouts for Restricted Zones, boss takedowns, and successful extractions have been significantly increased, which alleviates much of the pressure that grind-heavy unlocks demand. This is most useful for unlocking new Strikers, but cosmetics benefit too. This paves the way for a reduction of the reliance on microtransactions for success – but it does not eradicate it entirely. Instead, PvE and PvPvE feel more rewarding.

Pre-deployment screens now display map objectives and mission types before Striker selection, which helps with creating and aligning strategies. This has been a long-requested feature. Upgrades to the Matrix Marketplace have been well-received too. Though, like the map objectives, these small changes are minimal in respects to the overall experience.

This is still Season 0. Mecha Break is still in its early days, and the devs are certainly taking on-board criticism and suggestions from players. Had that not been the case, Mecha Break would be doomed. But the first major patch has had a divisive reception.

MashMak is one of the most hated game modes in the game. It is, in its current state, entirely pay-to-win. It acts better as a parade of your wealth than anything to do with rewarding gameplay. It’s also heavily dependent on PvP, meaning that if you’re not a big spender, you’re going to resent this game mode entirely. A quick fix for this would be to introduce a dedicated MashMak PvE mode. Players can peacock their cosmetics and Mods without ruining other players’ experiences, while also working together towards a common goal.

Likewise, the underwhelming rewards served by the MashMak mode do little to undercut its sweaty gameplay design. 

Despite the balance patch, there’s still a few Strikers who remain overly spammable. Aquila, for example, has gone from being a well-balanced, nuanced character in the beta, to a spammable deus ex machina. The easiest solution to much of this is a reversion to the beta meta, which in many cases, actually worked better than the current meta.

Finally, Mecha Break’s biggest flaw lies in its microtransaction design. It’s not necessarily that ranked matches are pay-to-win at all – in fact, you can’t buy anything that gives you an advantage in Ranked – but that any kind of microtransaction is humiliatingly expensive. There are some cosmetic packs which cost almost $50, and re-listings on the auction house see them becoming more expensive as time goes on and timers expire. In Amazing Seasun’s defence, Mecha Break is entirely free to play, and without these MTXs, there would be no income to spend on keeping the game going.

Earlier this month, the developers said that “the core content of the game is fully available for free … currency and item rewards can be obtained through in-game activities and the completion of tasks – there’s no requirement to spend money to obtain them.” While this may be true, there’s a certain allure to cosmetics in live-service games like this. Despite the grumblings that throw shade at microtransactions, players love them. If the developers want the game to become successful, the in-game shop needs some serious balancing.

Mecha Break launched with heaps of potential. Luckily, it’s not far off from being salvaged. Amazing Seasun needs to continue listening to the demands of its players, and the game clearly deserves a little more love in regards to its MTX design. It’s important to remember that the game is still very early in its lifespan, and future updates will gear it up for a more popular release – hopefully.