Grindhouse and developers Triple Hill Interactive and Toko Midori Games have announced the Kickstarter for Die by the Blade has been funded.

Seeking $20,000 USD, the project currently sits at $22,037 USD at this time of writing; with 11 days remaining. The game is a 1v1 fighting game, with one hit kills inspired by Bushido Blade. The game is coming to Windows PC (via Steam and unannounced consoles in 2021.

Fighting styles are tied to a variety of traditional Japanese weapons; with an emphasis on parrying, countering, and blocking. Players choose characters they can customize inspired by a “Samuraipunk” artstyle mixing techpunk and Japanese-inspired aesthetics.

One stretch goal has been revealed with the reached Kickstarter goal; ranged weapons at $40,000 USD. Each character will have a ranged weapon, which they can only use once per round. Arrows and other projectiles can be blocked with a well timed parry of your sword.

Backer rewards include access to an exclusive forum, three posters signed by artist Tomas Duchek, a digital copy or copies of the game, the backer’s name immortalized on the game’s website, in-game weapons and customization clothing, digital soundtrack with special thank you message from the developers, digital concept art book, and digital poster.

Higher tiers include a digital model of the character Geiko- Butterfly for 3D printing, a ring tone based on the game’s music, digital comic book, special taunt, backer’s name in the credits, a digital scan of a real blade crafted by Pavel Bolf (along with the same blade in-game), submitting a design for an in-game tattoo, and designing a banner and naming a clan.

Further tiers include a “handmade genuine leather samurai demon mask of the Oni with wooden horns and hand-painted,” a hand-made silver ring with a Damascus steel plate engraved with the “sign of your favorite virtue from the code of Bushido,” a 3D print and hand-painted character of the backer’s choice, and hand-made historic replica of a Japanese knife by Pavel Bolf.

Finally, it was also announced those who back the game before November 4th will receive a cyber-punk inspired dpuble-handed Naginata.

You can find the full rundown (via Steam) below.

Die by the blade is a 1v1 action fighting game in which you fight for your life against your enemies with various melee weapons. It draws it’s inspiration from legendary games like Bushido Blade, Way of the Samurai and Dark Souls. One hit kill system and emphasis on parry and counters will leave no space for any mistakes. Become master swordsman and fight to the death with other players in multiplayer or slash through tough AI enemies in singleplayer mode.

KEY FEATURES

• 1 versus 1 Local, online and singleplayer swordfighting simulation with realistic combat system inspired by legendary Bushido Blade
• One hit kill mechanic and complex parrying and blocking system
• Fighting style not tied to selected character, but weapon
• Many unique characters to choose from
• Wide range of customization options
• Various game modes including Practice, Tournament and Ranked online mode
• Unique “Samuraipunk” artstyle merging techpunk and japanese-inspired aesthetics

DIFFERENT THAN THE USUAL FIGHTING GAMES

Die by the Blade does not use the concept of healthpoints and healthbar. Just as in real life, any hit delivered is painful. The game is built on a realistic battle system which emphasizes weapon positioning for defending yourself. A clean hit to the any vital area will result in an instant death. This system will help you to absorb your mistakes and give you a chance to mount a comeback needed for victory.
Since every fight in Die by the Blade has different feel and difficulty, you can choose how many lives will be part of the round and then you can easily adapt to the difficulty of each fight for yourself. One to three lives result in high tension fights which might be sometimes based on luck and one random win can affect the whole result of the match. Five to seven lives fights are a bit more relaxed.

IT REALLY DEPENDS ON THE WEAPON YOU CHOOSE

Fighting styles are depending on weapon choice. To differentiate between other fighting games, where every character has their own move set and one fixed weapon, Die by the Blade allows any character to use any weapon. You can choose from various weapons, which define the moveset for the character. The type of weapon will impact the „reach“ – the potential of range attacks and their speed, so weapons with higher reach will have slower mobility and viceversa.

Table of weapons:
Katana – Medium long sword, the golden mean.
Nodachi – Heavy and long sword for meant for servants of samuraii. Its advantage is it’s large range and short recovery when compared to the Naginata.
Naginata – Relatively long weapon with a blade attached to the end of a bamboo stick. Has a very large range but the weight of the blade slows down the fighter significantly.
Wakizashi – Two short daggers meant for cutting and stabbing. Thanks to their low weight, they allow for very fast movement but have a very low range.
Jari – Jari is a bamboo spear with a short and narrow blade. It is lighter than the Naginata, but the smaller blade makes close combat far more difficult.
Chokuto – Short sword without a guard is a bit lighter than the katana. It allows for stances and attacks with one hand.

PICK AND CUSTOMIZE YOUR FIGHTER

Before entering the arena, you can pick one of our ten playable characters to fight with. Every one of them has it’s own unique background story, so choose the one who you identify with the most and use our wide range of customization options.

Our goal is to create a good balance between traditional and modern world art direction. A blend of medieval backgrounds or characters with Sengoku design and current, postmodern world. With similar motivations, we are connecting with the old Bushido Blade games atmosphere and blending it with a modern take.

Image: Steam