Hartacon Tactics

Okay, I've never been a big turn-based game lover, but seeing and playing this little game truly baffles me. The number of negative reviews for this little game is what really confuses me. I mean, I know it's not anywhere near a triple A RPG game, but it's also only a $2 indie game as well. From what little I've played, I see both a TON of effort put into this, and a see a very high value game for the price tag.

This game has spawned a whole new series on my YT channel and you can check out why I am so confused right HERE:

https://youtu.be/ztVu6Lype8k

RECOMMENDED. This is exactly what I love seeing from any indie developer, especially with their very first title on Steam. I love seeing effort and a developer offering such a huge bang for your buck. If you like turn based RPG games, please consider giving this game a fair chance and ignore all of the trolls hating on this little gem.

Had this been an alpha release, it would have been a great one. This very much feels like an unfinished product. It had great potential to be a fun simplified FFT. It's a shame it was released like that and then forgotten by its developers. :(

It takes getting into.

Which is why I tried it first XBLIG back in the day but it just felt… off. I can’t remember exactly why, but for one reason or another I just couldn’t get into it.

I decided to give it another go, and I just somehow “got it”.

Yes, I wish there was a tutorial and more explanation before it threw you into things but if you can overlook its steep learning curve and it’s god-awful controls (i use a controller in one hand, mouse in the other) there’s a fun game full of heart.

(In a new control scheme is in beta and I keep meaning to try it out.)

cant recommend this .. menues and getting started felt so fiddely .. friends and enemys look the same wich I didnt realise looking at the screenshots .. sorry but its not my cup of tea - immeadiate turnoff refund requested (my first time ever doing that) and it cost me less then a € .. but still - cant forcemyself to play it
--
Edid after the reply from the Dev:

First of all thank you for your reply - I was on holiday so I only respond now.

The controls and menu where so bad I couldnt stand it any longer I wanted to play this game realy sink my teeth into in and enjoy it bout it was impossible ..

How about fixing the game instead of trashing on legit criticisms ?

Maybe a color blind mode or the option to tint the caracters (i.e. Blue friendly - red enemy) ?
The game has been out and about so long and no fixes !
I see a lot negative reviews all complaining about the same things and no update in +1 year
We are not asking you to re-invent the wheel here smh

But I see you wasting time and attacking people who wanted to enjoy the game but could not due to the huge problems ...
all I wanted was a game like Vandal hearts / Ogre Tactics / FF Tactics or something like that ..

PLEASE for the love of god polish this game make it as awsome as we want it to be and I gladly chance my review into a positive one !

The game seems to be designed for a controller, but using a controller the controls were still extremely clunky. I was unable to change my facing at all after moving, even through the arrows seemed to imply I should be able to. Instead every character just turns to moon the enemy after they finish moving. Seems unpolished and buggy. Also there are only 6 sprite sets for characters the enemies all look the same as your characters. Not even palette shifting, so there isn't much character to the game.

Good soundtrack. Leveling system seems strange. No real story; Series of dungeons and towns. No fullscreen. KBM support seems there, but it doesn't work.

After posting:
Developer states there is fullscreen. Went back and checked. Must have overlooked.
KBM wonky so far. Will evaluate further.

This game was done by only one dev.

This kind of game need to be fast phased and practical, its a pleasure for the eyes buts thats it. You cant even read the entire descriptions of some of their characters because some buttons block the view. I had no clue of how annoying the gameplay could be, i didnt knew it was made by only 1 person. The intenrface says something like campaign or story, but are only levels, with the pokemon conquest mechanic that make the ia recover the places you conquered, it have more things i havent apreciated of course, but i wont give it another try for a while because i think its ok to expect big from the NEW SRPGs and i had a bad impresion.

If you want to play levels or multiplayer and you dont care of all the cons i said, i think the game could still be recommended.. But my recommendation wouldn t go without a BIG WARNING

I hope the dev get a good and big team in order to make a masterpiece, because we know he got the talent.

