"are we sure this is developed by red candle games?" *ritualistic decapitation ensues* "yup, totally developed by them"

These 2D games look so nice and clean now. Like controlling actual cartoons. What a time to be alive

whoever did the soundtrack definitely did a great job capturing the atmosphere. traditional sounding chanting with volume LFOs and low key drums and percussions is really on point and compliments the world building. the stems from ambient to combat flow seamlessly. the SFX of hitting could be more punchy with short decay and the sword swing more metallic and sharp (higher pitched) but great overall audio mastering. listened on ATH M50X.

This is from the developers who also made “Devotion” and “Detention “, Red Candles Games!

The concept of combining Taoism and cyberpunk is really cool. I can't wait to give it a try.

As a hollow knight player, the “no contact damage” is something that both shocks me and I envy

This game makes the "Human Resource" take quite a different meaning.

Wow, that ceremony got dark! I also like that your character is a bit of an A-hole. He just stood there and did nothing while two people got decapitated!

I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR IT TO PULL OUT A CIGAR TO HEAL

I am in love with this art style.

I love how you heal by puffing a pipe lol

Love to see games with that Thunder Lotus aesthetic. Though I would say that this title could improve a lot more if it had directional input attacks, similar to Sundered. The three-hit-combo gets a little grading after seeing it for the 50th time. Otherwise, I got high hopes for this one!

that exposition dump between the playable character and the little boy was hard to watch. why repeat so plainly what we just saw. even if we didn’t see what happened, the dialogue just felt really unnatural. prime example of “show, don’t tell”. maybe it’s just me though. lately i’ve really grown fond of games that let you draw your own conclusions, games that don’t spell everything out, with people who talk to you as if you exist within that world. also yeah i’m aware this is just a small snippet there could be tons of hidden lore in the game and that’s what i’m hoping for! i’m really drawn in by the music and art so far. visually it looks like two different games i really love so i’m already invested. (i also agree with others about the combat looking dull 😅 but i think that can be fixed too)

とても好きな世界です。主人公が格好良くて、可愛い！！UIも洗練されていて素晴らしいです！！見ているだけでワクワクします！！！！！

Way better than what I expected. Their trailer made the game look very gameplay-LIGHT.

This is so beautiful ! The hand-to-hand attack at 8:34 remind me a lot the video game "Sundered". And also a bit of "Narita Boy".

I love how charming the art style is

This looks absolutely stunning! Sadly, bosses don't feel great (in terms of weight of their attacks and their speed + repetitive combat flow makes boss fights quite rough), but I'm quite intrigued nonetheless to see how it's going to evolve considering how much effort is put in animations!

I've never heard of "taopunk" before. I thought it was just gonna be pure eastern oriental fantasy like jadepunk or silkpunk. I didn't know this was sci-fi until that AI started talking through the intercom. I already have so many questions about this world. Is it post apocalyptic? Is it dystopian? It's definitely Cyberpunk, but is there actual magic or just sufficiently advanced tech? What's with the roots? Why are people being farmed like cattle? What do they do with the heads? Who or what are these "gods" and what's their agenda? Are they an evil corporation? Rogue AI? Aliens? Or is it something else? That along with the visuals and the music have definitely put this on my radar.

I don't understand why everyone here are complaining the game is "too slow" and everything is "too sluggish". For once I see a slasher like this that isn't another "one hit - one kill, speedrun everything" a-la Katana Zero. Its differently paced, and I love the fluid animations and how movement turns into movement without a noticable "switch" from running to swinging to flying through the air and et cetera. Afterall, these are just the first levels and I can imagine how later on we would have to work with enough things on the screen happening to justify not a "break-a-neck" pace.

This is beautifully animated

I love the evocative and mysterious setup. Gorgeous animation. This looks a lot of fun

To all those complaining about enemies reminder that this is the starting area. You think a bug charging to you is strong? Ofc not bc starting enemies are never strong (talking about the Husks in HK)

Holy crap this is amazing art design.

