We've seen a lot of games with helpful dogs, but none of them give the dogs a real chance to shine. So, with Hounds of Valor, they'll no longer have to be the trusty partners of humans anymore, as the canine dudes can save the world by themselves!
Hounds of Valor is an action RPG game from the indie developer DogAtWork Games, which has taken a lot of inspiration from the PS2 classic titles such as God of War and Okami. With that as a base, the game's hack-n-slash action is very smooth with detailed animation and a wide set of skills for humans' best friends.
You can see the trailer of Hounds of Valor below while waiting for the demo download to complete.
The concept of Hounds of Valor
Hounds of Valor doesn't have a special story of plot twist or something like that, since the life of a dog is much simpler and less scandalous than us. All we have to do in this game is stepping in the paws of a dog that has mastered the art of using a sword with its mouth. Heading to the vast green field, it will take on the battles with any weird things he deemed dangerous.
Inspired by Okami and God of War, the hack-n-slash action of this game looks more smooth and creative than I've expected. The swordmaster canine friend have a lot of moves to perform with his insanely big sword, including a normal attack, a heavy strike, a bash.
Furthermore, each of those attacks will have bonus effects and functions when you choose to hold the button to charge your attack. There is also an aerial attack, which you'll jump to the sky and glamorously slam the ground to feel like a grand entrance! The enemies are not going to be stupid punchbags, so you couldn't expect to get rid of them by just flailing your swords. Instead, you'll have to mix up those attacks for some good combos.
Apart from the melee strike, our dog also has some knives under its paws for the long-range attack. It doesn't deal much damage, but it's good for investigation on the enemies, and is suitable to keep some distance and buy time with them if your HP drops too low.
Free demo available
Hounds of Valor is still under development, but you can already grab its free demo on Itch.io. This demo will give you around 15-minute of experience with almost everything you can ask for: near-finish visuals, full movement sets, ordinary monster, and bosses, as well as background music to enhance your experience!
If you love what you've experienced, don't forget to give the devs some feedback and credits for their work. That's the best gift for Christmas for them!