Q: Can you please tell us about yourself and what you do?
A: My name is Jake Kazdal, and I am the Studio Art Director and Creative Director, as well as the founder of 17-BIT.
Q: What was the inspiration behind GALAK-Z? It seems very anime from the 70s/80s, almost Captain Harlock-esque.
A: As a child I discovered anime via Star Blazers, which was Battleship Yamato in Japan, which was also done by Leiji Matsumoto! I have always loved this aesthetic, and from the very beginning I knew we wanted to have a stylized look that separated itself from the generic “spaceship” look. The explosions from the Macross/Robotech series were a huge inspiration as well, that really helped us solidify our vision for the efx and aesthetic in general!
Q: Galak-Z Variant S was originally going to be a pay game ($9.99), what was the reasoning for the shift to free-to-play?
A: The game was actually always designed as free to play, but we experimented with the idea of bringing a more straightforward traditional model to the Switch market as it is a different userbase. In the end though, we wanted to bring the experience to as many players as possible and the infrastructure was all there to bring the full F2P game to the console, so we decided on that route!
Q: The shift to a free-to-play model must have also changed the dynamic of the core gameplay, can you tell us a little bit about what you had to do to the game to prepare it for the F2P model?
A: We made the decision to lessen the intensity of the original game, which was a very rewarding, but VERY demanding action game. For this new version, we wanted to appeal to a broader audience, that had a more traditional RPG-like structure where you earned and kept items, instead of losing everything with every death as you do in the roguelike structure of the original game. We also wanted many more powerups, and we found ourselves in the incredibly lucky position of being introduced to Kunio Okawara, the original GUNDAM designer! As we loved this era of anime so much, to have a legend of this caliber helping us design our new characters, was almost too amazing to believe. We’re extremely proud of our bot characters and their heritage!
Q: The maps for the missions are some of the strong points to the game, as they play a vital role in offensive strategy during gameplay. For example, the level with the lava pits lining the walls where you can push enemies into them for damage can be used to progress. Can you explain a little about level design and the train of thought that went into them?
A: The goal for this game has *always* been to have the best, tactical, physics-based action-arcade spaceship shooting gameplay ever, hands down. Utilizing the environment, fleeing as necessary to let you regain shields and playing different factions off each other are the hallmarks of great combat, and were our bible for this game.
Q: Will there by any updates in the near future? Any DLC or events possibly?
A: Stay tuned!
