Fighting games where every hit is deadly 

I HEAR YOU NIDHOGG FANS!! I just released a follow-up video all about Nidhogg, going into a bit of why I didn't think of it while making this video. Please check it out! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KTgJQXfmV9Y.html

There's this game called Nidhogg that has a really unique twist for this genre of game. It has the stance based combat of First Cut, but combines it with a "race" to reach the end of the arena before the other player. I highly recommend checking it out if you're interested.

Really underestimating the depth of First cut. Even in the demo, you can cancel anything into anything, feint attacks, extend your attack range by holding and you can extend it even further by dashing after holding an attack

I played God of war (the first one in Norse) and my dad watching said, “i know you are gods but how many times do u have to hit him w that bloody axe”

Another game like this which is 3d is called Hellish Quart. It’s inspired by Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) and it set in Eastern Europe during the 1500s CE.

Bushido Blade on the PS1 is one of my favorite games ever and I wish desperately that they'd make a new version of it.

While not necessarily a fighting game, Lethal League is a great example of a fighting-game adjacent game where one hit is instant death. Lethal League Blaze adds a health bar with the option to turn it off, but the game feels more built around the health bar so I like to keep it on.

4:44 I appreciate the “if you have any” I feel included.

If the player dies in one hit, user playability will depend exactly on how fast one can get back to the field as smoothly as possible. The more deaths are expected, the shorter the respawn has got to be. fighting games are quite tame in that death only occurs once every round with time spent outside of that as well. warfare games for example, where death occur every second needs the fastest respawns possible, one example is enlisted.

"I would recommend playing one strike with a friend, if you have any" Right in the feels -_-

Ahh Bushido Blade. One of my favorite games of all time.

"First cut is not the deepest" Excellent reference!

Bushido Blade was SO surprising to me when I witnessed THAT 1:16 and there it is! Then I remembered Time Killers in the arcade when I found a video about it years later

One reason as to why they use a samurai setting is due to those old Akira Kurosawa samurai films where one hit was often deadly in the films and theyd spray out blood

Coming in late to say that hyperfight is a great example of this.

When talking about one-hit fighting games, you might should include games like Nidhogg. While some might argue Nidhogg is too far from a fighting game, its alternate take on the victory condition naturally creates the "flow" and "story" that you mention when talking about Sclash. (In Nidhogg, players simply respawn a few seconds after death. Victory is instead achieved by pushing far enough into enemy territory.)

I imagine the original reason why so many one hit kill sword fighting games have a samuraï theme is because of the iconic duel scene from the Akira Kurosawa film Sanjuro, and all its subsequent imitations.

Absolutely lovely video, I love the selection of indie games chosen here, serves as a cool reminder that indie games are allowed super creative and just do their own thing. I really hope this video pops off!

Both “deadliest warrior” games are kinda realistic fighting games where one hit from certain weapons can take off a good chunk of health or just one shot your opponent. Those games were pretty fun for the time

Broken Edge is a very unique VR fighting game where you play as one of 9 swordsmen, with each one having their own different weapons and fighting styles. The Samurai for example, fights with a Katana and two shortswords. The main gameplay is very unique, with your objective being simply to hit your opponent with an 'awakened' blade. To get an awakened blade, you have to move your sword in a certain way, depending on which swordsman you are playing as. For example, the Pirate awakens their blade by moving their Cutlass in smooth, consistent motions, with a constand speed. This system prevents people from just wiggling their swords in front of them and praying they hit their opponent. During a game, both players are placed in front of each other, and they are forced to slowly approach each other. Hitting your opponent without your blade being awakened simply results in both of you being knocked away from each other for a moment, with no damage done. If you hit them with an awakened blade, you instantly win the round. But, since your opponent probably won't just let you do that, you might have to break their blade, so they can't simply block your hit, and here is where another of the game's main mechanics. If both of the players' seords touch, a 'clash' will happen, and both of the swords will be broken to some degree, depending on how close to the hilt their sword has been hit. For example, if two people hit each other's swords and one person manages to hit the other one's hilt with the tip of their own blade, their sword will take almost no damage, while the other will take maximum. This damage can be increased heavily if your blade is awakened, even if you end up taking more raw damage, since awakened blades hit with not only the damage they dealt depending on how much of the other's sword has been cut off, but also depending on how awakened their sword is, since awakenings can be weaker or stronger depending on how well you're doing your character's motions. Taking a hit to your sword's hilt by a fully awakened blade will immediately completely destroy your blade, with it not able to regenerate anymore, although, the game does give you one last chance. If you manage to hit your opponent's sword in any form with the tiny stub of a blade you have, your blade will be fully restored one last time. But, in this state, you are also much more fragile, since your opponent now only needs to hit you at all, with no need to awaken their sword to win the round, meaning you have to be extremely careful with how you approach the situation. There are a lot more things about this game that i didn't talk about, but i don't want this comment to be longer than it already is. I absolutely recommend checking it out in case you have a VR headset, since it really is a very good game.

