Last Tuesday, independent developer Tribute Games released their latest title Panzer Paladin, after 15 months of development. Panzer Paladin is a side-scrolling action-platformer, ala the Mega Man or Blaster Master. With the genre being as popular as ever, Marooner’s Rock reached out to Tribute Games for an interview, we got to chat with Simon Graveline, Lead Level Designer at Tribute Games, to discuss their latest creation.
For those that don’t know about Panzer Paladin, what could you tell our readers about the game? What was the concept that brought this game to life?
Simon Graveline: It’s an idea that Jonathan (Lavigne) our creative director has been brewing for a few years now and were finally able to start developing it a little over a year ago. His goal was to combine mechanics from classic games; mostly player abilities like the sword attacks and overall moveset, the possibility to play levels in any order you want and the general scope of the game that can be completed in a few hours, possibly in one sitting if you are a master… Mixed with an inspiring Mech combat theme similar to Grendizer and Mazinger Z and “moderner” mechanics like weapon crafting (the Blacksmith) and a speedrun mode.
While going along with the second part of the question above. Were there any games you all grew up with or played that really got you into making this style of game?
SG: A good part of us are around the same age group, meaning that we grew up playing the same games in the 8 and 16 bits era; titles such as Castlevania, Mega Man and Zelda, but also less obvious ones like Shatterhand and Blaster Master. This made the conversations around the game really easy because we all had the same sets of references.
With many games in this genre, what makes this game stand out from others?
SG: That’s a tricky question. One of the things that we affectionate at Tribute is the idea of taking classic games and adding a modern touch to them. That’s our magic. When you play Panzer Paladin you definitely feel its roots, but you also feel that the “new stuff” fits perfectly. I think that a lot of games are either looking retro or playing retro, ours do both while having enough new twists to please player’s that didn’t necessarily grew up in the 80’s and 90’s. So yeah, a good mix of all of this is what I believe makes it stand out of the pack.
Why the name Panzer Paladin?
SG: You know what?! I never really asked about the origin of the game’s title. I guess it’s in part to evoke the relationship between the knight and his steed.
During past PAX events, what has been the most memorable thing to happen during any of the shows?
SG: From what I witnessed, it’s not “one thing” per se, but the fact that a lot of people playing the game were completing the demo, often playing it more than once and even coming back later to give it another try. Events like PAX are huge with so many games that you barely have the chance to get your hands on all of them, so we felt really blessed to see so many people were investing so much time in Panzer Paladin. On top of that, our booth was always busy so the weekend flew by really fast.
How long has this game been a work in progress? Where there any hurdles to get overcome with its creation?
SG: From start to finish, we are talking about around fifteen-ish months. Overall, the production was somewhat smooth. There were a lot of things to do in a short amount of time, but I can’t think of anything that could be called a “hurdle”. I’d called them… challenges, maybe? A good part of the art and audio team members were working outside the studio. We had to adapt to that and also, the development was completed during the lockdown, so we ended-up all working remotely and needed to discipline ourselves while working from home. Overall, again, lots of things to do, not much time, but we made it!!
Do you expect to have some possible DLC in the future towards the game?
SG: For that type of thing, it’s never a definite “yes” or “no”. We let things go and see where that brings us.
If you could pick one thing you’d love to add to Panzer Paladin, but sadly can’t. What would it be?
SG: Hard to say to be honest. We didn’t cut any of the features that we wanted and managed to deliver everything that was envisioned. So to answer, nothing really.
Do you have possible plans for other formats in the future?
SG: Also for that type of thing, it’s never a definite “yes” or “no”… Haha!!
Some games include hard modes or even means of speedrunning games. I often watch AGDQ. Do you expect some people to speedrun the game? Who am I asking! (Little joke because we both know it’ll happen, go ahead and answer the question before this if you want.) Will you be excited to see the game most likely have a speedrun at some point and time?
SG: The game screams “speedrun”, so I hope speedrunners will hear it and answer the call. Yes, the game does include a harder mode, a speed run mode and a Remix mode. A lot of things to keep players engaged.
What do you hope people most enjoy when they finally get to play the game when it launches?
SG: I hope they’ll appreciate the craftsmanship that goes behind making a game like Panzer Paladin. We’ve put a lot of heart into it and hope players will feel that.
For those looking to find out more information on the game and Tribute Games. Where can our readers find you?
SG: Our website www.tributegames.com, we are really active on Twitter @TributeGames and you can join our community on our Discord server; Tribute Games.
Panzer Paladin is available now on PC via Steam and the Nintendo Switch eShop for $19.99 MSRP.
