This is Niche Spotlight. In this column, we regularly introduce new games to our fans, so please leave feedback and let us know if there’s a game you want us to cover!

Today’s Spotlight is Boreal Blade, a new multiplayer melee combat game by Frozenbyte.

In Boreal Blade, teams of players engage in brutal melee combat with a variety of swords, spears, and other medieval weapons in arenas and environments inspired by Nordic mythology. The game’s combat system focuses on tactical brawls with directional attacks and blocks.

There’s three armor classes and four fighting styles with their own strengths and weaknesses, and players can also perform potentially risky maneuvers like throwing their weapons at an oncoming enemy. You can check out the launch trailer above.

Boreal Blade is available on the Switch for $19.99, and has a free demo. It will be coming to Windows PC via Steam later this year.

Here’s a rundown of the game:

Fight for a cause worth dying for

Boreal Blade is a team-based melee fighting game with a focus on player vs player combat, combining reactionary and tactical gameplay with extraordinary freedom to variate your attacks and develop your unique fighting style.

The game features four distinctive fighting styles with the possibility to choose between one-handed and two-handed weapons, a shield and a weapon combo, long thrusting pole weapons and fighting unarmed. Players can even throw items during battle! Three armour classes with their strengths and weaknesses are also included to guarantee a varied, ever-alterable fighting experience. Arm yourself and prepare to dive into the battle!

KEY FEATURES

• Reactionary and tactical gameplay: Complete freedom of attack and block direction performed with simple controls, allowing players to concentrate on their battle tactics and series of maneuvers and to control the flow of the battle. There are hundreds of ways to variate attacks and players have complete freedom to move the weapon and player character around, encouraging them to experiment and find the fighting style that suits them best.
• Four multiplayer game modes: Players can charge into combat together with their clan mate warriors in Team Deathmatch and Boreal Battle modes where two teams go up against each other. Boreal Claim mode consists of two teams who take turns attacking or defending a banner against the other team. In Deathmatch it is everyone for themselves – the first warrior to get 20 kills wins the match!
• Four different fighting styles: Hundreds of weapons, shields, pieces of armour and battle items for developing customized fighting styles and battle tactics.
• Detailed character creation and game world: Create your warrior and choose their equipment, accessories and weapons and customize their appearance with jewelry, facial hair and armour dyes. Explore the different fighting arenas across the Nordic mythology inspired, paintinglike Norvalg.

If you’re a developer and want your game showcased on Niche Spotlight, please contact us!