One other game that does this is the game Dive Kick, as I think it literally uses one button (jump and dive kick) and getting a clean hit kills the opponent instantly. A headshot basically guarantees you the game because the enemy will be stunned next round.

Interesting, there was this game i saw on steam ages ago called one finger death punch and it surprisingly was my introduction to frame by frame commands, kinda crazy seeing how many different mechanics are in fighting games today, i highkey think its one of the most underrated genres atm

Bushido Blade 2 is still to this day in the top 5 greatest video games ever created. Secret combos, throwable weapons, hidden finishers, unlockable characters with guns, this shit is so insane it still destroys every fighting game out.

Deepwoken is an RPG fighting adventure horror game based around a parry-dodge system. It has neither a one-hit mechanic, nor a true combo system. It works much like fights in real life might, if you were significantly more durable and took many more hits to bleed out or die from a wound. Landing a hit will slow them so that they can't run away or dodge the next, but they are still able to parry. Upon parrying or dodging an attack you gain a minor speed boost to compliment it. Pressing m2 during the windup of a melee attack will feint it, allowing you to bait out their parry. If they are skilled enough, they can dodge your feinted attack. Using a melee attack midair will perform an aerial attack which moves you towards your opponent. Using a melee attack while activating crouch at the same time will perform an uppercut, which makes you immune to aerial attacks. Landing an uppercut will send both you and your opponent midair, and you will linger in the air for a second or two before falling down. If you are parried, both you and your opponent are blasted backwards and land on the ground. Using a melee attack whilst running will do a running attack that has tracking properties against players running with their back faced towards you. Pressing R or scroll button will activate a critical attack that deals extra damage and posture damage to your opponent. The posture bar shows you how close you are to getting "guardbroken". Getting parried will increase your posture, blocking will also increase your posture, while parrying an attack will decrease your posture. Getting guardbroken will leave you vulnerable and make you take even more damage on hit for a second or two. That is the very basic portion of the combat system. And ONLY the combat system. The actual game is much more complex, and your character, of course, has to grow stronger through levelling up. The ways you can level up are large in number and mostly dependent on you, the player. As you grow stronger you will attain unique abilities, and choose a mixture of different paths diffdifferent from other players. Monsters will often have higher stats than you atleast at first, so it is impeimperative that you learn how to fight properly to survive. There is also a permanent-death system, where you will lose all your progress upon a certain type of death. There are no safezones, so a monster or player, although they do not spawn everywhere, can theoretically find you anywhere on the map and kill you. The mixture of chaotic unpredictable humanoid, monster AIs, aevents, and players creates an experience like no other. It is 3d and costs like $5. Only on PC, but very unrecognized for a game of its quality.

This is a single player game, but Katana Zero is an amazing "One hit" game, I'd highly recommend checking it out

The little 'motion graphics are my passion' was already enough for me to hit the subscribe button, lol. I really enjoyed watching this vid and I learned quite a lot about a genre I didn't even know existed! Really cool to see that there are fighting games I've got a chance at actually enjoying!

Great video. Love finding new sub-genres and indie games. Subscribed

I don't normally watch vids from smaller channels or without many views. I'm glad I did. This was a great video!

Try Unto the end! A short underrated gem that also has this concept, except one strike doesn't immediately kill you, but that doesn't mean each strikes you get aren't fatal.

