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[Freezasaurus]

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.

It depends. I mean, I can sit down in front of a new Souls game, or Bloodborne, and be comfortable with it right away because the previous games in the series have trained me to play a certain way, so I know what to expect, where to be cautious, etc. Galak-Z is a new experience in that respect, so it has more of a learning curve, as well as different ways to tackle enemies.

 

[Einbroch]

Lava is ridiculous and completely ruined a few runs for me. Taking all your health or downright killing you over a minor mistake is too punishing.

 

[Freezasaurus]

Lava is ridiculous and completely ruined a few runs for me. Taking all your health or downright killing you over a minor mistake is too punishing.

It's great to use against enemies, though. Fly past it and then turn around and shoot at it right as the enemy is about to go through. XD

 

[Toki767]

I don't think I'm ever going to get past season 2. Those new guys in mechs just suck.

 

[Freezasaurus]

I don't think I'm ever going to get past season 2. Those new guys in mechs just suck.

I just use retro+boost to keep shooting them while I'm running away.

 

[Lemmy Caution]

I don't think I'm ever going to get past season 2. Those new guys in mechs just suck.

I'll usually use my mech to grapple an explosive barrel or sparking satellite, sneak up and toss it at them. Once it hits boost in with the charge sword and try and knock them into a wall or some obstacle.

From there it's whatever works best, use missiles, charge sword with your shield up, retreat and find another barrel, etc.

One revelation for me is that you can grapple an enemy and hit them with a few sword strikes before tossing them into needles, lava, or just out of the way.

Also master backing away when shooting, hit strafe as their shots come near and maybe juke for good measure. Once they get close boost away and repeat.

 

[Freezasaurus]

Holy freaking crap is the precision muzzle + huge blast + plasma amazing. I totally dismissed the precision muzzle because of the slow firing rate, but it's actually rock-solid.

 

[Muchi Muchi Pink]

I bought this today and what a technical mess. Frame rate is a joke.

 

[TheOnePercent]

I bought this today and what a technical mess. Frame rate is a joke.

Wow, what made you change your mind?

Thanks for the warning, will avoid this then.

 

[Lemnisc8]

I bought this today and what a technical mess. Frame rate is a joke.

Are we playing the same game? I definately wouldn't call it a "mess". You make out like it's unplayable! Sure, it has its hitches and issues here and there (I don't deny that, and I've had progress wiped twice as well as stuck grapples etc), but the devs have been working solid on it and are patching it up soon.

I've got confidence and patience that it'll be sorted.

 

[Bleep]

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.

Totally agree with this post, I really didn't find Galak-Z to be very difficult. I've played through season 4 a few times now and have a lot more confidence to go nuts with offense and still succeed every time. I think there are a lot more difficult games out there right now that are still very popular.

I understand that some people may find this game difficult, but honestly as it stands right now I would like more difficulty from the game. Hopefully season 5 will kick it up to a level that will make the game super intense every time I play.

 

[IAmRandom31]

Wow this game is phenomenal! Got into Season 2 and the moment that mech opened up I was in fucking heaven. Love being able to transform from ship to mech with only a minor delay. Love firing a sortie of missiles at someone, going mech mode, charging and power striking the enemy just as my missiles hit. Massive explosions, instant death, gratification.

Excellent controls. Excellent music and effects. Love it. Just figured out those pipes will release flames / smoke if you shoot them too giving yet another environmental option. Using the mech I like to carry around those shield destroying pieces of rubble so I can toss them at an enemy mech or ship and instantly knock out the shields so I can charge in. I spend most of my time in Mech form now. Love being able to parry / counter and grab shit.

Great fun so far.

 

[Muchi Muchi Pink]

Wow, what made you change your mind?

I don't know. But I already regret it, for buying asteroids 2.0. Really mad we don't have demos anymore like it was on xbla. I hate the controls, the frame rate, the ugly art work. There's some cool ideas but ugh...

 

[Tunavi]

I don't know. But I already regret it, for buying asteroids 2.0. Really mad we don't have demos anymore like it was on xbla. I hate the controls, the frame rate, the ugly art work. There's some cool ideas but ugh...

It clicks when you get past season 1 trust me

 

[Tunavi]

I bought this today and what a technical mess. Frame rate is a joke.

Frame rate is not perfect but it's not a joke by all means

 

[YianGaruga]

I don't know. But I already regret it, for buying asteroids 2.0. Really mad we don't have demos anymore like it was on xbla. I hate the controls, the frame rate, the ugly art work. There's some cool ideas but ugh...

