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When I was at The MIX over at GDC earlier this year, I could play many new games that had either just been released or were coming this year. A few of them stuck in my mind, whether it be the gameplay mechanics, interesting story, or gorgeous visuals. Bloodless was one of these games, and it checked all three boxes. So, when I was asked about previewing the Next Fest demo early, I was all on board, and after chatting with the developers, I am even more confident that Bloodless will be a worthwhile investment.

While most fighting games are about pounding your opponent to a pulp, Bloodless takes the opposite approach. You are Tomoe, a ronin who has decided to no longer resort to brutalizing opponents and will instead use non-harmful ways to take down enemies. She will use her bare fists to stun, disarm, and freak out opponents so they cower away in fear. It's an interesting concept and one I took a liking to, especially when it comes to how it translates to gameplay.
Instead of having many different abilities you can combine and use however you like, Bloodless only has three: dodging, basic attack, and special attack. Dodging will be your main action, which is used to dash into enemies at specific times to disarm them, while the basic and special attacks are used to stun enemies to give you an opening and disarm. As you play through the game, enemies will get more difficult, and you will have to change your strategy a bit. However, with the ability to upgrade your three abilities in different ways, you can overcome them.

I love the decision made to stick to only three abilities that can be modified. The game's core mechanics don't evolve past them, making it very easy to learn how to play, but we will need to utilize them in different ways as the game progresses to take down more complex foes. I love this limited aspect over mastering many different gameplay or mechanics and seeing what you can make from them. It makes the game feel much more refined in the long run.
Then, we have the gorgeous visuals. The game is heavily inspired by other retro games with its pixelated visuals but uses the gorgeous limited color palette that I tend to love. White, black, and red take up the majority of the scene, but as you go through new lands, new shades of color will envelop the world around you. This can be different shades of orange, turquoise, or pink, but it never gets in the way or makes it feel like it's an extremely vibrant game, which I am all for.

Overall, Bloodless left a very good impression on me throughout the demo. It also runs perfectly on the Steam Deck, with being able to hit almost 90 FPS without a large battery drain, with some weird fluctuations here and there. I don't hold it against the team, since this is an early build meant for demo purposes, but it's a great step already. It feels like a perfect fit for portable play, so I highly recommend checking it out!
The Steam Next Fest will begin on June 10th, and until then, you can wishlist Bloodless now on Steam.
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