AXE from Troglobytes join us on the SIF Discord server to talk about their newly released game: HyperParasite. The game is a tough as nails rogue-lite set in the 80s. I hope you enjoy the HyperParasite interview!

Adam: Why don’t the devs and team from Troglobytes introduce themselves and tell us a little about Hyper Parasite!

AXE: We are a small indie dev team from Italy and Spain. HyperParasite is our flagship title, though some of us have been around the gamedev scene for something like 20 years. HyperParasite is a relentless twin-stick shooter/brawler with rogue-lite mechanics and basically it’s a love letter to the 80s. We were all born in the 80s, so we grew up with cheesy action movies, TV series and video games of that era.

Adam: So what is the premise of the game because I believe you are actually playing as the bad guy, correct?

AXE: Exactly, as the trailer goes: “Be the bad guy!”

You play as the titular alien parasite, which is able to snatch any host body on screen exploiting its own weapons, attacks and abilities. Apparently, your true purpose is the extinction of the humankind. I won’t spoil anything about the story, because we really want to see players’ faces when they’ll experience the game’s ending.

Adam: So you said the game is inspired by your love of the 80s. What aspects of that decade have you guys put into the game?

AXE: Well, we’d really like to think that the game feels and plays like an old game from an 80s arcade cabinet. A few reviews which started pouring in tell exactly that, so we’re really happy with everything from the aesthetics, to the soundtrack, to the various characters, resemble something from the 80s. Some of the character classes (there are 60 of them!) are clearly references from action movies, games, books, comics from that era.

Adam: Wow 60! That sounds crazy. How are the classes made up? Are they traditional classes we might know from RPGs or are they related to the people/victims you can take over?

AXE: They’re always taken from 80s icons, myths and cliches. So you’ll end up taking control of Wrestlers, Cops, Druglords, Robo Enforcers, Nam Veterans…you name it

Everything in HyperParasite is kinda ‘unconventional’ there’s even a hobo with a shopping cart you can control, and people seem to love this class.

Adam: So where did the idea for the game come from and how long have you guys been working on it?

AXE: We got an old arcade cabinet at the office, and one day we were playing a game called ‘Avenging Spirit’.

In that game, you play as some kind of ghost that can possess people. We were suddenly struck by the idea of creating a game with such mechanics, but we wanted it to be set in the 80s. We also decided to throw in some rogue-lite mechanics for good measure and that’s how Hyper Parasite came to be.

We’ve been working on it for the good part of the last 3 years.

Adam: That’s a great story! So what exactly are the rogue-like mechanics in the game

AXE: Technically speaking, HyperParasite is a rogue-lite, which is slightly different from a rogue-like. The main difference being that in a ‘pure’ rogue-like, there’s no permanent data between each subsequent run. So basically, if you die, you start all over from the beginning.

Rogue-lites, on the other hand, allow you to keep certain things between runs. HyperParasite falls in this category, since you can keep all the character classes you unlock in your runs, plus some other things like Collectible objects.

Adam: Cool so players should feel like they’re making some progress after each death? And I assume there’ll be many deaths. Does it worry you that some players might be put off by the difficulty?

AXE: Well, to be honest, HyperParasite is a tough nut to crack but it’s part of it’s own nature, being inspired by old classics and those game were difficult

We debated internally about difficulty level, but we ended up making the game as we originally envisioned, without watering it down. We’re well aware that some players (especially young people) will find it extremely difficult!

Squire of Twitch: I’ve played a few rogue-lite games recently and some have been rather fun (dead cells, streets of rogue and dandy ace) what’s different from your regular rogue-lite game?

AXE: We’re huge fans of modern roguelites, especially Dead Cells and Enter the Gungeon (which have also been a great inspiration for us). I’d say that what sets HyperParasite apart is its possession mechanic. In such games, you usually swap weapons, here you possess people and use their weapons, moves and special attacks.

Squire of Twitch: There have been a lot of rogue-lite games been released, are you worried that gamers may be burned out over too many RL games?

AXE: That’s an interesting question.

We started development back in 2017, and at the time there were way less rogue-likes/lites around. So we didn’t just “jump” on the rogue wagon, we really wanted to make such a game, because we thought that it was a perfect genre for our idea. The good thing is that we have this ‘original’ twist, and we think people will notice. Based off the initial reviews, they surely noticed.

Squire of Twitch: It’s an ever-changing market that we live in right now. I’ve been playing a few turn based games and I feel that I’m getting burned out with the genre that is over saturating every day. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy playing them, but to have a choice to play a different game everyday is something to cherish.

AXE: Absolutely. We too are not huge fans of trends but if a game stays true to its nature, we don’t mind. I mean, if people really want to make a rogue game (or any other genre), and they have something fresh to say, go for it, don’t think about trends!

K4rn4age: Is there any chance Hyper Parasite will get online co-op in the future?

AXE: True online co-op? Well it depends on you, the players

In the meantime, you can play through Steam’s Remote Play Together.

Adam: There are so many indie games coming out these days. How have you guys gone about spreading the good word of Hyper Parasite?

AXE: We’ve been marketing the game from day one, with all the means we could think of so devlogs, interviews, social media posting, etc. We also went to basically any gaming event out there, both in Spain and in other countries. This also helped us getting some precious feedback directly from players.

We were going to be part of Indie MEGABOOTH GDC 2020 official selection but then as you know, GDC has been postponed/cancelled.

BUT

This gave us another great opportunity, since Steam showcased all Indie MEGABOOTH games in its store front page for 5 days and we got a lot of visibility. I have to say, I got a feeling that we wouldn’t have had such a big visibility at GDC.

Adam: I saw Northernlion played the demo. Does an influencer/ youtuber help promote an indie game as much as everyone thinks it does?

AXE: Usually, the right influencer can do miracles for your game. However, nowadays, that’s kinda erratic. A lot of people are there to watch their favourite youtuber, not your game. So they just won’t buy.

We think that small streamers/youtubers are better because they have a more focused community.

Of course you need thousands of them (smaller Streamers). We always supported small streamers, with keys, giveaways, etc.

Adam: So what’s the plan after launch? You’ve been working on the game for three years and when your baby is out into the world, what are you guys gonna do?

AXE: Well, I’d like to say that we’ll take some vacation, but we’re quarantined at home. Truth is…we’re working on a new super-secret project! We’ve been sharing some GIFs and videos on our socials and Discord server. This time it’s not a rogue-thing.

Adam: So for the last five minutes do the devs want to share their links to the game and where people can go and buy it?

HyperParasite will be out tomorrow for Steam, DRM-free, Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4 and Xbox One You can already get it on:

Steam: https://bit.ly/HyperParasiteSteam …

Or pre-order on Xbox One: https://bit.ly/HPXB1 …and

Switch: https://bit.ly/HPNIN

And the Discord: https://discord.gg/Troglobytes

Thanks so much to AXE and the guys at Troglobytes for taking the time to come to the SIF Discord. What did you think of our HyperParasite interview? Are you picking up HyperParasite? If so let me know over on Twitter what you think of the game or come and join our Discord where we have a developer AMA every month!

If you want to see some gameplay of HyperParasite join me at https://www.twitch.tv/switchindiefix on Friday April 10th (tomorrow) at 7pm CET/ 6pm GMT/ 1pm ET. I’ll be playing the game and trying my best to unlock those 60 characters!

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