I also didn't like the game at first but I think you should keep playing. The controls work really well.

 

[Novocaine]

So overall I really like this game a lot, except for the crash coins mechanic. I'm on season 4 now but I feel like to have fair chance I need to go to season 2 or 3 and farm a bunch of coins before giving it a legitimate try. I would much rather it be balanced in favour of you starting fresh from the start of a season and ramping up the difficulty accordingly.

 

[yatesl]

Got through season 1 with only losing health at the last boss. Currently an episode or 2 in to season 2.

Still struggling to wrap my mind around what game this is. I know it's a rougelike, but I would have thought upgrades carry between seasons, and they just act as shortcuts a la Spelunky. Instead it's just 5 different runs with harder enemies?

It's OK, fairly easy so far with the dodge button, but I'd have preferred that reason to go from S1 - S5 in one run.

 

[YianGaruga]

So overall I really like this game a lot, except for the crash coins mechanic. I'm on season 4 now but I feel like to have fair chance I need to go to season 2 or 3 and farm a bunch of coins before giving it a legitimate try. I would much rather it be balanced in favour of you starting fresh from the start of a season and ramping up the difficulty accordingly.

I actually think farming at the start of an episode does kind of work when you have no crash coins. Just ignore the objective and fly around space to collect a bit of scrap. The first episode of a season usually isn't that hard.

But I agree that the ceash coin mechanic isn't balanced very well. They should help you when you're having trouble, but I feel like they're currently doing the opposite and reward you for playing well. Beating a season with 5+ coins and starting the next one definitely gives you a slight advantage, while dying in the first episode and having to start over with 0 coins leaves you worse off.

Maybe crash coins should have been used to unlock small permanent upgrades that you always have at the start of a season or something.

 

[Muchi Muchi Pink]

It clicks when you get past season 1 trust me

I doubt I'll make it past season 1. Especially when I have games like Pink Sweets and Ketsui.

 

[Novocaine]

I actually think farming at the start of an episode does kind of work when you have no crash coins. Just ignore the objective and fly around space to collect a bit of scrap. The first episode of a season usually isn't that hard.

But I agree that the ceash coin mechanic isn't balanced very well. They should help you when you're having trouble, but I feel like they're currently doing the opposite and reward you for playing well. Beating a season with 5+ coins and starting the next one definitely gives you a slight advantage, while dying in the first episode and having to start over with 0 coins leaves you worse off.

Maybe crash coins should have been used to unlock small permanent upgrades that you always have at the start of a season or something.

Farming works, but getting 8-10 crash coins gives you a ton of upgrade potential even before you start the game. I think the game would be better and more straight forward without them.

 

[Shin Kojima]

The new patch is up in the EU. Downloading it now.

 

[Crab Milk Mickey]

The new patch is up in the EU. Downloading it now.

Patch notes:

-=Performance / Stability=-
+ Fix sporadic hitching in Space Hulk and Raider Base dungeons
+ Performance improvements to enemy death and misc. explosions
+ Performance improvements in cave dungeons
+ Auto-pause the game when the PS4 controller disconnects

-=Gameplay=-
+ Fix loss of input after attempting to grapple certain projects
+ Fix episode 3-5 sometimes being incompletable when in Recovery mode
+ Fix 'Can't Touch This' trophy​

 

[Freezasaurus]

Maybe crash coins should have been used to unlock small permanent upgrades that you always have at the start of a season or something.

This was my thought as well. You should be able to earn some measure of progress in terms of ship upgrades that isn't lost every time you die or begin a new season.

 

[Shin Kojima]

The game seems to again perform a little better than before but I've still seen the occasional hitch. I'm sure everything will be ironed out by the time season 5 arrives.

 

[Owensboro]

Patch notes:

-=Performance / Stability=-
+ Fix sporadic hitching in Space Hulk and Raider Base dungeons
+ Performance improvements to enemy death and misc. explosions
+ Performance improvements in cave dungeons
+ Auto-pause the game when the PS4 controller disconnects

-=Gameplay=-
+ Fix loss of input after attempting to grapple certain projects
+ Fix episode 3-5 sometimes being incompletable when in Recovery mode
+ Fix 'Can't Touch This' trophy​

Hell yes. Time to start playing again. I was so bummed out the last time that happened that I just didn't want to boot up the game again.