This looks amazing in almost every aspect but I can't help but feel the combat is still a bit too slow and apathetic. If it was just a little bit faster-paced - quicker slashes and movements from the player in particular - it would probably feel way more satisfying and would fit the style even better. The Red Centaur fight is probably the best example here. The boss is amazingly animated and paced but it is frustrating to see how the player's speed lags behind - it's like you need to painstakingly catch up to him after every strike - and each attack feels like it just delicately "flows" through the enemy. A much faster and wider slash - even if it's just about the animation (see: Katana Zero or Ori and the Will of the Wisps) - would add the dynamics and sense of urgency here, much like the blocks+counters do (they look really cool). The player's move and attack arsenal is very limited, too, but that's not necessarily a bad thing - both Katana Zero and Hollow Knight were able to do amazing things with a limited set of moves and much like in the case of Hollow Knight, I guess we can expect the game to evolve the player's capabilities in time :} Finally, the bosses and enemies could see some more variety - fighting them feels a bit too repetitive but again, I'm sure it's still a subject to expand!

The audio design is pretty great! Among almost everything

Looks really good. Hope they come with the full version soon!

Yo! Wasn't expecting something new from Red Candle! Glad to see this!

Looking good so far. Excited to watch the development

Looking cute but being very serious and cool. Pretty nice!

Gameplay looks really cool and story-wise really intriguing! Can't wait for the full game.

Thanks for sharing dude, this looks super interesting. Will definitely try and keep an eye out for this one

Reminds me of "Dust: The Elysian Tail."

Machine: “Decapitated 2 people” MC: I sleep Machine: “Grabs the boy” MC: REAL CRAP

I'm a bit disappointed by the actual gameplay. Seems like the deflect mechanic is mainly for charging up talisman shots instead of softening up enemies. But the world, music and environmental storytelling is incredible enough that I'd play the game regardless. The devs have gone through a lot and these game feels like them shouting at the world, "This is who we are and this is what we want to make." I wish them the best.

This look interesting. I love the creative themes. I can’t recall seeing a game inspired by Taoism before.

taopunk that's new, can't wait for steam release!~

if you attack a guy like at 14:57 when they've got their guard up like that they ought to block it

I think this game looks so beautiful, the animation so clean, and the tone so haunting like if cartoons were allowed to go as dark as old folk tales… but man, the writing was pretty forced, like the whole beginning dialogue I was thinking “show don’t tell show don’t tell SHOW DON’T TELL” or even if it was delivered in a more believable way. Maybe if you wanted to hint at the main dude’s agility (I don’t even think it was a necessary line because we already could assume he had agility based on the fact that we’d be playing as him…. Whiiich I also think after that cutscene there could’ve been a way to start playing the actual game immediately while still having character moments to make the ceremony more tense), you could have something small like “oh also… I accidentally got my toy on the roof again… I know we should’ve bought a ladder a while ago… though I guess this’ll be the last time you have to worry about it!” Or SOMETHING like that. Just make it sound less like a wiki article and more like a young character who’s most likely about to die. Maybe they wanna hide the fact that they’re scared to show how much they’ve grown to the big bro. You could do it by having small contradictions, or little hints about their true feelings. When we talk about something that makes us stressed, we usually hesitate to fully state what it is. So maybe he could comment on how he messed up the food or something, maybe he didn’t add enough salt on it and is trying to laugh it off, stating how he doesn’t get why the gods would choose someone who can’t even cook for themselves… then get quiet and hint at maybe wishing they’d choose someone else. You could show that they’re having a hard time swallowing anything, then you get to the the ceremony and see why. Just something instead of “did you know this is my character backstory? I know you probably already know, but I wanna tell you anyway.” Anyway great looking game :)

I havo no idea what Taopunk is, but I love it! (Also, great video, and also, 100th comment)

I know this is inspired in katana zero and hollow night but the vibes remind me of Dust: An Elysian Tail so bad, what a great game that was, and I still believe it was important to help the growth of hand drawn 2D games

This looks great. Love the combat system.

Feels really nostalgic like that flash player from the childhood days, but with polish. Can't wait!

definitely gonna keep an eye out on this game

I'm loving the music

Never heard of Taopunk before but I love it already.

Damn those graphics and styles! I must get that game when its out.

backed it and excited for it

This... this is beautiful

OH MY GOD IT LOOKS SO COOL!!!

