Video Game / Bloody Spell

Pictured: NOT the player character.

Dark Souls in ancient China. With ALL the extra fanservice.

Bloody Spell, a.k.a 嗜血印, is a wuxia-themed action game developed by Yilong Games, one based on Wide-Open Sandbox Action RPG games made popular in recent years, with Elden Ring, Dark Souls and Bayonetta as it's most distinct inspiration... except recycled in the Ming Dynasty.

A decade ago, Soo Ye-Jin and his younger sister Soo Hsiao-Li were abandoned by their family before finding themselves on the steps of a martial arts monastery. Raised by the monks and trained in all sorts of martial arts skills, the Soo siblings grew up as expert sword-fighters, honing their abilities as they travel the martial world. But when an evil cult called the Legion of the Void wipes out the monastery where the siblings were raised, and kidnaps Hsiao-Li, Soo Ye-Jin needs to prove his worth as a hero by rescuing his sister.

One notable feature presented in the game is that despite having a Player Character that's male by default, it is possible to unlock alternate skins that turns the player from Ye-Jin into unnamed, scantily-clad female martial artists that doesn't impact gameplay in any way. Instead of having players select their character genders before the first stage (like most games of it's type), you complete level 1 as Ye-Jin and in the following level, you can access an accesory slot for unlocked "skins" before reloading the following stages. Toggle Ye-Jin's default design, and cue magical plastic surgery (!!!).

Expect to see tons and tons of online playthroughs where Ye-Jin gets unceremoniously dumped aside for a fanservicey alternate female skin (though the following trope list will assume him to to be the main player-controlled protagonist).

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This game contain examples of:

