How Pankapu’s RPG-Inspired Switching System Works, Out September 19 on PS4

During the creation of your game, it’s impossible not to be inspired by what has been already made. As both As both passionate players and creators, we wanted to do what we liked — even if this meant creating a Frankenstein’s monster, a hybrid between two styles.

It is with this energy that we have created Pankapu, inspired by the games we grew up with.

Pankapu is a colorful action platformer in which you can freely switch between three “Aegis” — Warrior, Archer and Mage — each providing the player with specific powers and abilities.

At first glance, Pankapu’s switching system may seem similar to that of the game Trine, but ours is more inspired by the holy trinity of classes found in RPGs: Tank, DPS, and Support.

With a press of a pad trigger, the player can switch instantly between Aegises, which has an immediate impact on gameplay.

Bravery, the scarlet warrior, performs powerful melee attacks and blocks enemy hordes with his shield.

Ardor is our archer, fast but fragile. Its movement skills allow you to always stay away from enemies.

Our third Aegis, Faith, the mage, controls time and space. Its powers are used to stop time, immobilize enemies and teleport.

One boss, “Tokatanka,” perfectly illustrates the importance of the switching system in Pankapu. We placed Tokatanka in an enclosed environment, surrounded by magnets. So, when the boss spits fire, the player must use Bravery, the only Aegis attracted to magnets.

The visual of Tokatanka was based on the work of one of our Kickstarter backers.

Following this attack, flames remain on the ground while the boss charges at Pankapu, which forces the player to switch to Ardor to double-jump over Tokatanka.

As the flames stay on the ground, the player switches to Faith to hover to the non-inflamed area and thus to avoid damages.

Another mechanic that we wanted to integrate during this fight is the reversal of gravity. Again, magnets placed on the ceiling allow Bravery to dodge enormous blazing projectiles.

But Tokatanka isn’t dumb! He also spits projectiles in the air, forcing the player to change their Aegis to perform an aerial dance.

We are convinced that this switching system gives depth and personality to Pankapu and we hope to share our universe with as many of you as possible.

There are plenty of other uses of this switch system in Pankapu. You will be able to ride the wind, freeze lava, destroy walls… and many more specific actions against opponents with particular patterns. Mastery and dexterity will be the key.

See you in the world of dreams on September 19th!