Description
Do you like "Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice"? Do you like "Cute Anime Characters"? Do you like "FREE"? If you answered "yes" to two out of those three questions, you'll probably enjoy this short Doujin gem, "Kannagi Usagi" (aka "Miko Usagi" and "Rabbit Shrine Maiden") developed in 2023 by the solo dev, "Tonogi". It's been in my library for ages, but I'm cranking out smaller videos to tide things over while I go through my moving process.
It takes the best part of Sekiro (the boss battles) and pits you against eight deadly blade-wielding ladies. There's no story. There's no adventuring. There's no blood or gore. There's only victory and defeat. There's basically zero penalty for losing, hopping in and out of fights is almost instant, and parrying (aka deflection) is basically the entire game. If you're not very dexterous, this game is a great way to practice parrying mechanics. The game, from start to end, is realistically in the ~20 minute ballpark, but getting good and claiming S-Rank on all the stages might take you a couple hours in all actuality. Tonogi used this as a programming exercise to learn the "Unreal Engine" and their next game, "Gothic Scythe", seems to be more ambitious.
We're going to say that the main character is the titular Kannagi Usagi (I don't know for sure). The main gameplay at her disposal is slashing, jumping, short dashing and parrying. You won't get very far just slashing at your foes (which is why she comes equipped with a basic two-hit sword combo) as the damage you deal is minimal, but the main use is to stagger your opponent and force them to go on the offensive, where the player must read incoming attacks and parry them to whittle down their stamina (core damage shown by a bar above or below in yellow). A successful parry will show a large spark and / or interrupt your opponent's attacks, and when they are completely staggered, they will lose their balance and you have a small window to deliver a fatal blow, completely taking any remaining health they have. You have to be careful because the opponents can also stagger you and their blows deal considerably more damage than yours; you can only take a half dozen strikes at most before you are defeated, and strong attacks can put you down in two or three.
Speaking of strong attacks, they come in two types to keep you on your toes: lunge attacks which can't be blocked (but can be parried or, in some instances, side dashed) and sweep attacks (that can't be blocked or parried but can be jumped over). In the case of sweep attacks, you can perform a double jump on their head which will hurt their core and follow it with an aerial slash to deal some minor physical damage. If you're really aggressive, you can defeat the opponent without a fatal strike, but fatal strikes are the intended way to play. You also have a "generous" amount of healing gourds you can use to replenish your health prior to being fatally struck down, but they have some prep time and you, naturally, will not get S-Ranks using them.
The visuals are simple but polished with good character designs and the music is cool, but the best part of this is that it's free. There are already plenty of videos showing the game and getting S-Ranks, so this video is for our archives and to increase awareness of the game, going through several opponents and showing the credits... I don't think I did too shabby. You can get the game at:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2551500/__KANNAGI_USAGI/
Enjoy.
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