Jack Move: ICE Breaker, the proven cyberpunk turn-based RPG

Throughout the year 2022, HyperTrain Digital It will release Jack Move, a turn-based cyberpunk RPG developed by So Romantic. We are talking about a jRPG with a classic taste, where we will have to follow the story of Noa, who is looking for her father from Bright Town and was kidnapped by the mega-corporation Monomind.

It will probably take us months to get on this journey, but in the meantime, the writers have decided to let players get a taste of Jack Move. The team has released Jack Move: ICE Breaker, which is actually deaf. demo-prologueit gives you an idea of ​​what the fundamentals of the game are.

We guess right away: this is a preface very shortcan be completed in about twenty minutes. You can also find it on Steam, which can be downloaded for free as a standalone game compared to the last version.

However, what we tried was enough to give us an idea about the spirit of the game and allowed us to present our first impressions about it. Tried Jack Move: ICE Breaker.

a hacker

Jack Move: ICE Breaker introduces us now no, the aforementioned hero of the game. The girl in this prologue must infiltrate a building to retrieve sensitive data. We find his friend and “tactical planner” Ryder to help him from afar. We already know that in the final game he will also see a second ally in action, Noa’s uncle is presented as a sort of retired James Bond, but we were not able to meet him at this stage of the game.

However, talking about “infiltrating” is a bit too much, as Noa is immediately discovered and has to force her into the building. Not much to discover on the level narrative We’re not the first at ICE Breaker and wanting to draw conclusions.

The setting is a typical world cyberpunk, but for now we’ve literally just seen a street and the inside of a working building. Too little to reveal ourselves in any way.

The demo focuses more on gameplay, and we can talk a little more about that.

classic bullet

Jack Move, as mentioned earlier, is a role playing game turn-based, Japanese-inspired. Even the encounters are random, we can start a fight just by moving around the environment. There will be no enemies on the screen, but a bar that indicates the probability of entering a battle. This drains after each fight, but refills within a few steps.

ICE Breaker environments are classic dungeon There are some treasure chests to open, and places to get Health Points and Data Points, separated by area. During the trial we encountered a handful of battles against common enemies and eventually a boss fight.

this battle system He sees Noa fighting one or more enemies. The girl has a classic physical attack, some special abilities that consume Data Points (see them as mana, but in the cybernetic version), and the ability to add a turn and parry before the next to do two actions in a row.

This gesture is especially useful when you need to change. equipment by Noa. The girl can actually bring along some grafts that activate the special abilities mentioned earlier. These are, for example, powerful attacks or a cure. Only these two abilities are available in the demo, but the game promises that it will be important to properly prepare for each fight. We will have to see in the final version whether there will be a real tactical approach and whether the equipment change during the fight will be central.

Noa can also charge, deal damage, and pick up a bar, which can be used to activate a special attack with a minor attack. QTE Identifies the damage done. This is a very powerful move, at least ten times stronger than the basic strike, but also twenty times stronger if you are sensitive to the pressure of the keys.

That last detail left us a little longer confused. These moves look really powerful and charging them is not complicated. It risks becoming too central to boss fights and trivializing battles. Frankly, it’s just a doubt for now and nothing more: It will be a feature we’ll have to check out in the full release.

We’ll also have to see if the Jack Move will be one. structure on to let the player go at his own pace or if he wants to suggest a pressure beat and linear sequences. This can also affect how relevant the grind will be. Noa has her own level and stats, but she levels up when equipable attack and healing abilities are also used. Will it be important to upgrade so many moves to keep up with the enemies, or will the progression system be automatic?