Wendigo Blue

I very rarely write reviews, but I've got to support this great game. In short: Please give this game a shot. It is still in development, but even in its current state more than worth the price AND gets updated regularly with new updates and balance patches. This game quickly became my favourite beat'em up-title and I think you would enjoy it too. If you have any fondness for the beat'em up-genre, please give this a shot. You won't regret it. If you want the long story, keep reading: A few years ago, I got into the beat'em up-genre with the a little unconventional but very fun Full Metal Furies (huge recommendation if you have someone to play with in coop, please check this out) and later with TNMT Shredders Revenge (eh, its fine. Mostly interesting for the 90ies Turtles nostalgia and playing with friends). But the final nail in the coffin was Streets of Rage 4. Even though I was sometimes frustrated with the slow movement and lack of newbie-accessible defensive options (I'm looking at you, neutral special health drain) on some characters, the freeform combos, interesting risk-reward system with the special moves, great hand-drawn animation and memorable characters cemented this game for a long time as the pinnacle of beat'em ups in my head. In the following years I just couldn't find anything to match the reigning Champion, until I saw hope at the horizon: Dotemu (the punblisher of the aforementioned TMNT- and SOR-games) announced two new titles: a Marvel-beat'em up form the makers of the TMNT-game and Absolum, rogue-like fantasy beat'em up from one of the studios behind SOR4 with handdrawn art. So pretty much everything that I liked as one package. Sounds too good to be true, right? And it was. During the Steam Next Fest I eagerly tried to download the Demo and was greeted by one of the most disgusting EULAs in recent years. I read these when I want to by a game, and every once in a while, there comes a game with one so atrocious that I just can't bring myself to sign it. But why did it have to be this game? I was devastated. But roughly a month or two later, I would make a discovery. The channel "Best Indie Games" (shoutout to them) introduces new and often lesser known indie titles, and in one video they mentioned an almost completely unpromoted, and subsequently under the radar flying beat'em up called "Vendigo Blue" which had awesome looking pixel art and character design. Of course I was immediately intrigued. I bought the game soon after and tried it out. And oh boy, was I in for a ride. The characters were even cooler and more charismatic than I imagined and I instantly loved the intersting worldbuilding and gradual storytelling between and during runs. Did I mention that this game has a working rouge-like structure with find- and upgradeble gear, modifiable stats and a UNIQUE SKILLTREE FOR EVERY CHARACTER!? The combat feels responsive with freeform combos, different gameplay strategies, moves and combos for every character, but similar enough fundamentals that you never feel lost with a new one. It allows for blocks, dodges (with flow state, that one is very important), counters (I missed this so much in SOR4) and elemental magic attacks with afflictions and a whole weakness-system for enemies. Enemies are varied and have interesting patterns, including the very fun to play bossfights (the undine may need a little work tho, the last phase can be grating if your team isn't aerial focused). Beautiful pixel art and great music on top made this my new favourite beat'em up and I hope that you can enjoy this game as much as I do. It may be difficult at first to get into the games complex systems, but Von (yes, that's their name) made a great guide that helps with the introduction. Thanks! At last a huge thank you to Kyron Ramsey, Zack Parrish and everyone at Endless Fluff who helps creating this already great game, I wish you only the best and hope that you enjoy making this game as much as I am playing it. And now go buy it. The full price for this game is already a steal.