Devlog #1: Starting a New Tactical RPG Adventure

Devlog #1: Starting Fresh – My Dark Anime-Inspired Tactical RPG

Hi everyone! My name is Jonas, and this is my very first devlog for my game project – still untitled, but already taking shape.

Who am I?
I’m a teacher, I love to program and experiment with different projects. I’ve made a few small games before – an action card game and a little dragon escape game, both created during game jams and shared on my itch.io page.

But those games never really grabbed me enough to turn them into full games. At the start of this year, I joined another game jam and built some really fun mechanics, but the theme didn’t fit, and the game felt forced. So this month, I decided to start over – this time with no game jam restrictions and a theme I’m truly passionate about.

The Game

My new game is a darker, anime-inspired tactical RPG, drawing from some of my favorite games: Darkest Dungeon, XCOM, and Baldur’s Gate 3.

• Like XCOM, it will have a strong focus on building and managing a base, training your characters, and sending them on missions.

• Unlike XCOM, the combat won’t be tile-based. Instead, I want something closer to the real-time freedom of Baldur’s Gate 3’s combat, but still with tactical depth.

• The game’s story and atmosphere will lean into the haunting tone of Darkest Dungeon – I love that feeling of managing a desperate band of characters on the brink of disaster.

What’s working so far?
Right now, I have a basic prototype of the base management system. I can assign and remove units from missions, control which characters go out into the field, and send wounded units to recover in the hospital.

I’ve also got a first version of combat and exploration – you can move around, fight enemies, and split your team into smaller groups for tactical advantages like surprise attacks.

What’s next?
The next month will be about:

• Creating different classes with unique abilities and playstyles, along with some subclass variations.

• Adding new enemies and a boss to test out combat balance.

• Keeping characters simple until the systems feel solid – then I’ll work on making them truly memorable.

• Adding more feel-good effects like sound, camera shake, and other polish to make everything more satisfying.

Final thoughts
Thanks for reading! This is just the beginning, and I’m excited to share more updates as the game grows. Follow here for future devlogs and progress reports. Let’s see how far this project can go!