 

[SerTapTap]

The sense of progress is pretty minor to be sure. I honestly wouldn't mind it though if you started each season with some money (not just from crash coins) and the shop wasn't reheated garbage with a couple of relevant upgrades stuck in if you're lucky. No one wants poison paint.

Patch notes sound good, but like I feared Im' really not feeling any reason to jump back until season 5 and I'm not really sure I'll "postgame" play it after that. Starting a new season and getting crap equipment is not enticing and it takes longer to know if a run will be good than it does with Isaac.

I don't know. But I already regret it, for buying asteroids 2.0. Really mad we don't have demos anymore like it was on xbla. I hate the controls, the frame rate, the ugly art work. There's some cool ideas but ugh...

It seems like it controls like asteroids, but it really doesn't, play around with it more. Trust me I absolutely hate Asteroids controls and this works pretty well. Try backing up more often.

I definitely don't think people should advertise it as a "shmup" or "roguelike" though. It's like just close enough to those to be completely misleading.

 

[Freezasaurus]

Hell yes. Time to start playing again. I was so bummed out the last time that happened that I just didn't want to boot up the game again.

It happened to me right before the season 4 boss. I actually had to let it kill me because I couldn't fight back. I was legit mad.

 

[BSpot]

Gosh I hope the US patch comes soon!

Also:

I see mention that the grappling "Stick" is addressed. Yesterday in Mech mode I had everything stop working. (maybe accidentally hit Juke and Transform at the same time.)

Anyway: No grapple, no fight, no transform, no shield. I could just fly around until I died.

Known? Fixed in this patch? Still to come?

 

[Zocano]

Totally agree with this post, I really didn't find Galak-Z to be very difficult. I've played through season 4 a few times now and have a lot more confidence to go nuts with offense and still succeed every time. I think there are a lot more difficult games out there right now that are still very popular.

I understand that some people may find this game difficult, but honestly as it stands right now I would like more difficulty from the game. Hopefully season 5 will kick it up to a level that will make the game super intense every time I play.

Oh, good, I don't have to be the first one to say I just want the game to be harder.

Honestly, my complaints of the difficulty would be fixed if "cautious" play wasn't rewarded as well as it does (even the final boss just becomes trivial). It's a bit too easy to get away from enemies and lose them. Again, I'll say, I would either love them to chase you faster OR (and I think this is the better solution as a whole) to add long range enemy types that serve to discourage just straight running away. Plus that's a good enemy type to throw in the mix and add another dimension to combat.

 

[BSpot]

jkooXL: Grapple that keeps coming out does not seem to be fixed.

[edit] Just re-read patch notes. Maybe it wasn't fixed yet.


[edit2] Actually I just transformed into a Mech again and now my Grapple doesn't work at all.

 

[Dan]

Whew, I did it. Beat season four. It's not super difficult overall, but you can get screwed by a single skirmish if you get flustered or something. I almost did myself in at one point when tossing an explosive box and it hit some little piece of debris right next to me.

By the final battle I was super decked out, I generally go after every enemy and scour space for more guys to raid for cash. 4 health, 4 shields, some boost upgrades, 4/5 laser upgrades, maxed missiles with various upgrades, etc. I play fairly slow and methodical.

 

[nib95]

Fuck. Had a crash after completing 3-3. Just a plain black screen. This is post latest patch. Annoying because I was doing really well and breezing through it...kick ass power ups, max health and high shields etc...

 

[Toki767]

Managed to beat Season 2. Getting the hang of the ship controls, but I feel like playing using the mech isn't as safe when the enemies have the bigger ships and mechs themselves.

 

[drotahorror]

Fuck. Had a crash after completing 3-3. Just a plain black screen. This is post latest patch. Annoying because I was doing really well and breezing through it...kick ass power ups, max health and high shields etc...

Are you sure you weren't breeding through it?

Spoiler

I saw that typo hah

 

[MattKeil]

This was my thought as well. You should be able to earn some measure of progress in terms of ship upgrades that isn't lost every time you die or begin a new season.

Definitely agree with this. It needs that feeling of "failed but took a step forward" that the Souls games provide.

 

[nib95]

Are you sure you weren't breeding through it?

Spoiler

I saw that typo hah

Lol!

 

[Tunavi]

I doubt I'll make it past season 1. Especially when I have games like Pink Sweets and Ketsui.

