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Galak-Z: The Dimensional |OT| Macross the Universe

Grimsen

Member
Just got all the trophies. Great game, although, it could have used more variety in the environments.

I loved both forms of the ship, but I used the mech more. It can wreck shit without upgrades, especially with wall stuns. Once you get big bullets, spread shot and either ice or lightning, ship combat is up there though.

I didn't use grapple much, but I'll fiddle with it on my next playthrough. Can't wait for more!
 

jkooXL

Member
I guess I could also report a bug that I've only seen after the latest patch.

Enemies are spawning in walls quite often (once every two stages I'd say), they can move around freely but not see me and I couldn't attack them.

Are these just the purple and black spitter bugs (known issue) or have you seen other enemies?
 
Are these just the purple and black spitter bugs (known issue) or have you seen other enemies?

Mostly bugs, but I can remember at leat one instance where a raider was stuck somewhere. He seemed to be stuck between a wall and one of those mission objective structures where you place a bomb.
 

jkooXL

Member
Really adore how this game looks and plays. I do have a few problems that keep my from absolutely loving the game, though. First of all, it's really buggy. I've had at least 3 crashes that've sent me back to the beginning of the season. Once was even right before the boss of Season 1. It sucked. Then you've got the frame rate and hitching issues that are occasionally bad enough to cause me to die.

I feel like drops are structured against the player. Low on health? Stop seeing supply crates and what ones are there drop missiles instead. Start using missiles a lot? All of a sudden enemies stop dropping them.

We made some amazing progress against bugs today, we believe we've smoked the frame hitching (HELL YEAH) and all the weird control's locking up stuff I think is in the bag too. Another big regular framerate enhancement went in as well too. We're working on the save data corruption, if you could grab video off the PS4 if it crashes in game and send it to us at our PR link on our web page or better yet, link it on our forums.

The drops are not at all structured against the player, its nothing that fancy. It's just a bunch of dice rolls basically. Crates are dropped as the level is created, they don't change on the fly, and enemies that shoot missiles I believe always drop missiles. Missile Turrets, Missile variant Hammerheads, etc.
 

ImboSlice

Member
Bought the game last night, played two of those tutorial missions, then had to go and quit out (in the hub), came back today and had to start from scratch.
So, question, when and what is saved in this game? Split this question into to parts: Is anything saved from playthrough to playthrough? Is a playthrough in itself saved at some point?
 

Nothus

Member
Bought the game last night, played two of those tutorial missions, then had to go and quit out (in the hub), came back today and had to start from scratch.
So, question, when and what is saved in this game? Split this question into to parts: Is anything saved from playthrough to playthrough? Is a playthrough in itself saved at some point?

If you quit during a mission (ie when you're flying around in space) you will lose ALL progress. But the game actually brings up a warning screen if you try and do this which requires an extra button press to bypass so it would be difficult to ignore.
If you quit in between missions (ie while you are reading the mission briefing) then you should be ok to come back and resume from that point onwards.
I think some people in this thread have reported losing progress even when they quit at the 'right time' so to speak, but it hasn't happened to me personally.
 
Yesterday the game crashed on me the second I tried to warp out of 3-5. When I restarted the game it still said I unlocked season 4 though (thankfully).

Also don't listen to people saying the mech isn't as viable.
You can be an angel of death with it if you get brave enough and master all of its functions. It's really just like one of my Japanese animes.
 
I saw some videos of this game, but I don't quite "get it". Is it good as a shmup? Is it hectic or slow? It makes me think of Bangaio, is there actually some similarity?
 
I saw some videos of this game, but I don't quite "get it". Is it good as a shmup? Is it hectic or slow? It makes me think of Bangaio, is there actually some similarity?
I'd say it's the patient man's shoot-'em-up.
It's actually both hectic and slow though it'll become less slow as you become more confident in your abilities.
It kind of makes me think of a Gradius where you control the pace (and can turn into a mech to fuck shit up).
 

Lombax

Banned
I saw some videos of this game, but I don't quite "get it". Is it good as a shmup? Is it hectic or slow? It makes me think of Bangaio, is there actually some similarity?

The game has its moments where it goes from 0 to bullet hell for a moment, and its everything you can do to make it out alive!
I am getting in the habit of planning things our a bit more and getting factions to fight with each other or plan traps for some of the larger jerkbags in the game!

Just buy it, the game is fantastic!
 
