“I’ve recognized quite a lot of actual badass powerful women, so it’s an homage to them,” Ruiz elaborates in regards to the inspirations and narrative drive behind the sport. “That’s the place the bottom gameplay in Bounty Star comes from, which is what it truly appears like for those who’re dwelling that life, particularly out within the desert the place it’s loads tougher than it will be in a metropolis setting.”
A neo-Western that takes benefit of its southwestern-inspired setting and archetypes, Bounty Star is poised to go deeper than different mech motion titles. And based mostly on the hands-on demo we received to play of the sport, the fight feels clean and intuitive whereas Clem’s base and its progress displays her arc, one thing that moreover units Bounty Star from its contemporaries.
Ever because it was introduced at Summer time Game Fest 2024, Mixtape has been garnering quite a lot of buzz among the many indie titles linked to the occasion, and the hype has solely grown one yr later. An early construct demo accessible on the occasion provided gamers a greater concept of what to anticipate from the sport, from its atmospheric soundtrack together with classics from The Smashing Pumpkins and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Set within the final magical moments of highschool, the sport has three associates embark on an journey of youthful reckless abandon of their lush city, a slice-of-life focus that the event group liked diving into.
“It’s so pleasing to work on as a result of you may go into every little vignette so contemporary,” declares Beethoven & Dinosaur technical director Roman Maksymyschyn. “I’m not simply making a person swing a sword for 40 hours. Each time we get to make one thing new, you go in with contemporary eyes and really feel impressed to make one thing new and funky.”
Growth partially drew from the group’s personal life experiences to create this memorable, pop music-infused evening in town – full with downhill skateboarding, evading the police, and customarily having fun with the freewheeling potential of youth in its twilight moments. Extra than simply gorgeously rendered visually and matched with participating and immersive gameplay, these emotional moments are superbly punctuated by the sport’s soundtrack. This element was one thing that Beethoven & Dinosaur have been eager to ship on with Mixtape early on in its growth.
“A giant a part of that’s that everybody on the group simply actually loves music, so it very a lot is a music-first form of sport,” Maksymyschyn says. “Even the soundtrack was largely constructed first and the story and sport have been constructed round that. Having the ability to use all of the creative notes, for technical people who find themselves additionally keen on music, it needed to actually be in sync. We have been capable of execute one thing fairly distinctive.”