Delta-Gal, an Indie Game Inspired By Mega Man Legends

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But as the craft develops, imitation can also become the sincerest form of learning and further develops into inspiration. What started off as an incredible fondness to replicate the art and graphic style of Capcom’s Mega Man Legends games from the original PlayStation has now spawned a game development project called Delta-Gal. Spiritual successors to beloved but otherwise dead series’ are looking to be a trend lately.

Delta-Gal is a 3rd-person action RPG that is being developed by Twitter user @ArthurVyater. For long-standing Mega Man fans, the visual style invokes a very Mega Man Legends feel. From the static cel-shading, the sharp and blocky character models, the bright colors, and even the town and vehicle designs. This game just screams Mega Man Legends. Which, to be honest, is enough to get most people excited enough to look into it.

Not only does the homage reflect in the visuals but also in the presentation. From the way that the vehicles drive around town without any actual destination to the NPC walk cycles. Even down to the way the camera shifts into a first-person perspective when talking to said NPCs. Hell, you even buy upgrades into a junkshop (named Gear Shop in Delta-Gal). I'm sure most people would be satisfied if this game played similarly to the Mega Man Legends series.

What's refreshing are the new ideas that the developer has incorporated into their demo build so far. First off, this game controls a lot more like a modern 3rd-person title with smooth movement and active camera controls. Gone are the stiffness of Megaman Volnutt's digital movement and shoulder button camera rotation. Relics from a bygone era. .The next and most notable difference is your character's ability to dash. While being able to dash isn't exactly new to the Mega Man series, we haven't really seen it used creatively outside of a 2D plane. What's more interesting about Delta-Gal's dash are all of the other mobility options associated with it. Such as the ability to sprint after dashing forward, performing a divekick in mid-air, using said divekick to bounce off of walls, etc. All of these movement options open up the potential to perform tricks around your enemies that make it seem more like a character-action game than a jump-and-shoot gal.

Another surprise was how packed the demo was. I was honestly expecting something along the lines of a simple engine test where you run around the environment and simply bask in gorgeous visuals. Instead, you get to explore a few different areas and eventually unlock a fully-fledged dungeon complete with a final boss. And if you look hard enough along the way, you can even find a few hidden chests that house a new weapon or currency. To which you can spend to get even more weapons and power-ups. The demo is still short enough to be beaten in about 30 minutes to an hour, but it has enough going on to keep you enamored until the end.

You can follow the game's updates and developer antics on Arthur's Twitter account, as well as a link to download the public demo that I played here. You can also visit their Ko-Fi account if you'd like to support their projects.

Came across this little gem while diving down the Twitters. A gorgeous homage to the Megaman Legends series that incorporates some new and really cool ideas ...

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