Half Sword

Interesting mechanics and a surprisingly deep physics-based combat system. The gameplay has a sort of ragdoll feel to it, but there is a lot more going on underneath. Your character’s muscle, body weight, weapon weight, reach, leverage, and momentum all seem to matter when you swing, block, shove, or grapple with someone. What I really like is that you can discover completely different ways to use weapons. A long weapon can keep enemies at a distance, but sometimes getting right up against someone and using the weapon for leverage works better. Against armored opponents, you quickly learn that simply swinging harder isn't always the answer. You can knock people over, use blunt force against armor, half-sword a greatsword to get more control, or use spikes to find gaps in plate armor. The physics allow strategies that feel like something you figured out rather than something the game explicitly told you to do. The armor system is also more detailed than I expected. Different layers and pieces interact with each other, and you gradually go from looking like someone who picked up farming equipment to walking around covered in plate armor. Finding a powerful weapon or piece of armor in the field can completely change how you approach the next several fights. There is definitely some jank, and the physics can occasionally produce ridiculous results, but that is also part of the fun. Fights rarely play out exactly the same way twice. Sometimes a carefully aimed attack does almost nothing, while another time you shove someone with a rake and accidentally send a fully armored opponent crashing to the ground. It still feels like a game with systems that could use more explanation and refinement, especially the armor and equipment interface, but the underlying combat is extremely entertaining. Once I stopped trying to play it like a traditional sword-fighting game and started treating the weapons, armor, bodies, and environment as physical objects, it became much more interesting. If you enjoy physics-based combat, experimentation, medieval weapons, and figuring out ridiculous but effective ways to win fights, there is a lot to like here.