Also, for a potential future endless/arena/score/horde/etc DLC mode, I want to hear your thoughts!! What other games have done it right? What would keep you playing GALAK-Z day in and day out even after you've completed the entire campaign? WE WANT TO KNOW!! Thank you!!
Assault Android Cactus did it well I found, but I reckon that style will be difficult to emulate in Galak-Z. The environment changes after x number of waves, what enemies will spawn is set in stone rather than completely random and bosses drop in seamlessly once you reach a certain point. I can see something akin to Halo's Firefight work for Galak-Z too though, since both games share good A.I. in how the enemies behave.

Something resembling Spelunky's daily challenge would be sweet and a Hardcore mode where you 'have' to complete the game from Season 1 onwards - perhaps coupled with other sensible handicaps like not regaining health if extra balance is needed - could pose an interesting challenge as well, considering I always start from square one in other roguelites anyways.

We made some amazing progress against bugs today, we believe we've smoked the frame hitching (HELL YEAH) and all the weird control's locking up stuff I think is in the bag too. Another big regular framerate enhancement went in as well too. We're working on the save data corruption, if you could grab video off the PS4 if it crashes in game and send it to us at our PR link on our web page or better yet, link it on our forums.
Excellent news.
 

BSpot

Member
Hey guys... are there ever blueprints or skills for the Mech? I have seen a ton for the Ship but not one for the Mech. (I'll grant you, I'm only on 2-4, though...)

I really like using the Mech, so it's always a bit of a bummer when I get ship stuff to spend money on but I know I'm gonna be in Mech like 80% of the time.


[edit] Aside from Mech Grapple Duration. Oddly, I *Just* got that one. Any others?
 

BSpot

Member
Agggh, I know you are working on it, and I ain't mad at ya, but I think I gotta stop again till next patch. I was on 2-4 with 2 shields and 5 health(!!!) and because I kept grappling when trying to flee I now end 2-4 and go into 2-5 with 1 health. :\
 

HORRORSHØW

Member
Hey guys... are there ever blueprints or skills for the Mech? I have seen a ton for the Ship but not one for the Mech. (I'll grant you, I'm only on 2-4, though...)

I really like using the Mech, so it's always a bit of a bummer when I get ship stuff to spend money on but I know I'm gonna be in Mech like 80% of the time.


[edit] Aside from Mech Grapple Duration. Oddly, I *Just* got that one. Any others?
the ones i have are: +1 blade damage, 100% charge damage, enemies blow up like a grenade when you throw them, and the more shield one.

it'd be cool if you can get different elemental properties like with your laser
 

wouwie

Member
I'm a not sure this would be a game for me. I was excited when it was announced but that excitement diminished when it was announced as procedurally generated and spelunky alike where you loose your abilities when you die. On the other hand, i like shootem-ups and this one seems to allow playing tactically/stealthy. Hmm...
 
I'm a not sure this would be a game for me. I was excited when it was announced but that excitement diminished when it was announced as procedurally generated and spelunky alike where you loose your abilities when you die. On the other hand, i like shootem-ups and this one seems to allow playing tactically/stealthy. Hmm...

Did you enjoy this game?

118124218391.png


Do you wish someone would remake that game, but add mechs, HD graphics, stealth mechanics and environmental hazards? Then make it really hard? Then you might also like Galak-Z.
 

KTallguy

Banned
The drops are not at all structured against the player, its nothing that fancy. It's just a bunch of dice rolls basically. Crates are dropped as the level is created, they don't change on the fly, and enemies that shoot missiles I believe always drop missiles. Missile Turrets, Missile variant Hammerheads, etc.

Is health at all predictable? Or just really, really rare?

I got an upgrade once that gave me one health every time I finished a mission, that was godly. But it didn't stop me from getting smoked at the end of Season 3 :(
 

NIN90

Member
I'm in season 3 now and I keep having the worst luck as far as crates go. Mostly salvage crates and the shop usually has the most useless things in stock to spend said salvage.
 

SerTapTap

Member
Is health at all predictable? Or just really, really rare?

I got an upgrade once that gave me one health every time I finished a mission, that was godly. But it didn't stop me from getting smoked at the end of Season 3 :(

Repair and disposable health are very common in the shop, otherwise it's fairly uncommon to find a health drop crate or ability that buffs health from a random crate.

I'm in season 3 now and I keep having the worst luck as far as crates go. Mostly salvage crates and the shop usually has the most useless things in stock to spend said salvage.

