Hinokakera

Hinokakera (ヒノカケラ), sometimes abbreviated as Hikake (ヒカケ), is a series of Japanese dōjin 2.5D fighting games (full 3D graphics, but the gameplay is based on 2D style games), set in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world. The game is developed and self-published by Akaishi Ryuuka (赤石 榴火) under the name "Reddish Region". The series has had 3 major revisions so far with the 4th one being currently in development.

Revisions

 * 1st (up until v1.11c) - Hinokakera the Fragments of Innocent Sinner. Original game featuring 10 characters, with 3 of them initially hidden.


 * 2nd (v2.00 - v2.02) - Hinokakera the Fragments of Innocent Sinner Reinforced Edition. This revision was made available on the official site as a free patch to v1.11c - it made all characters playable from the start and introduced major changes to the gameplay, by adding two "reinforce" modes for each character, dropping some of the combat features and bringing the overall pace closer to modern examples of the fighting genre (like Guilty Gear). Visuals were also improved to a certain extent, and, additionally, v2.02 patch added a standalone p2p netplay client.


 * 3rd (v3.00 - v3.01a) - Hinokakera fragment:Eclipse. Added 3 more playable characters and a visual novel-like Story mode.


 * 4th - Hinokakera the Fragments of Innocent Sinner. In the works. Two test versions and one commercial demo version have been released - a public version of the latter, with 4 playable characters, is available for download on the official site. This revision is the first in the series to have noticeably updated visuals, along with tweaks to the combat system and character balance. Other changes include a reworked netplay client now integrated into the game.

Gameplay
In its current iteration Hinokakera features an unorthodox mix of both 2D and 3D traditions. While the combat system itself is rooted in 2D, all battles take place in endless 3D stages with no boundaries or objects, similar to Tekken series of fighting games. Characters also have the ability to sidestep.

At the same time, 2D part also presents a combination of both old and new elements - system of links and combos is similar to that of Melty Blood and Guilty Gear games, whereas movement resembles King of Fighters and Street Fighter for the most part, with airdashes and double jumps, common in modern fighting games, being a special ability of some characters or having additional requirements to perform.

Characters
As of version 3 the game has 13 characters to choose from.
 * Raven
 * Silvis Laws
 * Aya
 * Camille Enfield
 * Kasumi Seiga Freslight
 * Celes Alfort
 * Hardy Alfort
 * Clestis Farrell (boss for most of the roster)
 * Aronia Excel
 * Kakeru
 * Malakh
 * Aya/immortal
 * Ashley