Hanako: Honor & Blade is going F2P on Friday, Dec 10th

Hanako: Honor & Blade is going F2P in hopes of building up its player base. You can find the game on Steam. Below you can read a message from Matt Canei, Lead Developer of Hanako: Honor & Blade and the official press release:

Hi ,

I’m Matt Canei, Lead Developer of Hanako: Honor & Blade. For the last 14 years my team and I spent our free time developing and completing this game. This is the 7th shipped title, since I ran this project while also serving as a AAA game dev at many notable studios. On December 10th, we’re going F2P with hopes of growing our playerbase rapidly.

We created this class-based multiplayer by shear force of will, passion and with grief of losing a parent to cancer as fuel. Most of my dev team has lost someone to this disease. Our game serves as a metaphor for their battles.

We run weekly events on http://discord.gg/playhanako and its a great place to make sure you get a good match when you’re ready to put eyes on it. Despite a long dev cycle, and our manhours actually equating to about 15-20 weeks of a 100 person studio, we feel we’ve made a pretty solid near-AAA quality game under impossible odds.

Thanks,
Matt Canei
Lead Developer, +MPACT Games

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ATLANTA, GA–September15, 2021–It’s a time for warriors, courage, and above all, the future of a nation…+Mpact Games, a small team of developers united to make a very personal game, today announced that Hanako: Honor & Blade, its immersive online multiplayer combat experience set in Feudal Japan, has launched on Steam for PC. Recently awarded an Epic Mega Grant, the game has been meticulously developed over 14 years as a passion project to remember those lost to cancer. Hanako: Honor & Blade is available for $8.99during launch week, a massive 40% discount off the normal $14.99priceto reward the first samurai on the battlefield.

In 2007, industry veteran and team lead, Matt Canei, made a teenage vow to honor the memory of his mother, Janie, following her tragic passing after her battle with breast cancer. He co-founded +Mpact in his free time, outside of his full-time roles, to help channel his grief and to commemorate his mother through his passion for creating games. Today, Matt works at ILMxLAB and his dedicated team have fulfilled his vow, with Hanako: Honor & Blade symbolizing the battle between life and death, as embodied by the game’s two warrior clans. The Hanako clan represents health and goodness in the spirit of Matt’s mother, and the Yamai clan symbolize the opposition to life inherent in cancer and other diseases. The natural balance of the opposing forces metaphorically represents real-life tragedies while seeking to honor those lost.

“We created Hanako: Honor & Blade to help us cope with the loss of loved ones through cathartic samurai multiplayer combat representing life and destruction,” said Matt Canei, Team Lead at +Mpact Games. “I know my mother would be proud, and I want to thank our community for sharing the journey with us. I wish all of you strength in your battles—in the game and in life.”

Beyond the symbolism, Hanako: Honor & Blade takes players online for immersive battles in a beautiful recreation of Feudal Japan between up to 24 players. Players can help decide the future of a nation by playing as one of four distinct warrior classes including the capable swordsman, powerful spearman, eagle-eyed archer, or nimble ninja. Each class has different build/skill options and features directionally driven combat, abilities, and spirit-based skills to get an extra edge. Players will play as one of two clans and seek to defeat opponents through multiple game modes and maps, with each game level presenting unique obstacles and mechanics that will require strategy and teamwork to defeat enemies.

Game Key Features

Epic online battles set in Feudal Japan with up to 24 players

A symbolic struggle between the forces of life and death

Five game modes with unique features, including team deathmatch Battle, Capture the Scroll, Village Siege, Castle Raid, and new Duel mode

Directional-driven combat that encourages strategy and precision

Four distinct warrior classes with different skill options for multiple playstyles

Dynamic environment changes

Bots to fill out teams or provide practice opponents

Immersive audio and orchestral soundtrack

Stay tuned to Gaming Trend for more info on Hanako: Honor & Blade and for all your gaming, tech, and entertainment news!

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