Bellum Bestiae

Bellum Bestiae is an weapon-based fighting game developed by MGW Productions.

Plot
Animal spirits have existed since they first originated in Africa. Over time, those spirits searched the world for warriors strong and worthy enough to host them, which would grant them the power to transform at will, be it in or out of combat, into all manner of powerful and mighty beasts. In August 1501, Damoclus, the demon lord of the Hell-like realm of Infernus, plans to plunge the world into chaos and conflict. Who will rise to the challenge and defend the world from his demonic forces or acquire as much of his demonic energy as necessary to doom it and all of mankind?

Gameplay and Features
Bellum Bestiae (the title is Latin for "War of Beasts") will have a 2.5D gameplay format, same as NetherRealm Studios' Mortal Kombat reboot and Injustice series, with some elements of Soul Calibur and Bloody Roar (except the animal forms aren't anthropomorphic) thrown in for good measure.

The Quest Mode, AKA the Arcade Mode of Bellum Bestiae, ladder will consist of eight CPU battles, a Mirror Battle, reminiscent of Mortal Kombat One, which also includes a cutscene where the character you play as is in their home stage and Damoclus shows up to create a copy of said character for you to fight, a Destined Battle, in which your chosen character fights their rival, that takes place inside the ruins of an abandoned cathedral, and two final fights in Infernus against the sub-boss and the final boss, who is, of course, Damoclus! So, that's 12 Quest Mode battles total.

The "super meter" here is called "Essentia Bestia" (Beast Essence), and do you know exactly what requires a third of it? Special techniques called "Ars Bestiae" (Beast Techniques), which are just like the Rage Morphs in the lost arcade game, Primal Rage II, in which your character quickly changes into their animal form to perform a powerful technique, and then back to human form at the same rate, and are performed using special command motions plus the B (Xbox One) or Circle (PS4) button, depending on which console you are playing it on.

The "fatalities," or "Percute Ultimum" (Final Strikes) as they're called here, are very similar to the Zetsumei Ougi in Samurai Shodown V Special in which they require not only that your opponent's health be critically low in your winning round, but also that you trigger an Instant Kill-like state, which can be done by pressing X+Y+A+B (Xbox One) or Square+Triangle+X+Circle (PS4), depending on the console version, requires that all three bars of your Essentia Bestia be full, and lasts until your Essentia Bestia meter runs out, then disappears with no chance of you being able to use it again (which can also happen if you whiff the pre-Percute Ultimum strike or the other guy blocks it). All Percute Ultimum are executed by, while in pre-Percute Ultimum state, performing the quarter-circle-back command and pressing the lower face buttons at the same time and allow you to gruesomely kill your opponent at the end of a fight, Mortal Kombat-style, and shape-shift into your beast form and back while doing it, so use your finishing move with anticipation!

Also, if your opponent's health is critically low in your winning round (same as with the Percute Ultimum), certain normal attacks or special moves can trigger a small animation of the camera focusing on the opponent, and the opponent only, as they are either decapitated, cut in half, horizontally or vertically (with the opponent falling on their knees like they just got on the receiving end of Kung Lao's MKII Body Slice Fatality before bisecting during the "vertical" part), have their left, right hand, or both arms chopped off, or bleed out and, regardless of the match win finish animation, drop their weapon in the process in a manner reminiscent of Samurai Shodown Sen, before cutting to the winning character's outro sequence. For the "Bisected" match win finish animations, "H" represents "horizontal" and "V" represents "vertical," and for the "Dismembered" ones, "H" represents "hand" and "A" represents "arms."

The game will run in Unreal Engine 4, to give it a very realistic look, from the stages to the character models. With the exception of the game intro, Percute Ultimum sequences, character endings, and credits, which will have half the frame rate, I envision Bellum Bestiae to run at 60fps.

Default

 * Fergus MacDougal
 * Grzegorz Krew
 * Hodari Jasiri
 * Juan Sánchez
 * Karasu
 * Masaru Kurozawa
 * Micha
 * Pierre Beaumont
 * Rajesh Karamchand
 * Thomas Montague
 * Ulvensvrede
 * Weai'masitoon

Hidden

 * Han Qingmei (Beat Quest Mode with Micha and Karasu)
 * Laurenz von Brandt (After unlocking Qingmei, beat Quest Mode with her)

Bosses

 * Damoclus (Final Boss)
 * Torturex (Sub-Boss)

Purchase

 * Ekaruaga
 * Lilo Abigail
 * Natalio and Aarón
 * Rin Onryō
 * Seti Ramses
 * Zekato

Pre-Order

 * Shinzo Hinato

DLC

 * Anton Vasilyev
 * Bubon
 * Insaniac
 * Yalewa

NPC

 * Anne of Brittany
 * Antonio Sánchez
 * Ashikaga Yoshitane
 * Charlotte Beaumont
 * Chimera
 * Chisato Kurozawa
 * Coya Rahua Ocllo
 * Emperor Fusahito
 * Empress Zhang
 * Esmeralda Sánchez
 * Elizabeth Beverly
 * Faridah Asad
 * Father of the People
 * Gisèle Beaumont
 * Grandfather Maurico
 * Haiwee
 * Huáscar
 * Huayna Capac
 * Ivan III
 * Ivan the Terrible
 * James IV
 * James Montague
 * Jarl Kristoffersen
 * Katsuhito
 * King Henry VII
 * Kittichai Boonliang
 * Kondo Jasiri
 * Lestu
 * Louis the Prudent
 * Marcus Invictus
 * Maurice Beaumont
 * Maximilian I
 * Meena Karamchand
 * Noriko Hinato
 * Prince Arthur
 * Rolf Holgersen
 * Sigurd Holgersen
 * Suparda
 * Takanobu Kurozawa
 * Tatyana Vasilyeva
 * Teiku'tooyahkay
 * Wiseman Abigail
 * Xiaodan
 * Zhu Youtang

Default

 * 1) Andes - Machu Picchu
 * 2) Blood Sacrifice
 * 3) Great Basin Forest - Night
 * 4) King Louis XII's Throne Room
 * 5) Kurozawa Farmhouse
 * 6) Pueblo de los Gitanos (Gypsy Village)
 * 7) Reisafjorden - Sunrise
 * 8) Richmond Castle - Outside
 * 9) Savannah Sunset
 * 10) Sengoku Rooftop - Night
 * 11) Solitude
 * 12) Storm at Sea

Hidden

 * 1) Eastern Cold
 * 2) Smithy Interior

Bosses

 * 1) Final Confrontation
 * 2) Infernal Torture Chamber

Purchase

 * 1) Abandoned Cave
 * 2) God Slayers Fortress
 * 3) Hometown Placement
 * 4) New Egypten Palace
 * 5) Onryō Temple
 * 6) White Blako City

Pre-Order

 * 1) Hinato Fortress

DLC

 * 1) Dormition Cathedral
 * 2) Plague Town
 * 3) Tropical Beach
 * 4) Whirling Lunacy