Black and White Bushido is a fun variation on this style. It's basically the ninja fight from Samurai Jack but as a video game, so it becomes this deadly game of hide and seek, where the movements of light and shadow can spell the end.

900 subs? really? this is top tier video essay/review

Didn't realize there were multiple games like One Strike. Really good video.

IT all began years ago in my youth with Bushido Blade, on PS1.

I also really like when this concept is explored in FPS games. Especially if it's set in WW1 or some other conflict where most soldiers were equipped with full size rifles.

The concept of 1 hit means death is my favorite. I especialy love this concept in shooter games, but ni mather the platform it makes the game much slower and less about reflexes and more about strategy. As someone who has the reflexes of a sloth i love being able to turn the tables on people by just thinking more about my moves.

For a 3D fighting game with similar mechanics, Clone Drone in the Danger Zone is an example. While the player does have a lot of ways to block incoming strikes, there are no healthbars for anything. Either a part of your body is still intact, or it has been destroyed, leaving you limping or crippled. Even the most basic sword enemy can immediately cut your head off in one swipe, if it connects.

Super interesting games, good commentary, and a nice street fighter pun, keep up the good stuff man, hope success reaches you as much as you desire and more.

Very good video, I hope this gets a lot of attention to match the effort you put into it :)

Bushido blade is one of my all time favorites. I wish they had remade that game for newer consoles.

While not 1 hit Your only move is hustle takes away all execution to give you full tactical control and I love it

One hit is all it takes Fallin’ in misery Possibilities 1 hit is all you need

There's Hellish Quart, a pretty cool "1hit" physics based sword fighting game. Streamed this one back on its release and it was already pretty cool!

Another great game in this space is Samurai Gunn, super fun fast-paced platform-fighter party game with a 1-hit mechanic and a gun to switch things up. Timing is extremely important and the skill ceiling is surprisingly high.

I played one strike on switch with some friends a few years ago and I never forgot it. it really made something click in my brain about how fighting games work. I wish they would keep playing it with me lol

There's this game on steam called "Ghost runner." It's pretty popular, and although definitely not 2D or indie, revolves around how each hit (save a few bosses) is fatal for both the player and enemies. The aerial movement is unreal.

This was awesomely entertaining +1sub

there's a game called "Your Only Move Is Hustle" and it has a one hit gamemode

Nidhogg, Lethal League and especially Samurai Gunn are my favorite party fighting/duel games for couch co-op, all with essentially 1 hit K/O rules. Haven't tried any of the ones you mentioned but will check them out :)

If you can somehow get hold of the original Deadliest Warrior (not the sequel), based on the TV show, it's very much like this and a lot of fun. 3D like Bushido Blade, but play as a Viking vs a Samurai, or a Spartan vs a Pirate, or an Apache vs a Knight, or a Punjabi warrior vs a Ninja etc.

Games like Kingdom Come Deliverance and Arma 3 are good examples of sort of bridging the gap with 1hit = 1kill into a larger (non sidescroller fighting genre) game like an RPG or Milsim where there is still some element of a Kevlar vest or full plate armour doing it's job of protecting you but as a skilled fighter, the player can make use of any weapon to instantly kill an opponent with a well placed shot or stab.

A pretty old example of this genre is "Ninja vs Samurai" series of maps(mods) for Warcraft 3, dating back to somewhere mid 2000s.

You should check out hellish quart, It has a very realistic approach of how you end a fight, While an opoent wont die if you give them a week slash to a leg or arm, you can still win with just 1 hit if you give your oponent a good strong cut to the head, torso or even the hand that is holding the weapon.

was surprised to see first cut here! I remember finding it 2 years ago and trying it out, definitely recommend it and excited to see where the dev takes it in the future!

damn, these 3 games look fantastic!

Wow, you should have more subscribers! This was great.

Amazing video, I guess this is its own genre.

I'm old enough to remember Street Fighter in arcade cabinets but I have never understood beat-em-ups. First Cut seems like something I might like.