Even with the cons i think the game still worth its price and maybe more because its pretty cheap. but i cant recommend something i cant enjoy yet

If i could i would leave a 50/50 review, but sadly we can only rate down or up

i will leave it up just because its having more bad reviews than good, and thats not fair on this context, but i m still not too happy xD

Okay, so, I played this for a little bit.

Let's start with the Main Menu. The first thing I saw the moment I opened the game is a screenshot of a game controller showing the button mapping. That was very confusing since I did not have a controller plugged in at the time, taking the hint I plugged one.

The next thing I saw once I closed the controller 'help screen' was a super confusing Main Menu with 12 options to chose from:

[Quick Battle], [Knowledge Base], [Campaign], [Multiplayer], [Parties], [Map editor], [Achievements], [Options], [Keyboard][Credits], [Exit]

Usually a developer would always put the thing he/she wants the player to touch first on the top and preselected with the cursor on it. So I naturally selected Quick Battle. Immediately I'm thrown into some sort of skirmish mode, being a bit confused I went back to the Main Menu and started exploring each option. Here are my suggestions to the developer:

Move [Campaign] to the top, put [Multiplayer] below that, followed by [Quick Battle], rename [Knowledge Base] to [Help] and put it under [Quick Battle], make a [Extra] option and put [Map Editor] and [Achievements] inside, place that under [Help], put [Keyboard] inside [Options] and rename [Exit] to [Quit Game]. [Parties] should be cut in pieces and each piece should be integrated into the game mode it corresponds, example: [Local] should become a part of [Quick Battle], [Arcade] should become part of [Multiplayer], if you intent for a party to be used on a specific game mode it should only be accessible thru that mode.

To sum it up:

[Campaign], [Multiplayer], [Quick Battle], [Help], [Extra], [Options], [Quit Game]

Lastly, make a tutorial, start with a battle with the player only controlling one unit and a single enemy as an opponent, show how to do basic movement and a basic attack, use the tutorials of games like Fire Emblem as a reference. Above all you MUST avoid showing walls of text, if you need the player to know something you HAVE to teach it by make them do it step by step as you explain it with as little text as possible. I know is annoying but it will help your game's player retention.

Uninspired, badly or not at all explained turn based "tactics" game with little to no visual attraction. The skills and attacks feel unimpactful, the classes are generic and bland. On top, you get awful menuing and terrible controls that interfere with each other (mouse position overrides controler inputs). This genre is filled with better (if more expensive) games, so do move to another title. Into the breach, Codex of Victory, Chess.

For a one man team, it is quite an achievement, and it could give you a quick tactics fix. But its competition even within this price range (even some free browser games) is unbelievably huge, and sometimes of much higher quality.

Follow my curator at https://store.steampowered.com/curator/28337205-Fair-Minded-Witness/

The idea behind this game is great. Like a simpler FFTA. Bonus points for trying to make a game that was like it, and to some degree something the fans of the tactics genre could try to get into. But theres just too much going against it right now.
-Crappy control system
-Almost too simple of a game (only 4 characters at a time, cant switch jobs, no real story to be told)
-AI is dumb
-
It was a good try but it falls short

Well, it's cheap and woukld be good but terrible controls makes painful to play. Beliver it or not, controls were designed for... comtroller. And while mouse and some keyboard support were added they were added poorly, missing basic quality of life features. Moreover there is distinctive lack o information in-game which forces you to either way discover things by blind trying (will Heal cure Sickness or Curse?) or search in separate encyclopedia. Nope, sorry, I pass.

