I went into Half Sword expecting the full release to demand more from me than the demo did. That didn’t really happen.
Instead, the January 30, 2026 launch landed to Mixed reviews on Steam, and after spending ten hours with the full release, it’s easy to see why. Let me explain.
What The Half Sword Demo Did Right
The Half Sword demo was rough around the edges, but it was predictably rough.
- Weapons occasionally clipped or wrapped around characters
- Armour interactions weren’t always perfect
- Rare hits would ignore armour entirely
- Maces and blunt weapons felt pretty useless and unwieldy
Still, those moments were infrequent enough that the core experience felt polished, deliberate, and confident.
The physics-based combat had weight, the animations sold impact, and when things went wrong, it felt like early-access jank rather than systemic failure.
The Half Sword tech demo is free and accessible on Steam right now as well! If you feel like testing the waters, give it a try, it’s a small download anyway.
What’s Been Added To The Half Sword Steam Release Since The Demo
On the surface, Half Sword is undeniably bigger now. The Joker, who arranges fights, is a great addition. He looks completely unhinged, fits the world perfectly, and adds some much-needed personality to what was previously a very mechanical experience.
The new maps are also genuinely well done:
- Slums: A filthy dump beyond the castle walls where solid ground is hard to find
- Alley: A narrow European-style Alley with traps that force close-range fighting
- Cellar: A dim Cellar where low visibility makes for tense encounters
- Yard: The familiar Yard from the demo, just more polished
- Forest: A Forest ambush with a cart and trees that make sneaking up to enemies easier
- Hall: Beautiful walls, elegant carpets, chandeliers, the most advertised map in the game
The Hall deserves the attention it’s getting. Chandeliers, floral artwork, and pillars that interfere with long weapons, it feels like a lived-in place, and fighting in congested alleys and halls is the best part of the game for me.
Battle types add structure on top of these spaces. Circle fights require both fighters to remain within a small area, with the first to step out losing the match. Submission battles continue until one combatant gives up. Knockdown battles end as soon as one fighter hits the ground.
Tournament battles become available after participating in regular fights and filling the rank progress bar tied to prestige, allowing progression from beggar status up through higher social ranks
New Weapons and Weaponsmith
Weapons can be crafted through the weaponsmith, including swords, messers, maces, hafted weapons such as war hammers, casted metal maces, polearms, and poleaxes.
Crafting allows modification of both grip and head size as well as overall mass, with the cost changing accordingly.
Weapon balance plays a role in handling, as heavier and blade-heavy weapons are harder to swing and affect edge alignment. Don’t go around making great swords that are super long because when the time comes, you won’t be able to swing them around, and I don’t want to see you flailing weapons around as I did the past 10 hours.
Polearms and poleaxes being locked behind the weaponsmith rather than the general merchant reinforces that sense of structure. It makes these weapons feel like deliberate commitments rather than impulse purchases
Merchant, Armour, and Buying and Selling
The merchant allows players to buy armour, clothing, and weapons. I really like the way characters are designed here, as the merchant is just a tad bit too chubby, bordering on obesity.
His wares reset every morning, so it’s always worth a look if you’re through a few battles and are thinking about getting new gear for your money.
This Half Sword release uses a roguelike structure, but death does not reset all progress like in the demo. Instead, items stored in the player’s chest carry over to the next character should your one fall in battle.
You can also sell or insure your weapons with the merchant. However, selling weapons provides very little gold, often no more than ten coins, while purchasing or crafting similar weapons can cost two hundred gold or more.
I’d recommend keeping your lower-tier weapons as a backup for new characters should your main one fall.
Time and the Innkeeper
The innkeeper allows the player to rest and change the time of day. Each match consumes a certain amount of time, depending on how many rounds it lasts. Be careful, though, each night spent in the tavern costs 2 coins, which can be quite the sum in the early game.
The Abyss: A Complete and Welcome Overhaul
Remember how the Half Sword demo would just plop you down in the abyss when you were critically injured and about to die? It was your only chance to either claw your way back to life or go down swinging.
This new Half Sword Steam release changes that, with a brand new character named the Seer appearing in the back of the tavern at night. He is shrouded in mystery for now, but he knows how many people you will have to fight once you’re critically injured.
He also gives you the chance to take them on pre-emptively or pay for their souls to be laid to rest.
Where The Full Half Sword Release Starts Falling Apart
All of those additions sound great on paper. More maps, more structure, progression systems, crafting, merchants, and a proper hub area should have elevated the game beyond what the demo offered.
Instead, the core problem is that the combat system feels less stable than it did in the demo.
That’s a serious issue for a physics-based combat game because physics systems only work when they are predictable enough for the player to learn. Right now, Half Sword’s combat frequently crosses the line from frustrating to inconsistent for me.
That was the only reason why I didn’t want to cover Half Sword on our Gaming Page so early on. I’m pretty sure the devs will fix it, but this release was almost as disastrous as Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted on the Switch.
Hits that should clearly connect sometimes slide off characters without registering properly. Blades occasionally snag on geometry or clip through limbs in ways that break immersion. Edge alignment still matters, but the feedback that tells you whether you achieved good alignment is not clear at all.
Yeah, if you have an AMD Graphics card, I’d recommend turning down the gore setting unless you want the blood to look like pixel art. You’d also be lucky if the setting works for you because it did nothing in my playthrough.
Armour Interaction Still Feels Off
Armour should be a defining part of a medieval combat simulator, but right now it’s one of the weakest elements of the experience.
Mail and plate don’t consistently behave the way players expect them to. Sometimes, armour completely negates attacks that look devastating. Other times, a light strike somehow slips through and ends a fight immediately.
Blunt weapons are supposed to be the answer to heavy armour, but they remain awkward to use and difficult to control. Maces and war hammers often feel more like unwieldy physics objects than deliberate tools.
This is particularly noticeable when fighting armoured opponents, where the theoretical rock-paper-scissors dynamic between weapon types never fully materializes.
The Hall Shows What This Half Sword Beta Release Could Be
Despite these issues, Half Sword still shows flashes of something special.
Fights inside the Hall are where the game truly shines. Pillars restrict movement, chandeliers swing overhead, and the confined space forces players to think carefully about weapon positioning.
Long weapons become awkward, shorter weapons become practical, and footwork suddenly matters. In those moments, the physics combat system feels exactly like the developers intended.
When everything clicks, Half Sword feels like one of the most unique melee combat systems in years. The problem is that those moments aren’t consistent enough yet.
Another Rough Launch For An Indie Title
The indie scene has produced some of the most creative games in the past decade, but it has also developed a pattern of rough launches followed by months (or years) of post-release fixes.
Half Sword, unfortunately, feels like another example of that trend. The foundation is strong, the concept is excellent. The atmosphere, characters, and environments all show clear passion from the developers. But the game feels like it needed way more time before a full release.
Physics combat systems are notoriously difficult to polish, and even small inconsistencies can break player confidence in the mechanics. Right now, Half Sword still feels like it’s in the phase where the systems are fighting each other instead of working together.
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