I've taken to just buying the bad stuff from the shop if it's 300 or less just to get it out of the pool if I have spare money and nothing good to spend it on.
 

SeanTSC

Member
Beat this last night. Died on 4-1 a few times and 4-3 a couple times. Then RNGesus blessed me with the easiest 4-1 possible (a bug level) AND gave me the most broken upgrade in the entire game.

Chance to Stun on Charged Sword attack. Which really means, Stuns on every single charged sword attack. Just wiped the floor with season 4 after that. It just stun-locked everything.
 

baconcow

Member
It is nice to see this much post-game community interaction from a developer. Also, it sounds like they are moving along quite well with game improvements.
 

Lemnisc8

Member
It is nice to see this much post-game community interaction from a developer. Also, it sounds like they are moving along quite well with game improvements.

Yup, seen the dev active in here quite a lot. I think that's why everyone is patient for the updates - that dev feedback definately helps.

I really hope the game is a commercial success for them, it would be good to see more content for the game!

Also slowly changing my opinion on the mech... With good upgrades I cleared season 4 without much trouble, but I still seem to prefer the ship.

Man this game, I've completed it many times now including a play through without death and I just keep coming back for more.

Just need some sort of infinite combat mode.... *cough*
 

Tunavi

Banned
I'm a not sure this would be a game for me. I was excited when it was announced but that excitement diminished when it was announced as procedurally generated and spelunky alike where you loose your abilities when you die. On the other hand, i like shootem-ups and this one seems to allow playing tactically/stealthy. Hmm...
are you kind of a baby? if so, don't buy this game
 

IbukiLordSA

Member
Got some more time with the game last night and completed season 2, wasn't the best run but I did finish with 10 crash coins so I should hopefully go into season 3 with a decent setup now.

Really enjoying the game and have had no issues so far which is great.
 
Absolutely loving this game despite running into a few major glitches.

One actually turned out to be quite thrilling, I was deep into season 2 for the first time when my mech could no longer transform, use its shield, sword or grapple.

In close quarters with a battleship I had to keep hovering near the red pipes waiting for it to shoot at me, I'd dash away as it burst the pipe and I'd swoop back to try and bump it into the fire. It took a few minutes but I kept luring it towards different hazards in the environment and eventually killed it without weapons.

Just finished season 2 last night and am loving using the mechs to toss explosives at my enemies from long range, boosting in to nail an enemy with a charged attack, grappling it and giving it a couple close sword swipes before tossing it into lava or spikes is also quite satisfying.

I'll definitely be wanting some DLC additions later, but for now I'm totally hooked.

It's like Robotech meets the overhead space battles from Star Control II, which is really a dream come true for me.
 

Ryu

Member
Also, for a potential future endless/arena/score/horde/etc DLC mode, I want to hear your thoughts!! What other games have done it right? What would keep you playing GALAK-Z day in and day out even after you've completed the entire campaign? WE WANT TO KNOW!! Thank you!!

Daily challenges would be the best thing to happen to this game and would add tons of longevity with a leaderboard. Spelunky and Nuclear Throne both do this very well. Here are some suggestions or possibilities:

"Robot Jox - Finish 5 missions - ship mode disabled"

"Double The Pain - Finish 5 missions - All enemies have double health"

"Two men enter one man leaves - Defeat all bosses in x minutes"

But you can also give the players specific weapon loadouts as well that they have to adapt to.

Loadout:
Large shots, bullets move at 25% normal speed

Loadout:
Weak shots, player moves at 400% normal speed

The combat in this game is the best. Forcing players to explore other playstyles with the challenges would just reveal that even further. With the levels already being randomized, there must be a way to adjust the sliders on the enemies/players to make this kind of stuff work without too much hassle.
 

Ryu

Member
I'm a not sure this would be a game for me. I was excited when it was announced but that excitement diminished when it was announced as procedurally generated and spelunky alike where you loose your abilities when you die. On the other hand, i like shootem-ups and this one seems to allow playing tactically/stealthy. Hmm...

When I first started playing, I died once in 1-3 blasting some fools, but accidentally flailing myself stupidly into some lava. The fragility of the ship was a sobering experience. I had plenty of crash coins and just picked up from there. I'm now at 3-1 and I have not died since.

