New hack-and-slash game mixes Stellar Blade and Dark Souls 3's best boss fight

When you think of Fromsoftware's RPGs - the studio's accumulated Souls games and soulslikes, like Elden Ring, Sekiro, and of course Dark Souls itself - you likely remember the struggles, the ardor, and the world's unremitting brutality. Lordran, Drangleic, Yharnam, and the Lands Between are often stark and cruel places, where only raw force and sheer, iron-tough will can keep you alive. But there's a boss fight in Dark Souls 3 where that all changes. Your battle against the Dancer of the Boreal Valley feels more like ballet, or a figure skating routine, albeit soaked in blood. Combine that vicious elegance with the fast-paced, agile combat of Stellar Blade, and you get close to Tsarevna, a new hack-and-slash game inbound for Steam.

Tsarevna's protagonist is motion captured from renowned ballerina Alyona Kovalyov - each twirl, leap, and lunge is designed to mimic the graceful motion of a world-class dancer. What results is a hack-and-slash game and quasi RPG resembling a gory rendition of Swan Lake. In stark contrast, the world of Tsarevna is steeped in dark, Slavic mythology, a corrupted land where the worst monsters of fairytales, legends, and folklore have slithered their way into reality.

Dodging, parrying, and metronomically timed combos are your weapons. Playing as a young, winged princess, you're also able to travel between the land of the living and the land of the dead, your objective to close the portals that grant hellspawn and other abominations passage into the overworld. There are optional boss encounters and dozens of different environments encompassing ancient temples, destroyed villages, and fantastical nether realms.

There is no release date for Tsarevna right now, but the game is provisionally slated to arrive in 2026. In the meantime, you can already wishlist it right here.

Otherwise, try some of the best soulslike games, or maybe the best action-adventure games on PC today.

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