Annapurna Interactive, the publisher behind indie hits likeStrayandNeon White,held its annual digital showcase in late June, showing off a slate of exciting new titles coming to market. Among them, developer DinoGod’s forthcoming mech combat and farming simBounty Starstands out as a fresh spin on two seemingly disparate genres of gameplay. Theindie titlefollows a retired veteran, Clem, as she seeks to rehabilitate a homestead and come to terms with her troubled past in an exciting post-post-apocalyptic world.
Game Rant spoke to Ben Ruiz aboutBounty Star’s unique blend ofbase-building, farming, and mech combat ahead of the game’s early 2024 launch.The following transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.
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Please introduce yourself briefly, and describe Bounty Star for players who have yet to hear about the title.
I’m Ben Ruiz, and I’m the founder of Dinogod and creative director ofBounty Star.Bounty Staris a hybrid of 3rd person mech action andbusiness/farm building. Bounty hunters have to eat too.
What level of mech-customization will Bounty Star offer? The Steam listing cites a variety of weapon types and some defense options as well. Will players be able to change the look of their mech substantially?
Bounty Star’s level of customization was meant to make you feel like you have your own mech and that it is different from other’s mechs, but does not have the traditional complexities of legacy series likeArmored CoreorMechwarrior. Visually, we’ll have a fair amount of paint jobs for you to purchase and find inside the game world.
The mech combat footage seems frenetic and challenging, while the rest of the game seems very introspective and laid back. How do you make these two very different styles of gameplay complement each other rather than clash?
The two organically complement each other. you’re able to’t havean action game that is always in 5th gear, so returning from a bounty that goes pretty hard into a more domestic and relaxed gameplay space is just natural pacing.
Do you have any favorite builds or fun weapon combinations you would recommend to players who are familiar with farming, but new to the mech combat genre?
I can’t say what my favorite load-out is without spoilers! But I will say this—I designed all of these systems to be solid in a vacuum because I want a player who uses the same things over and over (or just loves a certain load-out) to still have a good time.
Off the battlefield, Clem will have to grow, harvest, and cook food. Apart from mech combat, does Bounty Star bring any new twists to farming mechanics?
I’m comfortable saying that it’s a blend of things we all know and love from farming games with some thematic twists specific to life in a post-post-apocalypticAmerican desert.
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Is Bounty Star designed to be played as a campaign, or is it more like a life-sim with potentially indefinite gameplay?
It is most certainly meant to be played as a narrative-driven campaign with an explicit beginning, middle, and end.
In the showcase, it was mentioned that local people who ‘play an important part’ in Clem’s life would visit her. Does Bounty Star feature a relationship system, or do these interactions play out in a more linear manner?
It’s more linear and narratively driven for sure. As much as I’d love to have a complex relationship system, we’re just a small team of five, sometimes six.
In the key art, Bounty Star has the subtitle, “the Morose Tale of Graveyard Clem.” We know that Clem is wrestling with her decisions as a soldier, but is the game a tragedy?
There is definitelya tragedy at the core of the character, but I would not consider the game or the larger story a tragedy.
The game is set in the American Southwest in a far future that is recovering from an apocalyptic event. What can you tell us about the broader world of Bounty Star?
The region the game takes place in is very heavily inspired by the 4 corners region of the United States, specifically Monument Valley. What happened to the world can be found out by the player if they wish to know, but imagine the family of deserts in the American Southwest were given the conditions and space to spread and spread. This is a real thing, by the way! It’s actually currently happening to the Gobi Desert of Mongolia and China.
The post-post-apocalyptic setting, Clem coming to terms with her past, and rehabilitating her homestead gas station suggests a narrative about healing. Was this an important theme for Dinogod?
Absolutely it is. Theclassic westernnarrative is about the struggle between those who use their guns for good and those that do not. Clem’s healing has everything to do with how she uses her gun to affect the world.
What games and other media influenced the look and feel of Bounty Star?
I would say the main influences areHarvest Moon, classicArmored Core, andDevil May Cry. But in all fairness, everything I ever do, including mundane things like eat, speak, and clean my house isinspired byDevil May Cry, haha!
Is there anything else you would like our readers to know?
What I feel most pleased about so far withBounty Staris thatit doesn’t fit neatly into any defined gameplayor aesthetic idea. It’s touching a lot of things we care about here at Dinogod and is a mix of generally unmixed ideas. I think players will appreciate its voice.
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Bounty Staris currently in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S with an expected release in early 2024.
