The Roguelike genre is one usually filled with death, despair, and also determination. Those three are usually at the heart of any Roguelike, as they're designed to challenge the player with high difficulty, resulting in many deaths, that will eventually lead to despair, but ultimately succeed thanks to solid determination. Galak-Z is no different, it just happens to look great while doing it too.
Galak-Z: The Dimension is a 2D space Roguelike that uses aesthetics and even storytelling mechanics from anime from the late 80s or even early 90s. It's a love letter to fans who grew up on shows like Robotech, Macross and even Gundam.
The gameplay revolves around piloting the titular ship across multiple seasons, segmented into episodes. Players will have to utilize stealth to slip past unnecessary conflicts as well as their dogfighting abilities in fast-paced combat. Galak-Z is absolutely ruthless, and if you don't get throug all five episodes of the season, you're starting back at episode 1. Brutal.
The cool thing about the ship is that it has two modes, a fighter mode, and a mech mode. When in the fighter mode, you're basically an agile jet, capable of quick maneouvers and outrunning your enemies. As the mech, you have a whole new array of abilities. A shield will protect you from shots, your beam sword will do massive damage long range, and your grappling hook can reel in objects, and use them offensively and defensively against enemies.
Difficulty aside though, Galak-Z is oozing with style and charm. The characters are all interesting and I like the banter that happens in each episode between them. Screenshots also don't do this game any justice. It's gorgeous in motion.
Originall released on PS4, Galak-Z is also available on PC, with a new Arcade Mode that tones down the difficulty, and removes the requirement to restart a season after failing an episode.
