A Q&A with Proxy Blade's developer, Ben Grauer

Between an Indiegogo campaign and Steam Greenlight, Ben Grauer, the one-man team behind Proxy Blade, is busy working on the upcoming action game. However, he was able to spare a few minutes and answer some questions about his game.
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What inspired you to start a career as an indie developer?

Jon Blow? Maybe not (laugh). It was never a question of if, but a question of when. I never really asked myself why I make games. I just always did. I still have hundreds of notes and schemas for games since childhood. I just can't stop doing it, I am compelled to.

You’ve developed smaller projects including Fearless, Faceless, and IceWolf. Did these early projects influence Proxy Blade in any way?

Well, IceWolf certainly had a an influence, but mostly on the code side of things. Vampire x Knight (an older amateur demo of mine) too had a big impact on my design decisions. Proxy Blade is sort of a natural evolution from the few action demos I made in the past.

Proxy Blade has been developed over the course of two years. Has the project changed or evolved since its inception? How close is the current version to your original ideas?

I made a few important adjustments in early 2012, but in general all the big parts of the design were already put on paper as far as 2011. You'd be surprised how close it actually is. Actually, the design document goes quite a bit farther than what the current incarnation of the game is. It was a matter of picking which parts I could make by myself.

The game seems very polished already. How much of Proxy Blade is completed?

The entire game can be run end to end on hard mode (the only one existing right now), with the exception of the boss battles. I can speed-run it in under 3 hours, but I estimate the real run-time for a normal player to about 5~6 solid hours of gameplay. Of course, this is not considering the additional difficulty modes and other missing features.
What I have left to do are mostly the bosses, then the current tutorial needs a rewrite, there's still no save yet, and the menus need complete rework to look finished. Then, a lot of polishing and bug fixing left, don't underestimate those last steps.

Your Indiegogo page mentions Ninja Gaiden and Devil May Cry as inspirations for your game, games known for their difficulty and combo-heavy combat. How else have these games influenced Proxy Blade and what makes it unique?

In hindsight, apart from the basic concept of the genre, Proxy Blade was pretty much thought as it's own thing from the ground up. I also love fighting games, and I worked to somehow reproduce some of the feelings of great fighting game duels in Proxy Blade.
As such, attack and defence are both has important in the game. I wanted great looking back-and-forth fights between the player and his enemies, and I think the current balance is pretty good at that. It was also the occasion to solve some hold pet-peeves of mine such as bad cameras and repetitive dominant combos.

Super Meat Boy, Rogue Legacy, Volgarr, Electronic Super Joy...hard games are popular. Proxy Blade promises to offer gamers a challenge. Why do you think challenging gameplay is so appealing?

Because it makes things matter. The feeling when you finally kill Ornstein and Smough in Dark Souls is indescribable. Though, Proxy Blade is in a slightly different genre, I think I made the fights feel more fair than in some of those games.

The trailers for Proxy Blade have all been very gameplay focused. Do you have plans for a narrative?

Yes I do, it will be pretty simple (think Megaman 2 style of narration). Depending on the success of the fundraiser, I want to add more to it, there is a lot of room for it and there is no shortage of ideas.

What features would you most like to add to Proxy Blade?

Among the many more features I'd want, one would be a customizable skill slot system, adding a new sense of personalisation for the player by collecting and choosing what special techniques he wants to equip. Another would be new traversal skills and a revised environmental design to go with it. That would be a big undertaking too, but I'd sure as hell do it if I had the time.

You can read more about Proxy Blade here, help fund the game on Indiegogo, or vote for it on Greenlight.

The Watchlist: Bemuse

Title: Bemuse
Developer: Fluttermind
Platforms: IOS
Release N/A, work in progress
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No. These are Demons. These things will rip out your heart and feed on it just to watch the light in your eyes flicker out. These are beings that will mislead you and get you to do things that kill you. These are the most evil, tricksy, mercurial beings in existence. Most of them want you to die... while they applaud. Summoning a Demon is a potentially life-threatening event you need to take very seriously. You'll have to learn rituals to protect yourself, and hope that you've done enough to not have your spine removed through your nose. Think 'Hello Kitty meets The Exorcist' or 'Dark Souls with bunnies'.

