SNES era ATB is a very specific thing to reach for, and the right thing. The bars filling, that small jolt of panic when two land at once, menus you can read at a glance. Phaser suits the flat sprite look. Get the timing feel of the old ones right and the apocalypse framing is gravy.
Turn based scrapping in the wreckage of an AI apocalypse, with a VIP to keep alive and three routes to pick between. That's a structure, not a combat demo in fancy dress. Escort pressure changes every decision you make while the bars fill. The setting has been walked over plenty of times. The routes give it a shape you can replay.
An escort objective and a choice of routes is more design than most turn based projects this size bother with, and I think the ambition points the right way. What I dont trust yet is the arithmetic underneath. ATB goes to mush the moment the numbers drift, and there isn't enough runtime here to bury a flat build inside. Still worth playing for the structure.
SNES era ATB played completely straight, with three routes and a VIP you have to keep breathing. Escort missions are usually a misery. Not this one, because the VIP behaves like a resource instead of an idiot. There's enough depth in the combat to make the route choice matter.