• 15 Puzzle: Smaller treasure chests can be unlocked instantly, while larger ones will be protected by these puzzles that Ye-Jin needs to complete to open. Interestingly, nearby enemies will actually wait for him to finish the puzzle!
• Advertised Extra: Most, if not all, of the game's promotional materials will highlight a red-clad Chinese lady in a stripperiffic silk outfit that shows off a bit too much skin (including the one on top of this page). She's actually the High Priestess of the Legion, who appears in a cutscene after the first Bloodthirster fight. She doesn't show up until very, very late in the game and is fought as a boss exactly once, although after completing the last stage she can be an unlockable alternate skin.
  • She has her own minifigure, for Christ's sake!
• Airborne Mooks: In the mountain regious, Ye-Jin needs to contend with flying, reptile-like creatures who likes to take gliding potshots while hovering out of his blade's reach. Some timing combined with the jump-slash move is required to cut them out the air.
• And Your Reward Is Clothes: The game's most distinct, widely-promoted selling point is the amount of alternate skins for unnamed female martial artists, from Succubi to Qipao to anachronistic spy catsuits. A few online reviews even calls the game an "Outfit Simulator" (rather than the RPG-esque action game it actually is).
• Animated Armor: Animated suits of Chinese armors appears in the mausoleum, attacking Ye-Jin for his intrusion.
• Asian Lion Dogs: Expect to see plenty of Chinese stone lions in Temple Courtyards, or just randomly located around the Capital City.
• Assist Character: One section of the city stages have the reformed Lu Ting-han assisting Ye-Jin in hacking up mooks, but he's nowhere as fast or as devastating compared to when he's a boss.
• Back Stab: One of the moves Ye-Jin can perform after sneaking behind an unsuspecting mook.
• Battle in the Rain: The Capital City stage sees Ye-Jin fighting mooks in heavy rain, culminating in fighting the Caretaker boss.
• Bear Trap: These are a recurring obstacle in the snowy mountains, which can deal quite some damage if Ye-Jin steps on one while busy fighting mooks. Many of these are rather well-hidden in snow and tall grass, too, to make things even more difficult.
• Beast Man: The game's most recurring enemy type in early levels are beast-people, feral humanoid enemies who walks with a hunch.
• BFS:
  • Ye-Jin's first weapon is the Executioner's Sword whose blade is several inches thick and as tall as himself. Somehow he can still run and jump without being hampered by the weight.
  • There's another pickup called the Huge Blunt Knife. Exactly What It Says on the Tin for this one.
  • The Caretaker boss swings a massive curved sword, as large as himself.
• Big Brother Instinct: Ye-Jin is a swordsman searching for his kidnapped younger sister and only living relative. He killed around 200 enemies to get her back.
• Big Red Devil: The strongest horned Bloodthirster monsters are bright red with gigantic goat horns, resembling a Ming Dynasty version of this trope.
• Booby Trap: The underground mausoleum stages is filled with these, from collapsing ceilings to pitfalls and flamethrowers hidden in walls.
• Bullet Time: The Shadow Aura power-up allows Ye-Jin to move super-fast, with everything around him moving in slow-motion for several seconds.
• Developer's Room: There's one somewhere in the caverns, accessible by taking a detour and hidden by a flimsy wooden wall in a secret area. Said door falls apart after two hits and leads into a room filled with laptops, programming software, soda machines and posters promoting the game. As the game was developed in 2020, there are even notices on the wall reminding employees to "wear a facemask at all times".
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: One of the bosses, Lu Ting-huan, used to be Ye-Jin's comrade in the monastery before attacking Ye-Jin as a boss, having mistaking the latter as a traitor. On his first defeat, he demands Ye-Jin to finish him off, and when the latter refuses he then threatens to make a comeback.
  Lu Ting-huan: The sect has been destroyed by the Void Legion. I don't want to live, do it!
  Ye-Jin: I will not kill you. Leave now.
  Lu Ting-huan: Traitor! Even if you spared me, I will not be grateful to you!
• Dual Wield:
  • The Double Swords, a pair of thin blades Ye-Jin can use both at once. There's even an option allowing him to combine them into a Double Weapon.
  • There's a tall, armored demon with two blades for hands as one of the stronger mook-type enemies.
  • Lu Ting-han uses double jians, both as a boss and as an Assist Character.
• Evil Gloating: The Priestess lets out a fine one when Ye-Jin meets her the second time.
  Priestess: The resurrection of our true god requires the blood of the Saint, you can't save her ^note Ye Jin's sister Hsiao-Li, hahahaha....
  • She lets out another gloat after she's defeated as a boss, taunting Ye-Jin he's too late to save his sister from being sacrificed.
• Eye-Obscuring Hat: Should players choose to assume the role of Ye-Jin instead of the many alternate fanservicey skins, he wears a straw hat that covers his eyes and remains on him no matter what happens.
• Giant Mook: The beastman brutes are some twenty feet tall, wields heavy weapons, and tanks a massive amount of hits before going down compared to basic enemies. There's also the armors in the mausoleum who's roughly the same size and equally durable and a balding, overweight, ogre-like monstrosity who can jump high and land with a Shockwave Stomp.
• King Mook: At least a couple of the bosses.
  • There's an armored Elite Mook who Dual Wield swords as weapons, and the Caretaker boss who's a beefed-up version of said enemy type.
  • The High Priestess naturally is one of these to the common priestess mooks. She can even use the pipa, knives, and whips used by all her minions, as well as having some unique abilities of her own.
• Kirin: Being set in China, Ye-Jin encounters one as a Mini-Boss in the mausoleum's dungeons. It's imprisoned in a cage, but to unlock the exit Ye-Jin needs to hit a series of switches, which release the Kirin at the same time and attacks him shortly after a cutscene.
• Law of Chromatic Superiority:
  • Among the recurring Bloodthirster bosses, the strongest of them which shows up in later stages are red-furred.
  • The many priestess enemies in the last stage wears a variety of colours, from blue to yellow to green and cyan. Their boss and most powerful member, the High Priestess, wears red.
• Living Statue: In the courtyard of the abandoned Chinese temple filled with statues, the largest of them - an effigy of a warrior god - expectedly comes to life, and tries squashing Ye-Jin for trespassing. The boss is even named onscreen as "Living Statue".
