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Half Sword - Die By The Sword spiritual successor

udm

Arcane
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Make the Codex Great Again!


This game randomly popped up on my Youtube feed a few days ago while I was watching videos of We Who Are About To Die, so I checked it out and even though it looks really barebones and rough around the edges, it was interesting enough that I decided to give the demo a try. I'm a huge fan of DBTS (it ranks up there as one of my favourite games, especially when using HazardX's Xtended patch), so naturally if there's a non-VR game like it, it would pique my interest.

Some videos:



There's a demo on the Steam page which I gave a whirl, clocking in about an hour and a half of playtime. Despite being in the very early stages of production, it's surprisingly not bad and I'd say it's got good potential. You get weapons like the sickle, scythe, hammer, and spear to screw around with. Here's a short summary of how it's like:
  • You use weapons simply by holding LMB/RMB and moving it the mouse around. You can dual wield or use weapons one-handed, which adds more power and accuracy to your swings. It's very DBTS-like especially if you have experience with its VSIM mouse controls.
  • Because of that, there's no dedicated block button. You have to block based on your and the opponent's weapon attack trajectory.
  • Thus, if your opponent actually hits you with force with a heavy weapon (eg a metal candelabra) while you're holding a knife, it'll be almost impossible to parry.
  • Yeah you can use objects like candelabra and stools as makeshift weapons. It's pretty cool because something as seemingly useless as the candelabra can help you to force enemies back.
  • Combat is meaty. Dismemberment and disembowelment are a thing. You can die in 2-3 hits.
  • It's a bit hard to control atm because of how "swingy" hands can get, but the devs have said they're definitely going to make combat less like swinging a lightsaber. Perhaps more weight will be added to weapons?
  • But that said, no weapon outrightly dominates, at least from what I've played. Spears for instance are very powerful but if the opponent manages to get past the spearhead, you need to quickly whip out a secondary weapon. Knives and sickles are very fast killing tools, but you have to get close to an opponent to deal the killing strike.
It's been a while since we last had a DBTS-clone IMO (the last one was Determinance by Mode 7 Games but for whatever reason they treat it as if it doesn't exist). I guess Exanima counts? But I haven't played it (only wishlisted). Got my fingers crossed that this will be the one to fill the void left by DBTS.
 

Morpheus Kitami

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May 14, 2020
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Interesting, does it feel less janky than DbtS? While I liked the game in theory, it felt very waggly when I played it and the platforming was a textbook example of why people shouldn't blindly copy what Tomb Raider was doing without understanding why they did it.
 

udm

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Make the Codex Great Again!
Interesting, does it feel less janky than DbtS? While I liked the game in theory, it felt very waggly when I played it and the platforming was a textbook example of why people shouldn't blindly copy what Tomb Raider was doing without understanding why they did it.
In general it's easier to hit stuff here, but arm movement here can be janky depending on the type of weapon you're using. Polearms and weightier weapons are more unpredictable as they have more momentum behind each swing, while precision is better with hilt weapons like swords or axes. Of course, the downside to hilt weapons is they have shorter range.
 

Alienman

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Codex Year of the Donut Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
If only Kingdom Come had that kind of fighting :)

Very fun, I hope it turns into something more than just a demo.
 

Lagole Gon

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Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut Pathfinder: Wrath
I've discovered a 1337 haxx to store large weapons.
There's a drawback though. It might kill you if you run forward.

20231209194621_1.jpg
 

Tyranicon

A Memory of Eternity
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Oct 7, 2019
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7,788
Spent a few hours on the demo. Probably the best medieval physics-based dueling simulator that I've played so far.

Hope it comes out eventually.
 

NecroLord

Dumbfuck!
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Pretty funny though.
It's like watching some history autists duking it out with their swords...
 

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

Filthy Kalinite
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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Bubbles In Memoria
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2397300/view/4442333105001333411
Blood update is here!
Now
Hello Half Sworders,

Soon has finally come! And with it we bring you the first major update for the Half Sword Playtest!
This update has more small and big changes than we can remember but here is a rough list:

COMBAT SYSTEM

  • Added Kicking! (Space Bar)
  • Tweaked Parrying! Now you have more control over it
  • Nerfed blunt damage and boosted armor defense against it
  • Improved grip switching! Now you will not do One Punch Man punch every time you grab your weapon... not every time...


GAME

  • Added practice dummy! Perfect for sharpening your skills before you face human opponents (when ingame, hold the G key to skip this part).
  • Tweaked physics, as we always do.


SOUND

  • Added new juicy slashing and crushing sounds!


and as the pinnacle of this update...

BLOOD AND GORE

  • Added new blood particles (WIP)
  • Added new blood effects including blood running down from the wounds
  • Blood pooling is back!
  • Armor and clothing damage!
  • Bruises!
  • Internal organs!
  • And finally.. first time since 2013 (might be untrue)... DYNAMIC SLICING!!!


Yes Yes! You can split em wide open wherever you slice ! And As many times as you want!
Please note: this is very WIP!!!!


This system is still very much work in progress and is not stable yet. You WILL encounter lots of bugs with it.. duplicated bodies, slices not appearing, etc...
We are actively working on this system to bring the best slicing since Metal Gear Rising to our game and we promise that eventually, it will work properly :)

We will be adding gore and blood settings soon - now you are free to enjoy a default brutality :)

We are aware of numerous bugs and issues you may experience in this update and we will be releasing fixes for them constantly in nearest future...
If you encounter any... abnormalities... please report them on our official Discord - you can find the link in-game.

Thanks for your continued support!

LOWER THE GATES!


edit.
 
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