NEXT JUMP: Shmup Tactics

The developer of NEXT JUMP: Shmup Tactics [Itch.io, Steam] sent in a key for us to take a look, so look I did. It's interesting, as it's a mix of a shoot 'em up with turn-based tactical battles.

NEXT JUMP: Shmup Tacticsis a game by Post Mortem Pixels, billing itself as a turn-based tactical shmup with roguelike elements. As stated by the surprisingly long opening cutscene, your goal is to chase down this dragon mothership. To do so, your ship must make constant jumps across the galaxy to catch up. Below are the minimum and recommended system specifications for NEXT JUMP: Shmup Tactics Steam Key GLOBAL. Planar conquest download free. Due to potential programming changes, the minimum system requirements for NEXT JUMP: Shmup Tactics Steam Key GLOBAL may change over time. About NEXT JUMP: Shmup Tactics: NEXT JUMP is a love letter to shmup's Shoot 'em up or space shooters, read in a slightly different manner: In turn-based battles! Your mission, our mission, is simple: The dragons are fleeing with all our Elixir supply. We have an advantage: We are FASTER.

On first impression, the intro video is really long, slow and dull. If you're going to go with an intro story video, you really need to make sure it captures my attention, but it was too slow and frustrating. If they sped it up a little, it would probably work a lot better.
Essentially, a bunch of 'dragons' came along and stole all your Elixir (booze, essentially) and you need to stop them. You have to chase down their Mothership, while upgrading your ship on your journey to find them.
The basic idea is a lot like FTL, with you jumping between sectors and dealing with anything that arises, although it's all turn-based giving you proper time to think. They say they are actually inspired by games like FTL, so it's not at all surprising. Although it also takes inspiration from turn-based titles too, since each sector is like a battle board. It's an odd mix, but it works surprisingly well.
You're only dealing with your single ship, not any crew, so there's less to worry about. Destroying enemy ships can give you SCRAP to repair and upgrade, which you can spend in shops if you happen to come across one. You can upgrade your ship components like engine, batteries, weapons and so on.
The ships are inspired by classic weapons too, with four ship classes to choose from. The Ballista, Dagger, Hammer and Staff. Each has a different play style, so there is some nice variety to it, although two are locked when you start. My favourite so far has to be the Hammer, as I found it easier and it just feels more powerful, since you only need to be near enemies and it damages in front and to the sides of your position.

Next Jump: Shmup Tactics Ps4

While the battles seem simple, they are pretty clever with the design and do require some tactical thinking to get the most out of them. However, it can be a little confusing at the start, mainly due to how they explain the turn system. You pick a sector and begin your jump, but each jump consists of multiple battles.
Inside these battles: You take an action, then the enemy takes an action, but your actual 'turn' doesn't end until you run out of Energy. Each jump point gives you limited 'turns' until you jump again. If you manage to keep collecting Energy, your actual turn will last longer so you can get the most out of that particular jump. You don't even need to destroy every enemy in each jump point, you only need to survive each jump until you reach the next sector to repair, upgrade and so on.
It's actually a very good and pretty cleverly designed game, certainly has the same addictive charm that I found with FTL, but fully stands on its own with the fun combat. I can recommend this if you like games that don't take forever and with a little bit of your attention it can be a really rewarding experience.Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.

PC, Mac, Linux •

NEXT JUMP: Shmup Tactics has my number something fierce. Do you like shmups, this Brazilian indie effort asks. YES, I proclaim. But do you suck at them, it continues. YES, I admit. If you find yourself in this quandary of unquenchable thirst, Post Mortem Pixels has your back.

In a display of inspired design, NEXT JUMP: Shmup Tactics blends bullet-hell with turn-based strategy. It’s akin to FTL and the combat elements of, say, The Last Federation. You’re travelling across sectors in pursuit of space dragons – chasing, if I’ve tapped into NEXT JUMP correctly – and upgrading your ship as you go. It’s of the rogue variety, and as much as the mechanical elements feel close to the aforementioned FTL and TLF, I get Weird Worlds vibes in NEXT JUMP’s coffee break-friendly runs.

Next Jump: Shmup Tactics Cheat

Leaping along sectors, players shunt their ship around grids in sharp parcels of three-move ‘levels’. Enemies, laser bolts and all manner of space detritus form things to dodge or detonate. Every turn is a freeze-frame of ordnance and opponent to navigate, based around anticipating movement and killing for crucial energy.

Augmented by ship battery upgrades, your combat turn ends when you’re drained of energy. Key to combat is harvesting as much dropped energy as possible to extend combat. It’s a very neat abstraction of the real-time shmup conceit, making movement and position paramount. Destroying an enemy leaves energy in surrounding cells, which is then – hopefully – scooped up to power subsequent firing and manoeuvring. Those three turns go fast, but each turn is a puzzle in itself.

Enemies also drop scrap, which forms the currency in NEXT JUMP. This is expended in sectors that contain outposts, where ships can be repaired, upgrades made and items bought. Laser augments, missiles, scanners and the like; in place of a traditional shmup’s on-the-fly enhancement dredging, NEXT JUMP lets players peruse at their leisure. For a spiritual geriatric such as this old dog, the breathing room is welcomed.

I’ve only managed to use two of the four fighters, and they offer up some marked differences in the way they play. You might need to initially consider recoil on a particular ship, so firing a laser might shunt your little craft backwards into a laser bolt. There are armour differences, requiring a lot more scrap be spent patching up between missions in some cases. Engines set the limit on how many sectors you want to jump through before stopping and recouping, so the meeker machinery might be limited to two jumps before needing to restart the course-plotting.

And as much as the stress of real-time bullet dodging is lessened in its turn-based form, NEXT JUMP is still a punishing little game. Within the cute, chaotic, punk-pixel aesthetic beats the heart of a brutal tactics game. No quarter given. If measured in coffee breaks so far, I’ve never lasted an entire cup. But that’s appreciated. Post Mortem Pixels have crafted something compact. And while I concede the visuals might not be to everyone’s liking, the mechanics are fool-proof.

Bite-sized with bite, I say jump in.

NEXT JUMP: Shmup Tactics releases on Steam (PC, Mac, Linux) April 28.