• Living Shadow: Chaos, the boss of the underworld level, is a towering sentient shadow which Ye-Jin can harm thanks to his weapons being enchanted.
• Magical Barefooter: The priestess enemies, being Magic Knights, forgoes shoes while using their spells to stun and attack.
• Malevolent Masked Men:
  • The spear-wielding assassin boss called "Mysterious Man" wears a metal demon mask across his face. And despite being human, is a formidable Mirror Boss opponent.
  • Ye-Jin himself can obtain an item called Mask of the Assassins' Clan, which gives him a skull-like appearance. It lowers his enemies' defense when worn.
• Martial Arts Staff: One of the weapons Ye-Jin could use, a steel staff retrieved from slain martial masters. It's among the widest in range compared to swords.
• Mini-Game: There's a few sub-levels where Ye-Jin can take a break from killing monsters, including guessing a hidden item in a Shell Game, shooting rats with arrows in a cavern, or throwing hoops at vases. There's no penalty for passing up those games either.
• Mirror Match: Most of the bosses are giant monsters, though there's a few whom are human-sized martial artists using weapons of their own not unlike Ye-Jin, like Lu Ting-han, the masked spearman, and the High Priestess.
• Musical Assassin: One of the priestess enemy types uses a pipa as her weapon. Said pipa can create powerful shockwave that stuns Ye-Jin while draining his health, besides leaving him vulnerable to other enemy attacks.
• Nerf Arm: Most of the pickups are Stock Wushu Weapons (befitting the setting), and then there's the plastic toy rake and inflatable spiked mace (in... the Ming Dynasty) obtainable somewhere near the end. Despite being toys, they can deal as much damage as the real deal, smashing mooks to a bloody pulp with every swing.
• One-Winged Angel: The Faceless, fought as the Final Boss, assumes a monstrous form in his battle.
• Poor Communication Kills: It nearly happens, but Lu Ting-han, one of the bosses, was Ye-Jin's former comrade in the martial arts monastery they had trained in, only for the Cult of Legion to attack when Ye-Jin and Hsiao-Li are absent. Lu Ting-han immediately jumps to the conclusion that Ye-Jin is a traitor and attacks him the moment they rendezvous in the mountains. It takes two boss battles until Ye-Jin managed to convince Lu he's one of the good guys.
• Power Fist: The Tiger Head, a pair of metal gauntlets shaped like.. well, a tiger's head. It packs a serious punch and can pummel enemies into a pulp from up close. Said weapon can effortlessly break down walls as well.
• Puzzle Box: Larger treasure chests will be locked shut by a 15 Puzzle that Ye-Jin needs to complete to open. Interestingly, nearby enemies will actually wait for him to finish the puzzle!
• Recurring Boss: Many of the bosses:
  • The very first boss, Bloodthirster (a gigantic reptilian demon with horns and a powerful tail) who needs to be fought at least seven times. It gets an upgrade from the fourth encounter onwards as a stronger red version of the regular type, and late in the game Ye-Jin needs to take on two Bloodthirsters.
  • Lu Ting-han, supposedly Ye-Jin's brother-in-arms, attacks him as a boss, having mistaken Ye-Jin as a traitor. On his defeat, he bails with a We Will Meet Again threat and is re-fought later on, where after his second defeat he buys that Ye-Jin didnt betray the clans.
  • Chaos, the giant shadow-creature, is fought twice in the last stages.
• Shell Game: In-between kicking all the ass, sometimes Ye-Jin can come across a little Street Urchin NPC who offers to play "shuffle the cup" with Ye-Jin, having him guess where's the item (usually a small pebble, but in one case it's a dried mushroom) underneath three cups. Ye-Jin either gains experience points or lose some credits as outcome.
• Spin Attack: Ye-Jin's special move, where he spins a few times while extending whatever weapon he has, dealing plenty of damage to surrounding mooks.
• Spirit Advisor: After the first stage, Ye-Jin is contacted by a mysterious ethereal voice called "The Faceless", and introduces himself as Ye-Jin's ancestor. For most of the game Faceless serves as The Voice giving hints and such to Ye-Jin. Then the final stage reveals him to be the Treacherous Questgiver as he reveals his One-Winged Angel form.
• Stepping Stones in the Sky: The cliff stages has some wide chasms where magic, hovering, translucent seals will appear and disappear in mid-air. The only way Ye-Jin can cross is by jumping on those seals, but miss a jump he loses a life.
• Stripperiffic:
  • ALL the alternate skins for players who decide NOT to use Ye-Jin in combat, and use scantily-clad female martial artists instead. You can custom their outfits to be Chainmail Bikini, a one-piece swimsuit, a Spy Catsuit, a Qipao, a nurse outfit, a succubus skin, and so on. Most of them are barefoot for good measure.
  • The High Priestess and her maidens all wears outfits that looks like they're made of ribbons.
• Sword Lines: Ye-Jin, and most of the bosses, tends to leave coloured lines after each swing of their weapons.
• Title Drop: "Bloody Spell" refers to the incantation The Faceless teaches Ye-Jin, meant for him to unleash powerful inner chi attacks to suppress the priestess' dark magic and deal greater damage to enemies. Then there's this line when Faceless assumes a One-Winged Angel form as the last boss.
  "Now I'll teach you the most brutal powers of the Bloody Spell, which I've never taught you!"
• Underground Level: One stage is set in some dungeons, while another leads to an undergound mausoleum filled with monsters.
• Unique Enemy: There's a Chest Monster enemy, a ghost-woman hiding inside a small treasure box who suddenly pops up when Ye-Jin inspects it, and furiously claws at him until she's dispatched. She appears only around 2 to 4 times the whole game (with some of her hiding-spots rather easily missed).
• Wolfpack Boss: The Jinling company, the Legion of the Void's Praetorian Guard unit consisting of several gold-armored warriors, each of them taking a fraction of the boss' health.
• Wolverine Claws: One of the faster beast-people enemy type wears gauntlets with protruding knuckle-claws, and will try ripping Ye-Jin apart with that.
• Wuxia: A Soulslike take on the genre.
• You Can't Thwart Stage One: The first stage ends with Ye-Jin killing all the beastmen and monsters infesting the hills and capital city, and defeating the first Bloodthirster boss, where he then sees his sister with the High Priestess. Alas, moments after he won, he's overwhelmed by the dark energy and passes out, and upon regaining consciousness realize his sister's gone again.

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