TAKE MY MONEY

Taopunk is a nice concept!

the enemy attacks seem slow and weak and the enemies are like damage sponges. they should have a block, or faster attacks, but go down quicker when you land a hit. The controls don't seem as tight as any of the three games, the player attacks seem equally as sluggish. the combat looks much more fun at 1.25 or 1.5 speed

I really like the art style. It’s not pixel art and it’s not trying to imitate Hollow Knight, it’s got its own thing going on. Looks a little bit like Moebius

Woow that was looking insane

damn, this is so amazing!

I think the speed is good. The swings need to have stronger impact. and hopefully I'll get to try out all the moves such as deflecting. Thanks for showcasing this!

The music around 6:00 minutes gives me Akira vibes big time. Nice.

Personally, I don't think this is Cyberpunk, like others in the comments seem to think, instead I think it's literally what it says on the tin- Daopunk- and all the technology is what happens with sufficiently advanced magic (or in this case, sufficiently advanced qi)

This looks extremely polished a must play instantly by me

Nice job, red candle

Thx for showing off another sweet one dude!

I fucking love the music of this game really

Wow looks amazing

So, after detention and devotion. Red candle games create this one...

I just literally took two seconds to see this. I will totally support whoever made thi then!

Wow, can’t wait for this one!

Can’t wait for the release

Seems really cool. The fighting is a bit kn the simple side, but I assume more abilities and upgrades get tacked on over the course of the game.

Gotta love how you can deflect basically anything in this game

This could have been really, really good. Damn.

This one goes in my wishlist.

new word of the day, Taopunk. And my day just got better

Holy shit! I love everything shown here!

Felicidades! luce increíble, sin duda dará mucho de qué hablar más adelante. 👌😎

Awesome !

Inspired by Sekiro, Hollow Knight and Katana Zero? That's instant buy from me! All of these 3 games are my favorite.

Liking this flavor.

Is there a playable demo of some kind? I'd love to give it a go

goddamn i gotta find the theme for the second boss that theme SLAPS

Oh yeah. This is definatly gonna scratch that hollow knight itch I've been having.

I know I wont be able to beat that game if I had it but I'd watch youtubers do playthroughs

I’ve been waiting to see this game!

cool design wow wow wow!!!

Pretty good overall. My only gripe is with the enemy health values. Their health is just slightly higher than your three hit combo which makes the combat flow less well. I think it would feel better, at least at the start, for a full combo or counter tag to eliminate an enemy. Other than that, the setting, graphics, and sound design are solid.

Wow! It looks cool!

As soon as this game is available on consoles Am pressing that buy button Or maybe depending on things I’ll get it on pc

wow its so cool!

Reminds me a lot of Dust: An Elysian Tail

this reminded me of Bunny Kill so quick

So the artstyle and aesthetics are great especially the UI but in terms in combat and the NPCs animation speed as fast paced combat is needed (Speed is the Key!) because it doesn't feel impactful but I'm sure others in the comments have more details about that. So I hope this is not the final product, it needs more to expand more on the ideas.

I loved this demo so much that I pitched in 40 bucks. I can't wait for the beta access now!

The sekiro influence really shows, the first real boss is almost like gyoubu masataka oniwa

Amazing game!

You mention Hollow Knight, Sekiro, I click!

i think this game if amazing. both in look and in game play. the one complaint i have is that i feel like if everyone was given less HP (including yourself) it would be a lot more fun

love it, I can see it's not polished yet but I mean it's a demo. anyway, love to see it.

I can't wait for this one.

Taopunk... I like that. That's a good name.

That first dialog was such an "as you know" bit and REALLY set my expectations back. I would have rather that entire description of hunting and fixing things be our tutorial. At the end of the day Big Bro speaks and the kid starts asking questions like a normal kid and opens up about thier parents. If it's the most important thing, show it to us. Edit: okay, intrigue is back. But like many others said, the player attacks need a little tightening. I also feel like the heal animation could use a little exaggeration in the movement and speed, even if it's a smear motion when bringing up the pipe. Something to sell how it "feels". For example, Hollow Knight has the sound and particles, or Souls has that exaggerated drinking motion. Something between those might do the trick.