***EDIT***
=>Charlie.Fleed:
Heal was just an example. If you prefer, take SILENCE. You do not provide description for SILENCE, just info that skill has % chance to SILENCE the enemy. Yeah, sure - somebody who played a lot of rpgs etc. will have a general idea what it may do. But on the same basis somebody who played those games players will expect that you do not introduce elements that can't be counter on the very first battle and thus will expect that curses, illnesses etc. may be cured via Heal etc. All because the game does not provide sufficent amount of information during the game. Need more examples? Curse and other debuffs - I have info that it was cast on me. Great, now I have neat little skull over my character. But no idea what it does or how long it last. Dunno whether I need to run away or just turtle the character will be sufficent.

I definitely see the 'potential' folks are talking about, but I just can't recommend it for now, especially as there seems to be a 'full release' quite near, and the game I played a bit didn't feel quite ready for that.

A lot of little simple stuff right off the bat - missing descriptions for skills/mechanics, the graphics are kinda all over the place at times with effects/characters, no ability to change the direction that the D-pad on your controller moves the cursor (some people prefer Disgaea directions, others FFT), Fullscreen just gave me black screen with the still-tiny game in the center, so it was kinda hard to see, movement and selection was kinda wonky feeling, there was no indication of the nature of battles right off the bat.. the first one in the 'Campaign' was two NPCs versus eight of my characters, who obviously wrecked them. Not really challenging or fun at all, so why?

Also the 'campaign' is really just kinda all randomized stuff, rather than an actual story and all. I like the general idea of what the developer seems to be going for, but the execution falls short along with plenty of little nagging bugs and such.

The day someone just straight up *copies* FFT/FFTA/FFTA2 but with new classes/spells/mechanics/skills is the day someone will have a huge winner.

I really wanted to like this game as there are not enough Ogre Tactics type of games on the PC but in the end I cannot recommend it.

The controls are awful and far too fiddly. I have used a combination of controller and keyboard to move and attack. Games like FF Tactics on the GBA got it right many years ago, this is inexcusible.

The graphics look nice, the characters are your standard, thief, wizard, birdman, healer, archer etc archtypes which is nice, except thats who you are fighting all the time. There are no unique enemies.

There are no descriptions for most of the spells and their effects. Some could be common sense but then you don't notice the effects that you would expect. Again this is inexcusable.

Some of the attacks don't make sense. With archers I use the 'god Arrow' special ability exclusively. I don't run out of mana and I can attack enemies easier than the standard attack. It doesn't seem any more powerful than the normal attack.

Yes the game is less than €3 but then again so are a lot of better games.

The game is $3. Strong like for $3. It plays fine on a computer with keyboard and mouse only.

No bugs found

One thing I'd like to see: look around the map without having to click the view button; maybe hold a key down.

+Great game mechanics
+Awesome style
+Lots of potential

-Keyboard controls and mouse is to awkward, Best guess is that on XBOX only the gamepad make sense, for PC without gamepad feels weird.

Only play this game if you have a gamepad or you are willing to deal with a really awkward mouse and keyboard play-style.

Hartacon Tactics is a game I had been looking at for a while, Originally released on the XBox360, the game made its way to the PC via Steam.
The game itself originally had no mouse support when placed on Steam, and that was a disappointment to many. There was also no way to change the controls to your liking, and you had to figure it out for yourself, basically. Hence, initial 50/50 reviews.
Now for my own review.

Written 9/9/2017. May update as things are fixed and new content is added.

Pros:
- Many possible teams
- Decently smart AI
- Class-specific skills, many different spells
- Multiple armor types to suit different needs, all with strengths and weaknesses
- Frequent updates
- Plans for the future
- Great character strengthening system
- Circulation of many battle themes
- Feels like a classic Tactics game
- Online mode for battling other people, with an ELO ranking system!
- Level editor to create your own levels to share with other people! (And yes, you can play on them!)
- Can provide a challenge for even experienced Tactical players!
- Not expensive at all

