Galak-Z Reviews
If you see this game on sale you should absolutely pick it up, trust me it'll be worth it.
Hopefully the highly hinted at sequel will shore up some of GALAK-Z's weaknesses - namely lack of narrative closure and an unrefined difficulty curve - and I'll be able to more wholeheartedly recommended it.
... the quite solid and engaging story line, the brilliant art-style and voice-over, or the sheer thrill of pulling of an insane maenuver such as grappling one enemy and throwing him into a pressure pipe launching him into a stack of floating gas canisters only for his squad to be flanking for an attack on myself as a chain reaction of explosions and organic spike-bomb plants takes the whole lot out…
Galak-Z features some fantastic gameplay in a beautiful package.
With your shields down and only one bar of health remaining, Galak-Z really puts you on the edge of your seat as you frantically engage your thrusters to try and escape the next enemy attack
While it does occasionally get repetitive, the solid play mechanics and constantly evolving challenge is just reward for those that persevere with it. Plus (and this can't be stressed enough)... it has a ship that transforms into a giant mech.
Galak-Z is clearly designed for players who enjoy a challenge, and it offers an impressive mix of frantic combat, long-term planning, tactical planning and anime-inspired looks that will appeal to a lot of fans of the rogue-like genre.
Let's be clear, I would not be playing this game if there was not the chance that I could not pilot a giant fighting robot. Spaceships are cool and all, but they don't have beam sabers.
Galak-Z makes a fine addition to the indie library of the PS4, showing that old arcade gaming paradigms can be revitalized with fresh mechanics and a modern retro feel. Owners of the console who are also fans of shoot-em-ups owe it to themselves to try it out. PC gamers shouldn't feel left out, as they'll also be able to get in on the action later this year.
Like the cartoons that inspired it, there are big ideas displayed within Galak-Z, ideas that are exciting and worthy of deeper exploration. Also like those cartoons, the resulting product feels rushed and indistinct.
Galak-Z is a fun game with cool ideas at its core, and I really enjoyed playing through the first couple of Seasons. However, a severe lack of variety -- combined with very little sense of consistent progression -- serves to hold it back from greatness.
It is good for short commutes to and from work and the Nintendo Switch IS both a living room console and a handheld portable. Maybe it will grow on me. But for now, it just leaves me in the Void.
If you can ride out the learning curve, there's plenty to enjoy in Galak-Z, and it could very well last you for 20 hours, but be prepared to endure a lot of frustration along the way.
Galak-Z is the very definition of awesome. Playing it makes me feel like the badass intergalactic pilot I always dreamed of being as a kid, and I love it even more because it makes me work for that ecstasy.
For fans, by fans
Unorthodox fun for hardened players
Galak-Z is a fun take on the rouge like, and as punishing as they come. Maybe you like that, maybe you don't. Stick with in and Galak-Z will reward you, but it sure isn't going to make it easy.
There are moments of absolute joy to be found here, like leading a group of foes into the lair of a beast that will devour them or even juking over an enemy combatant and firing a missile up their exhaust, but they're rare instances, buried deep in the heart of a frustrating grind that doesn't do much to separate itself from the legion of rogue-likes out there. Sadly, in the end Galak-Z is yet another would-be great game undone by a ho-hum execution of ideas that must have sounded great on paper.
Galak-Z pushes the freewheeling buoyancy of 80's anime against a hostile ecosystem of evil empires, insane pirates, and skeevy space bugs. Beneath this veneer of chaos is a shifting alliance of applied skill and honest luck, and muscling toward the former forces the player to fight every fight like it's their last. As roguelikes go, Galak-Z's tireless air of optimism makes a case for its own dimension.
I'm sure more casual players will still be deterred from taking the plunge, but any fan of roguelikes need not look any longer for their next fix. Galak-Z has style, and it's got it in spades.