Knowing that most hazards can take your shields all the way down in one hit has forced me to play this game very cautiously. The gifs before release were a bit misleading as it made it seem like the game was this action packed bullet hell shooter with mechs when in fact it's much more about tactics and skill. Taking encounters slow, methodically picking off enemies, and using the environment hazards and other enemy factions to your advantage has created this incredibly unique experience. It is a shooter, but it's one that definitely rewards players that take things slow and steady at first.

Over time, I'm sure the gameplay can become incredibly fast if you want it to be, but it comes with a level of skill I don't have just yet due to the fact that I actually don't ever want to die so I take far fewer chances.

That all being said, the combat is masterful. It is what makes this game absolutely unique. There are posters in here who wreck shit with the mech and I think that's great, I also think it's risky, but the game has room for both of our playstyles to exist. The levels being random honestly mean nothing as the game lives and breathes during the combat and carefully tailored enemy placement would do nothing to enhance that anymore beyond what it is. If that at all sounds appealing, give it a whirl.
 
Man, I just can't play this for shit anymore. I blew through season 4 once and got up to the 4-5 boss, got screwed over by the glitch where you can't transform or do anything offensive, and haven't been able to get beyond 4-2 since. Did the difficulty get tinkered with in the patch?
 

erpg

GAF parliamentarian
I think this is the first game in a long time that I can really say I hate.

Really not for me.

The repetitive combat chatter, the art style, the lack of environment variety. Combat is fun but I can't get passed the rest, especially since the difficulty makes me revisit it so fucking often.
 

UCBooties

Member
Ouch, I have gotten to the boss at the end of Season 1 twice and died. Really putting a damper on things. I was starting to feel confident with the controls but
White Tusk
is too much apparently.

I know I can't outrun it so I was trying to evade juke over its swings. This would work for the first swing but get me smacked by the follow up. Nothing I did attack-wise seemed to make much progress.

I'll start again because I really want to like this game but I just don't know if I can invest the time this game is going to demand.
 

Owensboro

Member
Well I just had an incredibly frustrating bug in Season 2 mission 3. Got stuck in mech form and no attack buttons would work (shoot, grapple, change form), however I could manipulate menus just fine. Unfortunately I was so quick to suspend/resume trying to fix it I forgot to get a video of what happened before I did it. All I can say is that I think I hammered the "change form" button too much (my ship was changing at a lag of about 2 second AFTER I pressed triangle). Right after I finally changed the second time (Mech->ship->mech) I got stuck. Had to just suicide. What a bummer :(
 
Ouch, I have gotten to the boss at the end of Season 1 twice and died. Really putting a damper on things. I was starting to feel confident with the controls but
White Tusk
is too much apparently.

I know I can't outrun it so I was trying to evade juke over its swings. This would work for the first swing but get me smacked by the follow up. Nothing I did attack-wise seemed to make much progress.

I'll start again because I really want to like this game but I just don't know if I can invest the time this game is going to demand.

The key is to keep backward flying while shooting. You've got plenty of room with no other enemies to disturb you. When it gets close, use your thrust and boost away. Repeat process until dead.
 
Well I just had an incredibly frustrating bug in Season 2 mission 3. Got stuck in mech form and no attack buttons would work (shoot, grapple, change form), however I could manipulate menus just fine. Unfortunately I was so quick to suspend/resume trying to fix it I forgot to get a video of what happened before I did it. All I can say is that I think I hammered the "change form" button too much (my ship was changing at a lag of about 2 second AFTER I pressed triangle). Right after I finally changed the second time (Mech->ship->mech) I got stuck. Had to just suicide. What a bummer :(

You're not the first. It's a known issue, but I think that's getting fixed in the next patch.
 

jkooXL

Member
Yes all the locking up controls in Mech form have been addressed, we're hammering on the build now to make sure we didn't miss anything.

A lot of feedback about the game being too difficult has been actually really surprising for us. I think I made a grave mistake by bringing in other game dev friends to playtest, I've seen multiple people blow through Season 1 in their first go, some even Season 2, not needing to slow down until Season 3. I think my testers were.. perhaps not the right fit. Its great watching them for high level players input, but I should have brought in more casual gamers and done a thorough couple of weeks of tuning based on that feedback.