Cons:
- Online was kinda buggy to get started. Start button was greyed out when I hosted, wasn't buggy for when friend hosted.
- No "Main Hero" to get behind, one that is unique and different from the rest*(1)
- Simplistic "Go through the map beating up enemies and conquer all dungeons to win" goal**(2)
- Lacks a lot of skill descriptions, must go into Help to figure them out
- Sometimes, you spawn RIGHT NEXT TO enemies on maps.
- Leaving the screen (Not even alt-tabbing) causes the game to completely stop what it's doing
- After attacking or leveling up, the screen flashes. If any button is pressed when it flashes, the game instantly crashes. Why is it flashing? Stop flashing, game! D:

*(1)A main hero is just a preference of mine, and isn't really necessary. I see it as a con, but it doesn't need to happen for me to enjoy the game
**(2)This is also personal preference, I like to have more in a Tactics game

Now, all of this being said, what do I think of the game?

I think it is a very solid old-school tactical game with a very bright future. As it is right now, it's too easy to accidentally crash, but it's still a fun experience. You can play with your friends and have a merry ol' time.
I give it a nice thumbs up, and a yippee for Charlie!

Nice party turn-based tactics!
Multiplayer and a single player sandbox are already enjoyable along with a map editor.
The difficulty options should allow casuals and hardcore gamers to find what they seek.
Hartacon Tactics is stable (Single Player experience only), not a single issue so far!
You start by recruiting your first 6 units and travel on a nod based map.
As time passes, the base level of enemies rises. You have to clean a few dungeons around the world, so time management is key.
Will update as the game evolves but right now Hartacon Tactics looks like a steal to me for that price tag and a true successor to the old Turn-Based Tactics of the 90's.

It really needs keyboard and mouse input. Also weird flickering if not in fullscreen. Needs windowed fullscreen option as well.

However, that aside, the game does look nice and is quite fun. it really needs work but its worth getting.

Game has a ton of potential. Even in early access state the game is very playable. It might take a bit getting use to the controls, which seems to be what most people are having issues with. There doesn't appear to be any real overall story just go from town to town and complete the dungeons. Currently there are 6 available classes with another 2 that will eventually appear. The battles are fairly fast and unlike many srpgs don't think you can just rush a mob of enemies and come out alive. The computer will find ways to kill you usually by picking off your weaker or near death characters. The Ai won't just walk past someone thats near death. All in all for a $3 game I and very satisfied with my purchase and look forward for whats to come in future updates

First of all, I'm following this project since a few years now. I'm really glad that the game finally was released on steam.
As a fan of the Disgaea games I really love this game.

In it's current state the game can be played for some hours. It is fun to play and to be honest, paying 3€ is a great cost-benefit ratio.

Pro / Already working features:
- Campaign with 50 Maps (+ alot of additional Dungeon Maps)
- Good Performance
- Different Classes with different skills/roles
- Good balance (playing for around 4 hours now, didn't found any unbalanced classes yet)
- nice music and graphics
- low price
- nice game mechanics (equips, skills, training, etc.)
- local coop / multiplayer (couldn't test it yet, but it works)
- early access is estimated to last around 12 months. That's a good time frame to collect feedback and improve the game

Con (which needs to be added/improved)
- options to set up the keys. currently you can use an xbox gamepad or your keyboard - but the assigned keys can't be changed. My gamepad isn't supported by the game and I don't like how the keys on the keyboard are set. Still i can fully play the game.
- Missing tutorials. There is a game help and it was easy to find out how everything works, but it could be a problem if it is your first SRPG. A few tutorials which explain everything should be fine.

Neutral (nice to have improvements)
- Gamespeed settings (2x, 5x, 10x, etc.)
- Turn off/on skill effects
- soundeffects (let the unit say something on skills or when they get their turn)
- more skills
- Campaign could be enhanced with some nice dialogues. You don't need such stuff on quick battles or multiplayer, but on campaign I would appreciate them.

Currently i would fully recommend this game, even if it would cost 5~10€. If some features would be enhanced (espeically better keyboard support) I would be willing to pay even more for this game. After all you really can see how much love the developer put in this game and it already is really fun to play.