Hanako: Honor and Blade Releasing This Summer

+Mpact Games announced today that Hanako: Honor & Blade will come to Steam later this year. Releasing summer 2021, it is an online multiplayer combat game set in feudal Japan.

Following its Early Access program and coupled with a MegaGrant from Epic Games, the game is a labor of love in development since 2005. Conceptualized as a tribute to team lead Matt Canei’s late mother, Hanako: Honor & Blade features two warrior clans. The first, the Hanako, represent health and goodness. The second, the Yamai, symbolize terminal diseases. The opposing clans mirror the real-life juxtaposition of good people subject to debilitating, sometimes fatal, illnesses.

In addition to its symbolism, the game features immersive battles in online arenas of up to 24 players. Players can select one of four different classes: the swordsman, spearman, archer, or ninja. Each class features their own tricks and tools to gain the edge over an opponent. All four classes will include two different combat styles to keep gameplay fresh and allow players to adapt.

Each map includes various unique obstacles and mechanics which will require cooperation and strategy to win. Destroy castle gates to create a new point of attack, use ritual sites to buff allies or weaken enemies, and utilize other dynamic changes to the in-game environments. Manage your Ki to block attacks, sprint, meditate, or use special class skills.

Developed and published by +Mpact Games, more information about Hanako: Honor & Blade will come out in the following months. The game began as a college project in 2007 with Matt Canei, Connor McCarthy, and Ajani Thomas contributing. Following Canei’s mother Janie’s five-year battle with breast cancer, he vowed to honor her memory. In that way, Hanako: Honor & Blade carries its own message, of creation and inspiration arising from pain and loss. You can currently Wishlist the game on Steam.