I'm also really surprised at how cautiously people are playing, but I guess it makes sense. The whole team plays everyday and its just become a giant toy, we don't really care that much if we live or die, we just go balls out and have an absolute blast, and your skills get better quickly playing that way. Its an endless arcade game! Every time you die you are handed a bunch of brand new levels! Its great! As the creators of the game the fact that we aren't testing the same levels over and over and over again until your eyes are just dull, but playing brand new content with crazy outcomes every time has just been the greatest gift, and easily the funnest game I've ever made in my 20+ year career!

I realize its not for everyone, but I honestly think Bloodborne and the Souls games are way harder, and you have to redo things so many times in the same place, the same way.. thats just not really my thing I guess.

My ultimate advice for people who think its too hard would be to just play the simpler seasons of difficulty and just *enjoy* the process, practicing your skills and just have fun! Once you unlock the mech you can go back and play Season 1 with it, just take your trime and play with it. Its nothing but an endless arcade game! A giant toy, with sick-ass organic combat and as many quarters in your pocket as you could possibly need!
 
I'm having a blast with this one. Controls are tight, the art style has.... style! It oozes passion with clear inspiration from shooters, stealth games, anime, and rogue likes. Thanks 17 Bit!

Galak-Z is a hard game. But without the tension, it wouldn't feel as good to beat a boss or level. going into it with that mindset helped me avoid a lot of frustration.
 

Ryu

Member
I'm also really surprised at how cautiously people are playing, but I guess it makes sense. The whole team plays everyday and its just become a giant toy, we don't really care that much if we live or die, we just go balls out and have an absolute blast, and your skills get better quickly playing that way. Its an endless arcade game! Every time you die you are handed a bunch of brand new levels! Its great! As the creators of the game the fact that we aren't testing the same levels over and over and over again until your eyes are just dull, but playing brand new content with crazy outcomes every time has just been the greatest gift, and easily the funnest game I've ever made in my 20+ year career!

I realize its not for everyone, but I honestly think Bloodborne and the Souls games are way harder, and you have to redo things so many times in the same place, the same way.. thats just not really my thing I guess.

As a Souls/Bloodborne player, I realize how much dying sucks and it has in fact trained me to be extra cautious so I don't die in games where death matters. I can pick up Uncharted and just do a bunch of wild and crazy crap because I just start over from the last generous checkpoint. No consequences. For this though, at least until I'm done with the main campaign, I don't want to have to start over and scrounge for gear again.

To be perfectly honest, although holding the mech back until a couple of weeks before the game's release was a fantastic marketing move and it made for some really great preview videos and gifs, I think the actual unlock placement within the game was a bit of a mistake.

The second season ramps up the difficulty quite a bit and I've seen loads of people, who are trying to learn the mech, get wasted there in that season and not return because of it. They think the game is just too hard at that point and it's really just them failing to overcome the hump of learning how to use it. The extra damage you end up taking for being much closer to enemies is not offset completely by the extra damage the mech does so this new seemingly powerful toy you just acquired - doesn't seem that powerful.

You can definitely go back and play season 1 again and truly learn it there, but most players are of the mind that if you get this item here, it must be meant to be used here. Why would you get it here otherwise? If you need to learn it in an easier area, then why isn't the initial area you get it in easier so you can learn how to use it?

Once I realized how much damage I took being in close quarters while using the mech, I just switched to using it sparingly.
 
Yes all the locking up controls in Mech form have been addressed, we're hammering on the build now to make sure we didn't miss anything.

A lot of feedback about the game being too difficult has been actually really surprising for us. I think I made a grave mistake by bringing in other game dev friends to playtest, I've seen multiple people blow through Season 1 in their first go, some even Season 2, not needing to slow down until Season 3. I think my testers were.. perhaps not the right fit. Its great watching them for high level players input, but I should have brought in more casual gamers and done a thorough couple of weeks of tuning based on that feedback.

I'm also really surprised at how cautiously people are playing, but I guess it makes sense. The whole team plays everyday and its just become a giant toy, we don't really care that much if we live or die, we just go balls out and have an absolute blast, and your skills get better quickly playing that way. Its an endless arcade game! Every time you die you are handed a bunch of brand new levels! Its great! As the creators of the game the fact that we aren't testing the same levels over and over and over again until your eyes are just dull, but playing brand new content with crazy outcomes every time has just been the greatest gift, and easily the funnest game I've ever made in my 20+ year career!

I realize its not for everyone, but I honestly think Bloodborne and the Souls games are way harder, and you have to redo things so many times in the same place, the same way.. thats just not really my thing I guess.

