Spotlight: NITRO GEN OMEGA, worth keeping an eye on
Turn-based mech battle mayhem
I had never heard of a “spaghetti anime turn-based tactical RPG,” but that’s how the devs describe Nitro Gen Omega, and once I saw the trailer I knew I had to try it.
Nitro Gen Omega is a turn-based game that seeks to emulate the style and emotion of anime mech battles. And I think it can succeed at it. I’ve played the demo for almost ten hours, and there’s a gem of something special here.
The turn-based combat takes place in two phases, the planning phase and the resolution phase. In the planning phase, you and your opponents take turns placing actions on a timeline. These actions include ranged and melee attacks, movement, buffs/debuffs, and special abilities—like a counter that negates an enemy’s melee attack. The resolution phase is where all the actions on the timeline play out in an impressive splicing of cinematic shots that make the combat feel like you’re watching a cutscene. With the music and aesthetic working in tandem, it all comes together to create an exhilarating experience. It’s a fascinating way to add tension to a turn-based game.
And there’s genuine strategy to the combat as well. Battles can be tough, and it takes a little bit of trial and error to get the cadence of combat mechanics. But once you do, it becomes incredibly satisfying to outmaneuver your opponents.
Nitro Gen Omega also features randomly generated pilots. You fill out your crew with recruits hired from towns. This is the second component of the game, that features managing your crew’s emotional states and relationships with each other. This is done via downtime activities like boxing, yoga, and weightlifting. If two of your pilots have the “close friends’ relationship, then they can tag in for one another to gain an extra turn in the planning phase of combat. This helps to make your crew of pilots feel interesting and unique, I can definitely see players getting attached to their pilots. Supposedly, your pilots can permanently die if they accrue too many wounds in combat, but I haven’t encountered that yet during my playtime.
Although, the demo is very barebones. It’s just a handful of respawning combat missions, along with the pilot management. Otherwise, it doesn’t feature any meta progress or story mode. It makes me wonder what Nitro Gen Omega’s singleplayer progression will look like. The Steam page also promises a multiplayer mode, but so far there isn’t much information on that.
Even so, I really enjoyed my time with Nitro Gen Omega. I’m excitedly keeping an eye on it to see how the development progresses. If any of this seems interesting to you, you can try the demo on Steam. Just keep in mind it’s barebones and some of the user interface is still rough.
I think Nitro Gen Omega is a gem in the making. I look forward to playing more of it.
Writing update
I’m still making slow and steady progress on the science fantasy novel. The plot hit a few knots that needed unraveling, but things are still moving forward. I do have to get into better habits to make progress faster, because I wanted to be further along by now. That’s likely what I’m going to hunker down and try hammering out next.
On a side note, I’ve been watching Brandon Sanderson’s 2025 writing lectures. They’re all available on his Youtube channel and are a great free resource. There’s a lot of knowledge in each lecture to plumb for useful tools. I’ve been enjoying watching them, and they even helped me connect a few dots in my own story. Definitely worth checking out if you’re interested.