 Fluttermind's Dene Carter is hard at work on his next game, the mysterious Bemuse. The game will combine roguelike elements such as procedural generation and permadetath with the core mechanic of summoning demons. Bemuse isn't combat focused, instead revolves the three ambitious gameplay principles. First is the world itself, rife with secrets and mystery such "scrawled symbols on trees that change with the phases of the moon, skulking creatures that come out at night to perform weird singsong rituals, brightly coloured clouds that wander across the world as if on the hunt and alter things they come into contact with, weather patterns, variable time-of-day, strange phases of the moon" and more.

The other mechanics are focused on Demons and the rituals that summon and control them. Dene best describes the concept of Bemuse's Demons in this quote:

Demons, hidden everywhere, to be combated by understanding and manipulating both them and the world they inhabit via arcane rituals you learn about throughout play. Some rituals are lies. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Demons will swallow your soul. Demons will try to trick you.

Little else is know about Bemuse, but I'll be on the lookout for any new information and will update the article when more news becomes available. You can follow the game's development of Fluttermind's site here.

IOS Spotlight #11: Incoboto

Title: Incoboto
Developer: Fluttermind
Platforms: iPhone, iPad
Price: $1.99 (iPhone), $3.99 (iPad)
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Puzzle platformers are not uncommon on IOS, so it takes something more, something unique for a game to stand out among its brethren and the daily flood of new games in general. Incoboto does just that, with its atmospheric art style, an enigmatic narrative that's equal parts bleak and witty, challenging puzzles, and smooth touch controls.

The suns have gone dark. Life has vanished, leaving nothing but The Corporation's many weird and mysterious machines across the galaxy. Yet Inco and the last sun Helios endure and embark on a journey across the galaxy to rekindle the suns and restore what was lost. The narrative is discovered through logs and signs dotting each planet, and what is incredible is how these logs can imply an entire story in only a few words. The Corporation signs add to the story as well, delivering cautionary warnings and corporate memos with dry witty GlaDOS-style humor (i.e."If you can complain, you can breathe. If you can breathe, you can't complain."). I'd recommend Incoboto for the story and atmosphere alone, but the gameplay is just as polished and engaging.

At its core, Incoboto is an Metroidvania-esque game with a dash of Super Mario Galaxy. Each system you travel to composes of a several planets, each with their own gravitational field. You find new equipment as you progress through the story, from the abilities to locate invisible objects and focus Helios' light to a grapple hook and jetpack. You may encounter out-of-reach areas only to return later with the means to access them. But Incoboto isn't about combat; the focus is on puzzles. Many times you'll encounter a new machine and through testing and discovery, you'll learn its function and how it interacts with other machines. From gravity beams to force fields to teleporters and more, the puzzles grow more complex and challenging and each offers those satisfying "aha" moments that only the best puzzles can.

I can't recommend Incoboto enough. It's not the longest game, but this is a case of (fantastic) quality over quantity. You can purchase Incobot for $3.99 on iPad or get the $1.99 Mini version for iPhone.

Quick Fix: Support indie devs and buy great games in the NotOnSteam Sale

Indie developer Flippfly has joined forces with dozens of other developers to bring us the NotOnSteam Sale to bring attention to the great indie games that are...well, not on Steam. For the next six days, over forty indie games will be on sale, from Tower of Guns and Aces Wild to Full Bore and One Finger Death Punch. You can buy these games and many more through the Humble Store, Desura, or developers' stores. Support these talented developers, buy cool games, vote on Greenlight, and discover the wonderful world of indies that exists beyond Steam.

