Image: Thunder Lotus

So many games place combat and dialogue in separate boxes. You're either fighting, or you're talking. But how many great films, TV shows, and comics have the most impactful dialogue happening while the characters are beating each other - so many! Thunder Lotus - the arthouse studio behind Spiritfarer - clearly agrees, as At Fate's End is all about ideas and swords clashing in harmony. While the full release has sadly been pushed back until next year, you can get your first taste of it right now, thanks to a lengthy demo dropping on Steam.

In At Fate's End, you play as Shan Hemlock, aspiring Princess of Swords, and just one of a squad of prodigious magical duelists. After being out of the dueling game for some time, Shan has returned to reconnect with her family, kick their asses, and take their magic swords - ideally, by their own will, if you play your (literal) cards right. If the demo is any indication, each fight is going to involve a lot of walking, talking, and getting to know both your target and the people around them. Learn how they're viewed by the world, how they view themselves, and pick out any weaknesses.

While there's occasional platforming and fighting against regular monster enemies, the meat of the demo is on the duel with Shan's big sister, Camilla, a spectacular multi-phase battle where as you clear rounds in the fight, you have the opportunity to use the knowledge you've gathered to talk her down. Successful moves in dialogue shrink your opponent's health bar, and change how they react to you. It makes for an excitingly dramatic flow, and the combat itself is no slouch, built around mouse aiming, allowing you to slash or thrust your floating magic sword in any direction around you.

There's more to it than that. There are segments of dialogue where you're asked to piece together multiple related statements to reach a coherent answer to a question posed, and your combat skill set grows based on dialogue and relationships too. It also goes without saying that this is an absurdly gorgeous game, looking like a glossy high-budget animated series. Thunder Lotus has always been great art-wise, but it feels like they're flexing especially hard here. While I'm hoping that the fights in the full game have a little more bite to them difficulty-wise, that's just about the only complaint I could level against this one so far.

At Fate's End might not be out until next year, but you can play the demo now. And you should. You should also check out Thunder Lotus' other games, all of which are discounted, some very heavily. Spiritfarer, Jotun, and Sundered are all 90% off at the time of writing, and despite being radically different games, all great in their own ways.