For those interesested in this genre, I highly recommend these two titles, Kiai Resonance, its a one hit one kill samurai dueling game, with a few different block stances and attack stances and it is made in an art style of feudla japanese paintings. Second, hellish quart, its a motion captured realistic dueling game set in 17th century eastern europe with psychics based swords and attacks which really makes it feel realistic. Both available on steam

this made me think of the sudden death mode in the Super Smash Brothers games. It basically transforms the game in a one hit match, and it's very interesting how it instantly changes the game into a tense, palm-sweating battle of who makes the first mistake.

There's a free mobile game called Ninja Arashi which mostly has this one hit kill component as well. Although for the most part it's also a (pretty good) platformer game, the final boss fight is similar to some games in the video. If you want more 1v1 fights, there's a sequel, Ninja Arashi 2, which greatly improves over the original, with more battles and added complexity; it's still easy enough to understand, but a bit harder to master.

Never played any of the games in this video (great video as always) I really like the look of Two Strikes tho.

There's a super simple fighting game called HYPERFIGHT that was my intro to these kinds of game. Mixups, mobility, everything i like, and high replayability due to its online play and short gameplay loop. Server's not as active as it used to be, but worst case, I can still set it up over Parsec with the boys.

A good 3d one hit kill game is Clone Drone In The Danger Zone. It probably more accurately described as a hack and slash but its still awsome. Most of the time a single hit WILL kill you.

Bushido Blade on the original Playstation was an underrated classic. Nowadays it's games like Hellish Quart that are still carrying the flame of one-touch combat, although I'm sure a lot of other games can be modded or have their settings adjusted to mimic it.

Check out the two part series “A bastards tale” and “Driven Out” reaaaally ramps up the idea when fighting fantasy opponents (wolverines, mounted knights, hydras) to trick out the players visuals input and decision making/targeting and make it hard to read between a high and a medium and a medium and a low etc.

i think niddhog held a strangle grip on me for surprisingly long considering the simplicity of the game, great with online play too

I knew bushido blade would be on here when I saw the title

You could include two more games in your video: Nidhogg and Hellish Quart.

I've enjoyed watching

There were some ZX Spectrum games like that (or almost), in the 80s. For instance, The Way of the Exploding Fist and International Karate. The players don't die, but they lose a round in one hit. Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior has a health system, but a player could die instantaneously.

bro insanely underrated channel

I thought this was a channel with hundreds of thousands of subs. Subbed.

My favorite kinds of game with this style of gameplay are "Slice Dice And Rice" and "Dive Kick"

Hellish Quart seems like a spiritual successor to Bushido Blade. Worth checking out for anyone with an interest in historical fencing.

honestly this kind of game really interests me. ever since i was a kid my dream game has been a 3D samurai 1v1 online game where one slice ends the round. i could literally play that on loop for years. that is all i want from gaming.

Totally TOTALLY agree with your closing statement about playing with newer players. I play One Strike with non-gamers all the time cus I have it on switch. Even people who have barely ever touched a controller before can take lives off me even if I'm trying. It's not *that* much fun after like, 30 minutes, but that's all that these newer gamers really want. I truly adore One Strike for how many people I've been able to get to play who otherwise wouldn't have played any games.

Man... I saw the title, and Bushido Blade was the first game that came to mind. I need to find a copy of it.

“one hit is all it takes” *To fall in love with me*

I really enjoy the fact that Ghost of Tsushima added a difficulty that makes the game similar to the ones discussed in the video. Makes the game a lot more satisfying in my opinion.

Look into a game called Hellish Quart. It's 3D and based off of Historical European Martial Arts, and basically every hit is deadly. If I remember correctly, there are cases where hits do superficial wounds, but there's not a health system, so it's either it kills or it doesn't.

Haven’t seen it but Kengo: Legend of the 9 is hands down the best 3d samurai game I’ve ever played, that game was so damn amazing

Thank you for this video! So fortunate I stumbled across it. Bushido Blade was incredible and ruined me on fighting games, as they were always chaotic as opposed to careful strategy. Same reason I dearly miss stealth games over boring shooters (please do a video on modern stealth if you can). Never got the same feel until I experienced Ghost of Tsushima, and now I have a bunch of fighting games to explore.

