Poor Locke Studio announced that Crimson Capes, a sword and sorcery themed adventure, will be released for PC via Steam on February 12. The game reimagines the core pillars of the Souls formula in two dimensions by combining deliberate combat, non linear exploration, and online multiplayer in a high adventure fantasy world.

Players take on the role of Milon the Tempest, a witch hunter tasked with dismantling a growing conspiracy of wizards spreading across the kingdom of Amvros. While leading the Crimson Capes, a guild of elite witch hunters, the protagonist accepts contracts throughout the realm, gradually uncovering darker forces at work and confronting the true cost of power.

The combat system is built around animation committed swordplay inspired by realistic fighting techniques. Feints, thrusts, cuts, and guards create lethal encounters defined by constant exchanges in which timing, positioning, and mechanical mastery determine the outcome of each fight.

Each of the four playable heroes features a distinct weapon style, moveset, and skill tree. This variety encourages strategic experimentation rather than simple progression through raw stat upgrades, while magic is woven directly into combat through elemental abilities such as wind, thunder, fire, and darkness.

Exploration follows a Souls inspired philosophy, rewarding curiosity and player freedom. Ruined towers, forgotten caverns, mystical forests, and ancient strongholds can be explored in any order, with artifacts, abilities, and narrative threads waiting off the main path.

On the multiplayer side, the game adapts classic genre systems to two dimensions. Players can team up in online co op to hunt together or invade another hunter’s mission as a Deathblade, introducing unpredictable PvP encounters that reshape each journey.

Visually, Crimson Capes features pixel art animation combined with hand drawn environments and rotoscoped graphics. Its aesthetic is inspired by classic pulp sword and sorcery tales such as Conan and Elric, resulting in a raw, mythic atmosphere deeply rooted in traditional fantasy adventure and discovery.

"From the very beginning, Crimson Capes was built around deliberate combat that rewards initiative, precision and quick thinking," said Dimitris Tsatsis, programmer at Poor Locke. "We wanted to bring the tension, discipline, and satisfaction of the Souls experience into 2D, by rethinking how the level design, vibe and multiplayer interactions work in a side-scrolling space."

Key highlights include Souls like 2D combat with tight reads, punish windows, and build variety, challenging boss fights, sword and sorcery adventures in a secret filled fantasy world, online co op and PvP, and optional dynamic hunts featuring unique enemies and bosses that are randomly generated each time.