Ex Sanguis

After burning through Othercide last winter, and signing up for Ex Sanguis's playtests, I'm happy to say Ex Sanguis is shaping up to be a good iteration (crucially, not a sequel) of what the devs established in Othercide. Firstly and least suprisingly, they nailed the style and vibes in Ex Sanguis. Its striking aesthetics are matched well with the combat music to drive home the brutal tension of a mission slowly spiraling out of control. Unlike Othercide, which very much felt like "let's put everything we think is cool into the character and class designs, Ex Sanguis feels far more like their own unique and cohesive vision. Since its early access, I'll cut them some slack for the lack of visual customization at launch. Secondly, where the game differs most from Othercide is the player's relation with vitality and death. In Othercide, you were made to navigate unit permadeath and your non-standard attacking skills costing your health, where the simplest tactical failures could doom both the mission and the likelihood you'd finish the chapter you're in. You could use resources for more units, but until you collect more bonuses to persist between runs, their effectiveness waned the further you went. Ex Sanguis's combat can be similarly punishing, but your skills no longer cost health and unit death is never permanent. Rather than suffer any pyrrhic victories, mission success grants roguelike upgrades for each unit, resources required to challenge a boss, and resources that carry over between runs. The resulting changes encourages continuing play even when you don't have enough reach the boss. Where I think this loop may disappoint or lose players is the disparity in unit strength, and how skill/strategy complexity is gated behind the between-run skill tree. A fresh save leaves you with fairly weak melee units and not much to manage outside of bleed and time effects. Othercide took time to get rolling, too, but asking players to get used to death and continuing despite suboptimal play could lead to a player thinking the game is both ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ *and* boring. Altogether, I'm excited for the game's future. It has the same "want to keep playing despite getting my ass beat" feeling of Othercide, and for that alone I'll stick with it.

Very simple in terms of "upfront" customization, but the loop is quite addictive and I find myself yearning for just one more round

日本語ください 女子三人組で血を集めるTRPG マップを選んで敵を倒して血を集めてボスと戦ったりステータスを上げたりスキルを取ったり 三人のスキルにシナジーがあったり敵キャラを突き飛ばしてダメージが増えたり やり込めば奥が深そう でも英語だからスキルの効果がよくわからない 開発も熱心でユーザーの声を聞いてアップデートしている印象 最低スペックぎりぎり届かないくらいのPCだが設定低くすれば動く

After Othercide, this is like coming back home.

I felt so badass when I beat my first level! The mood is peak and the music is so good (I need to get it!). I've lost a couple of time trying to brute force my objectives but I think I got it now. So far what I've seen is very promising for an early access and I accept the flaws within an indie game when it offers me something so stylish to play with. And yes, and I think I've found inspirations for my next cosplay!

Returning Othercide player here. Love the choice we're given by choosing our path forward, and every run gives me just the right amount of progress that it's super hard to put this down.

increíble diseño de personajes, ambiente y mecánica

A pretty good follow up on Othercide with a more roguelike twist