PC Spotlight #17: Tower of Guns

Title: Tower of Guns
Developer: Terrible Posture Games
Platforms: PC
Price: $7.50 ($5.62 for a limited time)
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Some games can be neatly categorized into a genre. Others encompass so many elements that a single genre can't contain them. Tower of Guns is one of the latter. Mix a twitchy FPS, a roguelike, and some bullet hell in a steampunk blender and you'd get the wild frenetic Tower of Guns.

Pick your gun, pick your perk, and go. Skills and reflexes are your only allies once you enter the fast frantic world of Tower of Guns. Blowing away enemies drops health and weapons upgrades; getting hurt not only damages you but also reduces the level of your weapon. Evasion and quick aiming is key to survival.

And you'll need every extra weapon boost, mod, power up, item, and as much loot as you can acquire to survive the chaotic onslaught that awaits you within the titular Tower. Each playthrough offers randomized levels and enemies to blast away and the chaos only increases with each room. Dozens of bullets, ricocheting saw blades, cannon balls, hovering drones, rolling spiked balls, and more relentlessly attack en masse. Luckily with the right perks and power ups, you can be a triple jumping badass wielding a mine throwing shotgun who doesn't take fall damage. Enough to survive? Maybe...

Tower of Guns is still in alpha, just over 50% completed, but the current version is still very much worth a purchase. It's fast, frantic, and just wild fun. You can buy Tower of Guns here or vote for the game on Steam Greenlight.
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Special thanks to Flippfly for their NotOnSteam Sale and bringing attention to incredible indie games like Tower of Guns. 

The Watchlist: Proxy Blade

Title: Proxy Blade
Developer: DragonSix
Platforms: PC
Releasing 2014
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Proxy Blade is an action game with a deep combat system. You play as Fenrir: an advanced proxy blade prototype, fighting to protect humanity against a band of rogue machines. If you like games like Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, Bayonetta or even Kingdom Hearts on higher difficulties, chances are that you will enjoy the gameplay of Proxy Blade.

The success of games like Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden say one thing: that gamers enjoy challenging stylish combat, combat that requires you to hone your skills, to really master its mechanics and intricacies, to emerge victorious. Developed by one man over two years, the upcoming action game Proxy Blade promises to combine that style of slick combat with a stylized sci-fi aesthetic.

In your war against the machines that endanger mankind, players will utilize a wide range of attacks and abilities, from various attacks and parries to your boost glide. Evasion and awareness of your environment and each enemy's strength is critical to survive, and skilled players will be able to pull off fluid smooth combos of blade strikes, blocks, and evasive maneuvers. Boss fights and shielded enemies add more variety and challenge to the gameplay, testing your skills across different combat scenarios.

A beta is planned for late 2013/early 2014 and more funding will allow the developer to bring the game to other platforms besides PC. You can support Proxy Blade on Indiegogo and vote for the game on Steam Greenlight.

PC Spotlight #16: Full Bore

Title: Full Bore
Developer: Whole Hog Games
Platforms: PC, Linux
Price: $11.99 (on sale for $5)
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Nine months after a successful Kickstarter campaign, Whole Hog Games have released their puzzle adventure game Full Bore. It's a charming game that combines tricky block based puzzles with open world exploration and an interesting story.

You're just a lonely boar who finds himself trapped in the mysterious mining operation deep beneath the earth. Weird machinery and logs of anomalies hint at some unnatural happenings in the tunnels and bored out caverns and as your adventure progresses, the pieces slowly come together. The world of Full Bore is sprawling and expansive and quite pretty, stretching from dark lava filled depths to the sunny green surface; doorways found throughout the world lead to puzzle filled rooms and other areas. Puzzles revolve around pushing and manipulating blocks, each with their own properties and function, as well as exploring and digging your way to new areas. A wonderful lighting system gives each location its own atmosphere and ambiance.

Right now, purchasing Full Boar gives you the first half of the game, titled The First Dig, which offers about seven hours of puzzles and exploration. The second half will be added later in an update and will include even more diverse locations such as ancient trap filled temples, abandoned industrial ruins, and more of the surface wilderness. 

You can buy Full Bore from the developer's site here or on Desura and can vote for the game on Steam Greenlight.