2017 was one of the all-time great years for video games, with major tentpole games like Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Persona 5 dominating GOTY conversations. So if you missed out on some of the hidden gems of that year, I wouldn’t blame you. Battle Chef Brigade is one of those precious games that might have gotten lost in the shuffle, and Trinket Studios’ match-three/brawler/cooking game still holds up in 2025. However, the studio didn’t just try and make lighting strike twice with its latest project that’s out now on PC, PS5, and Switch. Battle Suit Aces is a much different game than its predecessor, but it’s no less stylish, endearing, and compelling.
I want to rely on some easy lexicon to describe Battle Suit Aces, but I fear calling it a deckbuilder might give you the wrong impression. The game’s strategic battles are played with a deck of cards, each representing a different member of its mech-piloting crew, but these conflicts are less about getting mired in the mechanical complexities of individual cards than they are solving a puzzle with a randomized set of tools. Each card pulls from a different set of colored energies that replenish each turn to unleash attacks on the opposing team, and they all have different attack patterns on the game’s 5v5 field. So card placement on the board is just as important as your deck composition, and can be the difference between gaining the upper hand in a match or being outplayed.
Firepower isn’t enough to win every time, though, and that’s where secondary effects and synergy come into play. Each pilot has additional perks, such as how Felix, the carefree white-haired hottie whom I’ve been lusting after my whole playthrough, is able to unleash a more powerful attack after his teammates destroy a certain number of enemy units. Yan’s mech is able to pierce through enemies, meaning it can fire a beam through an opposing card while also directly hitting their ship, which is similar to attacking your foe’s Life Points directly in a game of Yu-Gi-Oh. If you can destroy an enemy ship, you automatically win a duel. You don’t need a piercing ability to do it, as leaving any of the five spaces on the field empty leaves you and your enemies vulnerable to a direct attack. So, having units that can attack multiple spaces or really take advantage of an opening is a pretty reliable strategy, but more often than not, your foes will have more cannon fodder to put between your crew and their ship.
© Trinket Studios / Kotaku
At first, I didn’t quite see the depth of Battle Suit Aces until I started playing around in the simulations on my ship that would give me only a few cards and challenge me with something like winning the fight it set up in one turn. These typically required me to take advantage of passive perks in order to set off a chain of attacks that relied on precise positioning and an order of operations to activate. I could read the card descriptions, such as the explanation of Daciana’s passive ability to proc a free attack every time one of her allies destroyed an enemy, but seeing the cards in action is what made the game click for me. These plays are why I’m more inclined to describe Battle Suit Aces as a turn-based strategy game rather than a deck builder, because you only have a handful of units, and the game doesn’t make you create decks of dozens of cards with a ton of minutiae to memorize. Once you see a lot of these characters playing off each other on the field, those bespoke mechanics naturally weave themselves into your strategies without the game becoming too overwhelming.
In the five or so hours I’ve put into Battle Suit Aces so far, the game has pretty gently eased me into its whole deal, and the simple but satisfying card battles are only one slice of it. Those cards have names and faces, and the crew you’ll recruit into your deck is a big reason the game is so breezy. Battle Suit Aces stars Heathcliff, the captain of a starcraft called the USS Zephyr. In his spaceflight adventures, he and his crew meet several other mech pilots who are all typically game to join their cause as they investigate ancient cosmic secrets. Recruiting these characters gets you a new card for your deck, but it also puts another misfit on your ship. They chat with you, but also with each other, so there’s a constant sense of camaraderie and community between the group. Thus far, everyone’s pretty likable, and I’m interested to see their relationships grow not only with me as the player, but with each other, as well.
© Trinket Studios / Kotaku
These relationships are elevated by Battle Suit Aces’ incredible character art and best-in-class voice acting. The anime-inspired art style looks straight out of classic mech anime like Gundam and Evangelion, though its chipper tone helps differentiate it from the latter. Everyone is hot and wearing a plug suit, so there’s something for everyone here. The game is full of memorable performances from some talented voice acting veterans, and I’ve really enjoyed listening to their interactions between duels, which help give the whole thing an authentic classic anime feel.
Battle Suit Aces has a lot to offer without ever getting too in the weeds that it becomes overwhelming. Much like Battle Chef Brigade, it manages to hit the sweet spot between tactical and approachable without ever veering too far into one or the other. Its skill expression is vast, its characters are easy to love, and it marries both sides of its world in a way that keeps me playing for just one more match. I’m looking forward to seeing where the USS Zephyr’s crew takes me as our journey through space continues.
