Mecha Therion has three different types of weapons – Destroyer, Melee and Auxiliary. Destroyer weapons include the Hellwraith mini-gun, though you need to manage suit energy lest the damage drops off. The one Melee weapon is a blade that can kill enemies, destroy projectiles and debris, and even grant energy to the Destroyer weapons.

Auxiliary weapons deplete suit energy but provide other options like Blade Tempest for homing in on several targets. You can also equip up to three modules for different passive effects. Boosting forward allows for resisting damage, bursting through the environment and utilizing Critical Strikes with the Melee weapon.

Check out our interview with the developer here for more details on Valfaris: Mecha Therion. It’s also coming to Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5 and Nintendo Switch next year.

"The most important thing was to keep the feel of the world of Valfaris, and to keep it metal."

When you decided to develop a sequel to Valfaris, what was your approach to iterating upon the first game’s ideas versus doing something completely new? How does Valfaris: Mecha Therion strike that balance?

The most important thing was to keep the feel of the world of Valfaris, and to keep it metal. Other than that, there are certain things we wanted to carry over from the original game: Lots of different weapons to use, some kind of risk/reward system with the checkpoints, and a ton of blood.

Valfaris: Mecha Therion is taking more of a bullet hell approach as compared to its predecessor, with a constantly scrolling screen. What was the reasoning behind this decision? Is the idea to make the game more action-focused? Will platforming still have a role to play?

The reason is we really like old school shoot ’em-ups. Also, we just spent years making a platformer. We’ve had enough of platformers for now! Since it’s auto scrolling it will be more action-focused for sure, but there will still be secret areas to discover. There will be some navigating through obstacles, but no platforming this time around.

What can you tell us about the Mecha players will be using throughout the game? How does it change combat, in terms of difficulty, enemies, and abilities?

In many ways, Therion’s mecha suit just makes him a larger version of himself! He wields a gun and sword like before, but now he has an equipable auxiliary weapon too, which is usually something explosive.

"A lot of the main weapons are carried over from Valfaris, except they’re all on a much larger scale now. There are also plenty of new weapons too!"

With Valfaris: Mecha Therion having different kinds of weapons across multiple classes, can you talk to us about what players can expect from the weapons in terms of variety and how much they will differ from each other?

A lot of the main weapons are carried over from Valfaris, except they’re all on a much larger scale now. There are also plenty of new weapons too! I think that there’s plenty of variety in how the weapons work, and players will find that certain situations or bosses will be easier to beat with a particular weapon setup. You can always stubbornly stick to your favourite weapons though and power through!

How extensive is the progression system in the game where upgrades are concerned?

Killing enemies will automatically grant you blood metals (you don’t have to pick them up like in Valfaris), and these are used to upgrade your weapons. So you really want to kill as many enemies as possible!

You can also upgrade Therion’s mecha suit by installing Modules. These are items that can be found throughout the game, and equipping them grants specific powers. For example the “Revenge Burst” module will mean that you unleash a deadly shock-wave whenever you take damage.

With different kinds of weapons, upgrades, and loadouts, is Valfaris: Mecha Therion emphasizing player choice? Will different build varieties suit unique play styles?

I think any player will eventually find a weapon setup that they feel most comfortable with, and there will be enough different weapons / modules for some interesting combinations.

"I think it’ll probably end up being a bit shorter than Valfaris, but that’s only natural as shoot-em-ups are more intense and faster paced than platforms. I think the average player will take a few hours to get through it."

Roughly how long will an average playthrough of the game be?

I think it’ll probably end up being a bit shorter than Valfaris, but that’s only natural as shoot-em-ups are more intense and faster paced than platforms. I think the average player will take a few hours to get through it.

NOTE: This interview was conducted prior to the game’s launch.

"It’s supposed to be challenging, although hopefully not unfairly so. There’s no easy mode!"

Valfaris sports an absolutely beautiful eye-catching aesthetic. Can you talk us through the process of how you landed on that look for the game? Did you look at anything for inspiration?

[Valfaris artist and game designer] Andrew [Gilmour]’s process for creating this kind of look is a trade secret! I don’t think he looks for inspiration, but I believe his art has been influenced by games like Doom, Heretic and Diablo. And of course, there’re influences from heavy metal.

Action heavy shoot ’em ups like Valfaris generally tend to be gruellingly difficult experiences- can we expect something similar from Valfaris, or are you going for something more accessible?

It’s supposed to be challenging, although hopefully not unfairly so. There’s no easy mode!

What can you tell us about the variety of weapons in the game? I imagine the game’s setting opens doors to some pretty unique and crazy weaponry. 

A lot of the earlier weapons aren’t too out of the ordinary in terms of their functionality. We have something like a pistol, a shotgun, a flamethrower and a couple of machine gun like weapons. We have some pretty crazy ones that you’ll find later on though, like the Bishop’s Reach, which uses tendrils to latch onto enemies and absorb their lifeforce. Most of the weapons are hi-tech, but there are quite a few medieval fantasy style ones too. Some are a mix of both!

What can players expect from the game’s bosses, in terms of variety and the frequency of these set piece fights?

There are quite a few bosses, usually at least 2 per stage. They’re all pretty unique and you’ll probably need to pay attention to their attack patterns if you want to stay alive.

"There are quite a few bosses, usually at least 2 per stage."

Similarly, what can you tell us about enemy variety for regular, non-boss enemies?

There are new enemies in every stage, and I think there’s quite a lot of variety. They’re on foot, flying, crawling, hopping etc. Some attack with guns, some with magic, and some with their fangs and claws. No matter what they come at you with though, you can usually reduce them to a pile of gibs.

Do you have any plans to add any multiplayer to the game? Is co-op on the cards?

It’s not going to happen. It was designed as a single player game from the start, so it would too much of a fundamental change at this point. Maybe in the next game!

Valfaris obviously seems to differ from your previous game, Slain: Back From Hell, quite a bit, but what lessons have you taken from your work on that game and applied here?

I’ve gotten SO much better at coding since working on Slain. I was able to create some much more ambitious systems and mechanics this time. There are all sorts of inefficient things going on in Slain like over-the-top particle systems, enemies running their AI and collision happening far off-screen etc. Things are running much better in Valfaris, but I know my programming / design skills still have a long way to go! 

What resolution and frame rate does the Switch version run in docked and undocked modes?

It runs at 60 FPS in both modes, for the most part.  When things get a bit too intense the framerate may dip though! The screen resolution is 720p when docked. You probably wouldn’t notice any difference at higher resolutions than this though as it’s a pixel art game.

"There are new enemies in every stage, and I think there’s quite a lot of variety. They’re on foot, flying, crawling, hopping etc. Some attack with guns, some with magic, and some with their fangs and claws. No matter what they come at you with though, you can usually reduce them to a pile of gibs."

Backwards compatibility is a big feature PS5. How will it help your past library to evolve and grow?

It will be cool if people can play Slain, Valfaris and whatever the next game will be all on one console!

The PS5 was recently confirmed to have Haptic enabled controllers. How do you think that will help games to evolve?

You’ll be able to really feel it when you wade through a pile of body parts.