My ultimate advice for people who think its too hard would be to just play the simpler seasons of difficulty and just *enjoy* the process, practicing your skills and just have fun! Once you unlock the mech you can go back and play Season 1 with it, just take your trime and play with it. Its nothing but an endless arcade game! A giant toy, with sick-ass organic combat and as many quarters in your pocket as you could possibly need!

Great news about the mech controls. It was frustrating when the grapple stopped working earlier today.

I do agree the game isn't for everyone. No great game should be. Nothing in this world really can be that's created by an artist to entertain people.

I really love the game. A lot. I'm not big into anime at all but I love how the game looks. The colors are all so bright and everything pops nicely.

And yes, the game is difficult, yet very rewarding at the same time. Because just like with anything, if you put some time into it and learn what you're doing, you reap some rewards. But that's how your team designed it. It's your vision. I really hope you stick to it.
 

nib95

Banned
Yes all the locking up controls in Mech form have been addressed, we're hammering on the build now to make sure we didn't miss anything.

A lot of feedback about the game being too difficult has been actually really surprising for us. I think I made a grave mistake by bringing in other game dev friends to playtest, I've seen multiple people blow through Season 1 in their first go, some even Season 2, not needing to slow down until Season 3. I think my testers were.. perhaps not the right fit. Its great watching them for high level players input, but I should have brought in more casual gamers and done a thorough couple of weeks of tuning based on that feedback.

I'm also really surprised at how cautiously people are playing, but I guess it makes sense. The whole team plays everyday and its just become a giant toy, we don't really care that much if we live or die, we just go balls out and have an absolute blast, and your skills get better quickly playing that way. Its an endless arcade game! Every time you die you are handed a bunch of brand new levels! Its great! As the creators of the game the fact that we aren't testing the same levels over and over and over again until your eyes are just dull, but playing brand new content with crazy outcomes every time has just been the greatest gift, and easily the funnest game I've ever made in my 20+ year career!

I realize its not for everyone, but I honestly think Bloodborne and the Souls games are way harder, and you have to redo things so many times in the same place, the same way.. thats just not really my thing I guess.

My ultimate advice for people who think its too hard would be to just play the simpler seasons of difficulty and just *enjoy* the process, practicing your skills and just have fun! Once you unlock the mech you can go back and play Season 1 with it, just take your trime and play with it. Its nothing but an endless arcade game! A giant toy, with sick-ass organic combat and as many quarters in your pocket as you could possibly need!

I think it's just a case of becoming accustomed to the controls and tactics. The learning curve is slightly higher in Galak-Z, even compared to something like Bloodborne, not necessarily because it's a harder game, but because you're using combinations of buttons that require far more simultaneous inputs, so the process requires more multi tasking and multi input muscle memory. Like any other game, it takes a bit of time to figure out which attacks, moves etc are effective against what, and I think people playing cautiously is just a side result of deaths leading to losing all season progress and abilities. Dying in most games, means re-doing only 5 mins to say, 45mins worth of gameplay, even games like Dark Souls or Bloodborne. In Galak-Z, it can mean re-doing longer than that, depending of course on which mission you died in, and how far you are in to the game.

Personally I'm not sure you should necessarily make the regular game easier, but I do feel using 5 purple coins, you should not lose your abilities upon restart.

It is fun re-doing missions and having that dynamic procedural element, especially as you're still learning tactics etc, but ultimately the competitive gamer instinct is all about progressing, and trying to beat the game sooner rather than later. I think that's where some may get frustrated in dying more often.

Personally I'm having an absolute blast and love the game. I feel you've replicated Macross Plus space battle opera almost perfectly, and it plays pretty much as I imagined it would from seeing all the gameplay vids, previews etc. It does also seem as though the critics really enjoyed it too.



Side note, I think the idea of a horde or survival mode sounds amazing too, and do hope you implement it. In terms of risk reward, it's a great way to extend play time and give people more incentive to play. Unlike the campaign where there's a set objective, in these types of modes being more about high scores and how long you can last, adds it's own novelty.
 
I've talked to a few friends who have purchased the game, and one whom i actually bought the game for. It's such a great product. However, as much as everyone loves it, we've all come to the same consensus. We're older, don't have the time to invest in to being excellent with the mechanics, and actually love the atmosphere and story. We're the weird guys that didn't mind the excessive banter because it's just like the old anime we loved!

