Gaming: New Battle Suit Aces Review 2026
A delightful visual novel and a great deckbuilder combined. What more could you want?
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This has to be the most cheerful game about aliens destroying the universe that I’ve ever played. Often making Lego Star Wars look like Andor, Battle Suit Aces is a hugely heartfelt sci-fi visual novel. The fact it’s a great deckbuilder too is just showing off.
What is it? A deckbuilder from the makers of Battle Chef Brigade.Release date October 7, 2025Expect to pay $25/£21Developer Trinket StudiosPublisher Trinket StudiosReviewed on Asus ROG AllySteam Deck VerifiedLink Official site
You’re Captain Heathcliff, travelling the galaxy in his fight against the Frenzied, a pretty dull alien enemy. Fortunately, that faceless threat is one of the few dud narrative notes. The rest of the cast are great fun, often joyously queer, and… well, admittedly, maybe slightly too chipper at times. Oh, but ignore me. I’m just too British to understand this emotion you humans call ‘joy’.
A fairly rote save-the-universe-from-aliens plot is livened up considerably by constant silly digressions. Like the side mission where one of my crew accidentally ingested hallucinogenic strawberries and convinced himself he was a bear. Or when another crew member went undercover as an obnoxious celebrity to expose an arms dealer.
There were a few games last year that we didn't have time to review, so we're kicking off 2026 by rectifying some of those omissions. Sorry we're late!
That obviously makes about as much sense as a concrete parachute, as does the mission where you take part in a major sports tournament solely so you can spread the word about the Frenzied in the commentary box. Realism has been kicked out of the cockpit in a game that’s packed with sincerity but unafraid to indulge its sillier side. Hear hear!
Early missions send you across the galaxy, recruiting new crew members and their lethal battle suits. Turn-based combat plays out on two 5v5 rows, each guarding a ship. Initially you want to deploy attack drones and units as quickly as possible to guard your ship. Each turn you can deploy a unit, move a unit, and ideally fire some attacks if you’ve banked enough power. Whoever destroys the opposing ship first, wins.
Easy enough to get your head around, but Battle Suit Aces starts complica
Source: PC Gamer
