Gladio Mori Screenshot
Image: Plebian Studio, Bonus Stage Publishing & Korgi Digital

Who has the best moves in a fighting game? Clearly, the one with the fastest pokes. Or the best zoning. Or just that one normal that seems to cover half the playfield. In Gladio Mori–leaving early access after a couple years of tuning and evolution–you get to rewrite the script. Or at least the animations. See, this is a real-time 3D arena fighter, featuring stickmen brutally slicing each other to pieces with medieval weaponry. It's all a bit Bushido Blade, but with more people in the pit. And while you CAN pick an off-the-shelf move-set for your character, this game lets you create your own attacks, one keyframe at a time.

If you're not familiar with Bushido Blade (on account of it being a semi-obscure ancient PS1 series), those games were less a traditional fighting game, more a realistic swordfighting sim. A blade nicks your arm? If it hits nerves or tendons, that arm's out of the fight. If it hits an artery? You've got seconds left. Gladio Mori doubles down on that, simulating organ damage as inflicted by many kinds of bladed and bludgeoning weapons. Armor, of course, will deflect attacks from body parts it covers, but there's always a weak spot to be exploited if you've the moves to get your weapon there.

Fights also play out in slow-motion (by default), letting you really get a feel for where each blade is going and giving you a chance to block and parry using the complex controls. Each weapon comes with a standard move-set bound to your various attack inputs, but the full experience involves getting your hands dirty and animating every move yourself. So long as it's physically possible, your character will do it, and you can assign those moves to your next arena debut.

While Gladio Mori is geared towards online multiplayer (with console cross-play and full cross-platform modding letting you share new weapons, moves, and character skins with the world), there is a single-player campaign mode to practice with, sending you into the gladiator pit to hack up an escalating assortment of bots. And aside from possibly Half Sword (which involves a lot more directionless flailing) and maybe Toribash (turn-based), there's nothing else quite like this one.

Gladio Mori is out now for £13.49/$15, with a demo available that gives you access to basic bot matches and multiplayer, but without many of the game's deeper mechanics, like armor and the solo campaign. Still, it's enough to get a feel for the oddball combat, and given how unique this game is, I'd highly recommend trying before you buy.