The lack of an option to just go through stage by stage is what's killer. It's like we're forced to play new game plus ALL THE TIME. You die, you start ALL the way over. As much as I love it, I look at the game on my PS4 queue and move on to something else. I finally made it to season 2-3, died, and was like, "what am I trying to prove again? I did all this crap with (insert hardcore game from 30 years ago).

This is actually much harder than Bloodborne or Dark Souls. When you die in those games, you loose a little progress, you've still got your weapons, you can heal up. There's reward of progress through attrition.

Galak-Z? Just CRUSHES you. You die, you start from SCRATCH. I had some frustrating times in Bloodborne, especially when that super long load screen was still in the game. However, I never felt that crushing despair. I always felt like I wasn't approaching from the right angle and would reassess my tools, or my weapon, or my patience. You were only a quick jaunt to the obstacle. You suffer a few times, then press onward.

Galak Z crushes you and when you are forced to start at the beginning every time, after while you're just resigned to play something else and pick it up later. Maybe.

Even in Rogue Legacy, NO run is in vain. You keep something, spend it on your upgrade tree, and you're ready to go again. It never feels like a waste of time or lack of progress.

EDIT - for those of you saying how easy the game is, I assume that all of my friends and i completely suck. It took me days to finally get to 2-1 (admittedly playing for only about 30 min each day). I just don't have the dexterity anymore. I liken it to when I was really into Street Fighter and moaned about the one-button easy controls for neophytes. Looking back, though, I don't care if that stuff is in the game as long as there's a separate way for me, the hardcore, to enjoy it, and a way for them to enjoy it, too.

If the game had a mode that allowed you to start each episode from scratch, even that wouldn't be terrible.
 

jimboton

Member
Really, going by the first season I think if anything the game is too easy. Glad to hear it picks up after that, waiting for the patch to go on.

I can see how the cautious style encouraged by the roguelite structure kind of undermines the more carefree approach that would be best to fully enjoy the emergent possibilities of the gameplay. Still, the chance of losing a season's progress is what makes it a thrilling 'high stakes' experience, without it the game would be duller. What could have softened the blow of having to redo a full season would be a fuller exploration component. More unique (random) elements, secrets (possibly including secret levels), some kind of mystery or puzzley side to the deep space caverns you are exploring. That's what made me not mind a single playthrough of the 1000+ attempts it took me to get to and eventually beat Yama in Spelunky. Dying always sucks, but starting again shouldn't. In Galak-Z the excellent mechanics always make the combat a lot of fun, but even though I haven't had to redo anything (so far ) I don't relish the prospect of going through the same levels again with a slightly different layout and enemy positioning. I know that once I'm at it it will mostly be edge of your seat pure arcade fun, but I still can't quite bring myself to look forward to replaying a season.

These are just my early impressions and I'm itching to play the rest of the seasons as soon as the next patch arrives. game's super cool ;)
 
A lot of feedback about the game being too difficult has been actually really surprising for us. I think I made a grave mistake by bringing in other game dev friends to playtest, I've seen multiple people blow through Season 1 in their first go, some even Season 2, not needing to slow down until Season 3. I think my testers were.. perhaps not the right fit. Its great watching them for high level players input, but I should have brought in more casual gamers and done a thorough couple of weeks of tuning based on that feedback.
For what it's worth, I find the game to be not too difficult. Galak-Z nailed that sweet spot in my eyes and what likely throws people through a loop more than anything else are the controls being different from the norm. I went through Season 1 on my first go without much trouble and almost succeeded in Season 2 immediately afterwards, but admittedly I also played more passively than I do now since I hadn't wrapped my mind around the spaceship / mech handling yet. Once I moved past that hump and got accustomed to various other intricacies, the game felt very doable. It requires a specific mindset to do well in.

I also wouldn't put Galak-Z in the same league of challenge as titles like the Souls games (even though the difficulty there is overstated too), Volgarr the Viking or Spelunky either way to name a few recent examples; those present some genuinely tough walls to overcome and punish you far more if you screw up. I'm hesitant to mention Binding of Isaac alongside them, since while it isn't easy-going as well, at least half of the challenge there originates from the fact that the player character's abilities are deliberately shit and progression via the strength of your item pool boils down to pure luck, opposite of the above three.

If others find Galak-Z too intimidating to hop into or can't put much time into it to improve for whatever reason, then that's fair, but you guys haven't done wrong with its balance.
 
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