Die by the Blade Preview – One hit, one kill

Unless you’re old enough to remember the 1997 classic Bushido Blade, Kwalee’s Die by the Blade will likely seem like a unique new take on the fighting game genre. For those of you who aren’t old as shoji, like me, basically picture Mortal Kombat, but everyone has a sword and each bout builds up toward a one-hit-kill.

It’s no secret that this game draws from Bushido Blade, and it may even be fair to think of Die by the Blade as the game’s spiritual successor. The key difference is that this this is a samurai-punk evolution of Bushido Blade set in modern-day Japan, and so, so much better looking – come release, we’re expecting a whole swathe of customisation options, from different sword styles to outfits and skins, along with options for both local and online multiplayer.

Like many games in the genre, it’s a 1v1 fighter where you’re trying to land a hit on the upper, middle or lower section of the opponent. The trick is that as you try to land the hit, the opponent will try to block in kind. Blocking an attack will typically reduce your fighter’s resolve – the measure of how many incoming attacks can be deflected – but the key to success is that if you can match your block direction to the incoming attack, it will actually reduce the attacker’s resolve.

Whoever receives a hit when they are on low resolve ‘dies’… before being resurrected for the next round in the best of three format.

If that seems too easy, you’ll be pleased to know that by masterfully executing a combo, you can completely ignore the resolve bar and force through that one-hit-kill.

At WASD this weekend, I managed to test my hand against Tef’s (let the record state that I won). This was the first playable demo, with just two characters and swords available. While there is a lot of potential to admire — especially given the miniscule size of the team putting out something that looks almost AAA — there’s still a lot to be tightened up.

Case in point, the game telegraphs what the opponent is doing far too heavily right now using a garish white stance indicator overlaid on each player that completely detracts from what’s going on behind it. It’s like a sterogram — if you unfocus your eyes so you can only see one layer of the screen, you can basically solve the game in seconds. At that point though, you’re just playing a game of rock, paper, scissors.

This was still an early build, so we can’t judge too harshly just yet, and hopefully Kwalee see this kind of feedback and adjust to allow for more nuance and skill-based play. With a bit of polish to make the game systems a bit more elegant, we could have a real contender in the ring. I, for one, haven’t been this excited for a fighting game since Killer Instinct.

Die by the Blade is coming out for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch and PC later this year.

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• Source: https://www.thesixthaxis.com/2022/04/14/die-by-the-blade-preview-one-hit-one-kill/