But...it clicks after...season 1

 

[nib95]

Side note, had my biggest single battle yet. Two big ass Raider mechs, multiple Raider medium ships, a few Raider mini ships, a purple giant mech, multiple purple striped large ships (the ones that also fire lock on missiles), and a few mini purple ships too. I kept circling around getting the mini groups to all follow me in to space, and they not only started killing each other, but attacking me too. Was carnage. Managed to kill them all without losing any health, and hitching was almost gone too thanks to the new patch. Massively improved.

 

[antitrop]

It seems like it controls like asteroids, but it really doesn't, play around with it more. Trust me I absolutely hate Asteroids controls and this works pretty well. Try backing up more often.

I definitely don't think people should advertise it as a "shmup" or "roguelike" though. It's like just close enough to those to be completely misleading.

I think it controls a lot like Luftrausers, with a different sense of gravity. It's about strafing runs and small corrections with the boost to carefully dodge incoming fire.

 

[No_Style]

Hitting mental wall on Season 4. Too confident and think I can take any enemy on in any situation but then I get rushed down and destroyed. Ugh. It's all on me too. Frustrating night.

 

[Freezasaurus]

Hitting mental wall on Season 4. Too confident and think I can take any enemy on in any situation but then I get rushed down and destroyed. Ugh. It's all on me too. Frustrating night.

Precision muzzle + plasma. If you can add huge blast on top of that, all the better.

 

[Shin Kojima]

Precision muzzle + plasma. If you can add huge blast on top of that, all the better.

I'd say both supercooled and static are better than plasma. They're also twice the price I think.

 

[Mdk7]

Got straight from 2-1 up to 3-5 (where i died at the boss) yesterday night, i'm having tons of fun with this game.
I love the tension, the pacing, and the fact that one second you feel super strong and confident, 10" later drama can kick in even in dealing with a couple of pretty average enemies.

 

[Freezasaurus]

I'd say both supercooled and static are better than plasma. They're also twice the price I think.

Elements all have their positives. I'm partial to plasma just because it was the first one I found way back in season one.

 

[BSpot]

I think I hit another issue. I made it to Season 3 and bugs with grappling caused me problems. I decided I wanted to start over so I started again on Season 1. 1-1 through 1-5 it always asked me at the top of the menu if I wanted to "Resume". I beat 1-5 and then I came back later in the day and booted it up and the menu just listed Season 1, Season 2, Season 3. So I chose Season 2. And the Crash greeted me asking if I wanted to use my crash coins and I had zero salvage. (Basically, it did not continue... :\)

[edit] Also-Also: While I'm here:

Pink is Lasers, Blue is Blueprints, Yellow is Salvage and Green is Ship Ability, yes? I have picked up 2 greens that I sword said Ship Ability that *just* gave me salvage. Intentional? Seems odd...

 

[Freezasaurus]

Whooooo! Just finished Season 4. Boss was pretty awesome. Much easier to fight since my controls didn't lock up this time.

 

[BSpot]

Yep. Just tried again. How is one supposed to start a new game if replaying old seasons doesn't progress the narrative with a "Resume" option from Season-to-Season?

I think this is a fantastic game but it's like every time I figure out a way I feel like I can play it despite it's hurdles, it throws up new hurdles. It's getting really frustrating.

 

[No_Style]

Beat Season 4. Was a lot easier when I finally got the extra shield. Didn't realize Season 5 wasn't released yet.

Anyways, the final map assembled weirdly for me. The giant metal door blocked the way in and I had to wedge myself through this small gap.

 

[ColonelSkills]

Oh boy, more game ending bugs.

So I figured I'd try again after having the game freeze repeatedly at boss two on release week. The recent patch seems to have fixed that, but now that I'm at season 4, I can't get past the main menu.

When it says "play" and "options", I can click "play" and get "you've unlocked a new season!"...despite my having a quicksave at 4-3. I can't dismiss the "unlocked a new season" message. Game requires a hard quit to menu. It does this 100 percent of the time.

I can click "options" and I get the options main menu, but I can't dismiss or interact with said menu. It just hard locks there and makes me have to quit through the PS4 menu. It also does this 100 percent of the time.

I can delete the save off the hard drive and then boot it and it's fine, but if I restore the save that got uploaded to the PS+ save cloud last night, this same behaviour exists.

I want to finish this but I'm not restarting from Season 1 to do it.

A shame, I want to like this game but it's been nothing but a technical disaster for me since day one.