Anemia: Pocket

Game Overview
Anemia: Pocket takes the initial visions of Anemia and condenses it all into a series of simple, low maintenance projects manageable for game development. Anemia was originally conceptually designed as a cartoon series and that eventually developed into many spin off ranging from another cartoon, comics, to various genres of games.

What is Anemia: Pocket
Anemia: Pocket is a mystery, sandbox role playing game that focuses around a top down view. Players control the main character, Lane, and numerous other characters that live in the city where supernatural events are always prone to happen: Stanton. The game revolves around the calendar, exploring over a year’s worth of time. Players have as much time as needed to enjoy themselves and explore the world of Anemia. Players can build confidants with the many characters that live within the series. Players can also take missions to keep the city safe from supernatural influences, explore areas for potential hidden content, and more. Anemia: Pocket’s main goal is to recap the initial season one of the Anemia cartoon with story events all while allowing players to trigger many events, giving additional story content and background information on characters from the series.

After many days players to forced to participate on story events that start on specific dates and also end on specific dates. These events are usually supernatural. Supernatural events are focused around puzzle solving and figuring out the problems to them before it is impossible to stop or the character inevitably die. In these puzzles, characters are incapable of attacking, but enemies can so the tension is always high. Another addition to the game are dungeons. Dungeons are similar to story events in that they are supernatural and often times distorted areas. Players however are not always confined to a play style that forces them to only run. Anemia has a turn based rpg element. When forced to battle, characters can fight to protect themselves.

Look and Feel
Anemia: Pocket uses an artstyle that is partly inspired by anime, but still resembles that of a western style cartoon. The game is designed to be capable of running in multiple frame rates with the ideal number being sixty frames per second.

Confidants
When talking to characters, players have various options. They can challenge them to a sparring match, and upon winning, unlock abilities. The player can potentially recruit them to their party before missions or simply explore the city with Lane, and by building their confidants, trigger potential character events.

Challenger Mode
Challenger mode is the turn based rpg section of the game. Characters utilize a large range of abilities to take down opponents. Character sprites are dramatically different and it starts to seem like an entirely new game. In Anemia Pocket you can challenge characters to sparring matches. In defeating them, you unlock abilities that can benefit you in later fights. Win or lose, you can rematch opponents. Upon defeating them, challenged characters will become even stronger, utilizing a different set of strategies and moves. There are some level requirements to learn specific abilities.

When challenger mode is enabled in certain environments, wild spirits can attack Lane and his friends, challenging them to fights. These areas are not simply in dungeons or events, but can also occur at specific times. One example being the park at night time. Lane can tackle battles on his own or he can recruit characters to aid him. On the player side, there can only be 4 characters at the most. On the enemy side, only 5 be on the board at one time, but enemies can also decide to join the fight after the first wave of enemies have died. Challenger mode will primarily be used to fight bosses that can actually be taken down with fighting. All enemies will also scale based on Lane’s level in increments of 5. EX: If Lane is level 1, enemies can only be 5 levels higher at the most. Bosses can be 10 higher than Lane and his party at the most. The skill sets of enemies and bosses change based on their level as well. Boss ai is also affected by your level. Upon defeating enemies, characters can level up to unlock more abilities as well. One thing to keep in mind is HP, strength, and defense is linked to RPG Mode. Any damage Lane takes in either mode will reflect in the other.

Movement
Anemia: Pocket provides 8 way movement with the characters capable of facing all 8 directions. Players also have access to a dash button that increase their speed significantly with no cooldown.

Objects
Players are incapable of interacting with most objects outside of missions. Many things that may prompt dialogue boxes as Lane inspects the items. In some cases players can come across special items that will allow for special events or moments to happen. In missions, players may be tasked with interacting with items to pick them up and move them over to specific locations in order to trigger events within the area.

Combat
In Anemia: Pocket, there are not many ways to engage enemies. Players can acquire skills that can blow back and destroy generic enemies from attacking them after completing the requirements, but are very few in number. Anemia: Pocket does not have an active combat system outside of Challenger Mode because it goes against the nature of what the game is suppose to be.

Sixth Sense
By pressing the assigned input, characters can utilize the Sixth Sense ability, allowing them to see various hidden paths and items. Enemies shown by the Sixth Sense become more hostile, becoming more prone to attack characters upon revealing their locations. The Sixth Sense has a time limit and a cooldown, forcing it to only be used when needed.

Challenger Mode Mechanics
Characters can perform a basic attack, perform advanced skills that cost resources, and utilize various mechanics to set up scenarios in their favor. Attacks can increase in damage as well as having a critical chance or miss based on positioning. Each character specialize in several traits that take advantage of these numerous factors. Characters have different speeds, making it unlikely for all of the characters on one team to go before the other. Each turn phase is called a Turn Sequence. Characters are aligned in order of speed to decide when it’s their turn on the sequence. Speed buffs or debuffs applied to characters only affect the next Turn Sequence. Additionally characters can engage in the opponent’s side, dealing twice the amount of damage on close range attacks, but is also susceptible to being severely damaged. There a universal option to block, and characters also receive chances to dodge damaging attacks.

Characters have a set amount of health points (HP) and Spiritual Points (SP). SP can be consumed to perform powerful attacks or skills that can help aid the entire team in battle. A special gauge called the Kill Switch gauge is also present for each character beside their portrait. A Kill Switch is a super move that uses meter from the Kill Switch gauge. As players use turns, their gauge gradually fills until it is full. Each character has a minimum of two Kill Switches that they can use in battle.

Players also have various team oriented options at their disposal. By utilizing the Kill Switch gauge they have access to an extra mechanic called Turn Burn. By burning half of the character’s Kill Switch, players can Baton Pass, choosing not to attack, but pass their turn to another character, giving them a damage multiplier on their next attack. An Aggression Switch is the act of simultaneously attacking on the same turn as another character during their turn. Players can only use aggression switch if the turn is immediately after one of their previous characters. This uses all of the character’s Kill Switch gauge, however there is an additional drawbacks. The player cannot attack for one Turn Sequence.

Critical chance allows a player have an additional turn upon acquiring a critical hit. Specific characters that synergize around critical hits, they deal additional damage on the next turn. Spirit Break is the breaking of an opponent’s spiritual body by utilizing spirit energy based moves to attack the opponent.

Spirit Breaks dizzy opponents, disabling them from attacking for up to 2 turns. Spirit Broken characters will eventually recover, but are unable to use SP Attacks for several turns. Spirit Breaks are an unlikely occurrence for normal characters, but Spirit Breaking is a vital game plan for characters that specialize this mechanic.