Indie game storeFree gamesFun gamesHorror games
Game developmentAssetsComics
SalesBundles
Jobs
Tags
A jam submission

Project AnacronView game page

Submitted by SHF25 — 1 day, 5 hours before the deadline
Add to collection

Play game

Project Anacron's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
How well did this game execute its ideas?#162.7502.750

Ranked from 4 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Judge feedback

Judge feedback is anonymous and shown in a random order.

  • Project Anacron is a game inspired on SaGa tech style instead of item-type. While the concept on using Tech based attacks is a neat addition, that's the only thing the game offers that's distinctive from Fire Emblem, hence the low rating. I did enjoy the game still, and the dialogue made me chuckle a bit and the custom artwork is charming. Overall it's a nice game to play, it's just that it signed on the wrong game jam that seeks innovative or creative ideas and execution.
  • Solid submission. The twist with the weapon system was pretty interesting and I thought that the first half of the map was pretty well-designed. I felt challenged and even lost a few units. My only gripe is that the map kinda just ends after that and I'm left to walk to the boss for several turns. Cut the map in half and it's perfect.
  • It's not to say that it's a bad game by any means, but it unfortunately fails on the contest's title premise. It feels very much like a Fire Emblem game or other basic SRPG Studio game. The main difference being the techs, which are essentially regenerating combat arts, which were unfortunately not that inspiring since most of them didn't get a lot of use. It ended up being better to use the basic ones a lot to preserve durability so it was still possible to maintain attacking against the sheer number of enemies that swarmed. The map could have been done with being smaller as it meant marching for 5-10 turns depending on how far forward you pressed when fighting the waves just to get to the boss, including through a forest that made it take longer for some reason. Movement growths didn't actually help this because some units still ended up left behind so the faster units had to wait.

Leave a comment

Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.

Comments

Submitted

This is a neat idea! You really like Dragon Quest huh? I really like that you put in the effort to make custom portraits for everyone, although for some (specifically the Dullahan) it was a bit jarring that it didn't match her sprites. It was fun to toy around with the abilities, and sometimes I really had to think about the best way to use my moves, especially at the bottom left corner when the monsters all arrived at once. Sadly everything after that felt a bit unfinished? It took like 6 turns to get through the forest, and then neither of the bosses seemed to move, even when I was in range. Speaking of which, was the hydra meant to move? I never interacted with it because it just stayed at the spawn, and the mission ended after I beat the boss. The writing was pretty cute too. Nice work!

Developer

Thanks for the comment!

Yeah, Dragon Quest was a huge inspiration for my character designs.  I wanted to do custom sprites (at the very least custom palettes), but I didn't have the know-how and/or the time to make them.  Like I said to eclogia, the forest was a bad idea in hindsight. Yeah, neither of the bosses were supposed to move. I figured their stats and weapons would be a big enough threat. And yeah, the boss was the clear condition.

Submitted

Here are my thoughts while I played:

That map feels pretty big.
What's that number? Oh, I see, it's a management game. Time to reboot.
I see Priest guy has res. Wait, he has a sword charchip? Oh it's a club. Those look a lot like chicken legs huh? I'm hungry now.
Huh, there was a village right there. I appreciate that there was a boat right there for immersion.
Nadine got a crit! Good girl.
My first level up is Meredith! She got... 1 HP. Oh well.
Bogan, I thought you'd tank better.
Oh hey, another mage! Which means it's decrease Res time!
Bogan missed. Is there a weapon triangle? Anyway he's shaping up to be disappointing.
This is all pretty easy so far, but I think it'll get tougher.
Damn, Rona missed.
Nadine crit again! And got 1 HP too... Maybe that's just how the growths are.
Ayyyy, Aiden got a crit.
The talisman has no text description. I bought the locket, the ring, the robe and the helmet.
Rona got 2 HP! Wow. Also, Res Debuff OP.
1 HP For Jan
HOLY SHIT JAN GOT MOV IN ADDITION TO HP
Also I appreciate the big scary enemies having custom battle music.
Oh hey, Rona got 2 HP and Mov, while Jung Moon got 1 HP and Mov. Are the level up scripted? Only 1 HP for him next, though. HP +2 and Mov +1 for Aiden. I put him in a forest to bait, but I didn't check if he actually had bulk lol.
Ouch, he got crit and died.
Oh I'm in a tough spot. Gotta use the big attacks for once.
Noooooo not Nadine!
I'm dumb and didn't check how much damage my archer would take but he dodged like a pro.
I totally flubbed this part lmao so many dead units. I didn't think I'd recruit someone from there either.
Uh... Are we done besides the boss there?
Why is there forest just in the part where you only move? Fuck it, I'm ballista-cheesing. I have no healer left anyway.
I am pretty sure I could have had another ending if my locket carrier was alive but no use crying over spilled milk.

That was enjoyable. Thanks!

Developer

Thanks for the feedback!

Some responses:

-Like I said, the game's based on SaGa rules, so stats don't go up aside from HP.  All characters have a 100%+ growth in HP and a Mov growth. everything else is 0.

-Guess the forest was kinda dumb in hindsight. 

-No other endings unfortunately.

Submitted

I see! I only played the SaGa gacha game, so I didn't know.

What does that one trinket do then? Nothing?

For a more feedback-y comment, the game was very easy (I could move on with only using small attacks) until a big rush on the last island where I probably should have camped or been less careless in general. I also appreciated that the portraits were custom even if the style is a bit rough.