Witchbane

Gameplay:

Engage with tight controls that require precision to master. Run, jump, dash, and slash to get to the end of each level.

Your sword is your main weapon. You can find side weapons and ammo throughout the levels, but it is up to you when you decide to use them as they are in limited supply.

This world is full of things unseen, lest you give yourself over to insanity and view the truths hidden in plain sight. Collect the souls of your enemies to feed your Madness meter, which can be tapped into at any time. This ability makes you stronger, faster, and able to see and interact with the other side, but it comes at the risk of losing yourself to the madness.

Read letters to find hints and get deeper into the lore, explore multiple paths, solve puzzles and interact with objects to progress.

Manage your inventory as there are limited slots available for the weapons, ammo, and potions found throughout the world.

Art:

This game is completely pixel art, even down to the custom fonts used. Enemies, attacks, and effects are animated one frame at a time. Using more colors than were possible with 8 bit, but less pixel density than 16 bit, the art has a style of its own which harkens back to both eras. Plentiful parallax scrolling further draws you into the world, giving depth to the 2D scenes.

Each level is distinct, having their own themes both artistically and musically .

Music and Sound:

The music is scored and produced to invoke the sound of classic 16 bit games with melodies to keep you engaged on your journey. The sound samples used are reduced in fidelity to recreate what it would have sounded like to squeeze each byte out of the memory.

Story:

A tale of woe and blight has befallen a forgotten European town in 18XX. You are descended from a family of witch hunters with knowledge and skills that few possess. A letter beseeching you for assistance arrives, and though widowed and retired from the life brought on by your lineage, something impels you to go. Once you arrive, you find you have stumbled upon a great evil not seen since ages long forgotten. The town has been beset by powerful witches, who bring unto the earth the undead, monsters made of decaying flesh, creatures of nightmares and horror, all by use of their black blood magics and rituals.

Unravel the mystery, defeat the hordes of monsters, and bring back peace to the people of this town… or die trying.