I know this video is supposed to be about 1-hit fighters but YOMI Hustle is also an amazing game. The lack of tutorial and the amount of choices you have can be a bit overwhelming in the beginning but once you get the hang of it, its amazing. In Yomi you can pick one of 4 (soon 5) characters and then fight against someone else TAS style, meaning every few frames the game gets paused and both players get to input a new move. It's very tactical but not really that stressfull because you don't have to calculate so many moves real-time.

Interesting thoughts! My contribution to the discussion is to recommend Amorphous+. It is top-down and has mouse controls, so your normal movement is enough defense to only need 1 HP.

First cut is out since january, buy it, it is the best 8 money spent

Good video ❤

A lot of real life combat sports are actually more similar to fighting games than many think; they don't often take places on full arenas, but Strips, which are linear charts of ground on which you can only move forward or backward, not side to side. It's also more about parrying or attacking certain areas than anything. Speaking from experience as a Fencer. Only thing is, if you get a touch on someone in fencing (vocab for just successfully hitting someone) you both go back to your starting position except with the extra point before proceeding. It's much more like these 1-hit wonder games than anything.

very cool

Used to have many fun afternoons with my brother messing around in a game called Slice Dice & Rice but eventually forgot about it. Finally remember it while watching this, cant comment on the gameplay because it been a long time but damn does the visual design of the game look cool as hell

If your interested its not primarily a fighting game rather a 2D platformer is a game called Katana Zero. one of my all time favorites, fast paced,. Challenging and the main reason its so good is The story and music. I recommend fans of the genre to try it out

I remember playing a game called Samurai Gunn a long time ago that I believe was similar? Very fun. Spent so many hours with my brother playing it.

the reason the ai in first strike is easily defeated by the shuriken is probably because the ninja star guy is a dlc character so the devs probably didnt make the ai with him in mind since hes the only ranged character.

Man, I really want a modern bushido blade that keeps the no-health-bar, one (or two) hit kills, etc. The drama, tension, and pacing of a fight in that game was incredible.

Great video, thanks for sharing

Pretty good vid

Has NOBODY mentioned Hyperfight? That game rules!

Regarding something you said at the beginning for how many of these one-hit games are samurai/Japanese in theme, the reason is because that's very much what Feudal Era Japanese sword dueling was like. The armor worn in this era was largely to protect from glancing blows and minor injury, but could still be easily broken by a well tempered blade strike due to the inferior metal quality of Japan at that time. Some of these suits of armor are even made of just formed leather. In that way, armor could actually considered a detriment sometimes off the battlefield, as it would add weight and decrease your reflexes and reaction time while offering only moderate protection. Some samurai - namely when acting as personal protection or enforcement for a lord - chose not to wear armor, relying on their speed and technique to most quickly make the first blow and disable their enemy. This is why in Japanese sword training, a lot of focus is on drawing the blade and making the initial swing - not many people who actually used these blades in a duel got too many second chances at making that connecting hit. Compare to medieval Europe, where suited armor and numerous cloth and chainmail layers were often worn daily. These made mounted, piercing, and percussive combat more effective, where multiple strikes may be needed to incapacitate an opponent enough to truly find an opening in their armor for a kill. The Japanese fighting style was about being quick on the draw, and about being patient and aware of your opponent to counter their movements or to find an opening to strike first. This was in dueling combat, mind you, where adversaries are limited in number; on a battlefield, archery and horse mounted combat were still most employed, and the katana was actually more of a last defense weapon, like a side arm pistol today.

First cut looks fun. People have already rec'd Hellish Quart and Nidhogg, and despite what people say "Ghost of Tsushima" doesn't quite work as a one-hit game even though it's p close for the most part. Although it's all single-player stuff, I really got a similar feel in the iterative games made by Blaze Epic until he switched to eroge an' I dipped. I still think his first game "Samurai Jazz" is his best, but others scratch a similar itch w/ more mechanics in.

I remember playing a game on Roblox of all things which was a samurai fighting game where most of the time a single slash was fatal. It was called Zo, I believe, and I haven't played it in quite some time.

Hey! I'm your one thousandth sub