First-Person Slasher Daimon Blades Announced, Out In Early Access This September

The game is run-based, letting you choose between multiple excursion lengths as you make tough calls between traveling deeper and extracting to save all of your loot. Speaking of loot, there are RPG mechanics as you level your character, collect resources, and craft offensive and defensive tools.

There aren’t any classes, but each weapon, like swords, axes, and hammers, has different skills. You can also find other unique implements, like alchemy abilities that let you use magic (for a cost). During our hands-off demonstration, one developer said that they wanted the game to have the depth of Action RPGs and the replayability of roguelikes.

However, perhaps the most unique thing about the game is that death is expected. Instead of receiving a Game Over when you die, biting it increases your corruption meter: when this bar fills, you lose for real. The footage I saw showed some fights that almost immediately went sideways, as the team fought through overwhelming hordes of daimons and tough mini-bosses by blocking and bashing, before being cut down and rising again. While there are plenty of four-player co-op roguelikes these days, it will be interesting to see how this one’s first-person swordplay ends up.