Indie studio Poor Locke is proud to unveil the demo for its upcoming Sword & Sorcery action-RPG, Crimson Capes—a stylish, punishing, and atmospheric journey that melds Souls-like combat with a rich multiplayer experience. Available now for download on PC, the demo offers a visceral glimpse into the game’s brutal world and its ambitious co-op and PvP mechanics.
At its core, Crimson Capes is a tribute to the unforgiving design philosophies of the Soulsborne genre—complete with methodical combat, Sekiro-like deflection mechanics, and nail-biting boss encounters. It doesn’t reinvent the formula; it honors it. Multiplayer is seamlessly integrated, following the classic blueprint: players can summon allies in drop-in/drop-out co-op or become invaders themselves, hunting down other players in tense, high-stakes duels.
The demo showcases four playable heroes, each with their own distinct fighting style, skill tree, and signature abilities—meticulously animated using rotoscoping techniques to capture the weight, rhythm, and nuance of real human motion. Drawing from historically grounded sword-fighting disciplines, each character feels genuinely lethal in their own way. Whether you’re executing precise cuts with a longsword in true German fencing tradition or closing distance with brutal dagger-and-cloak techniques, Crimson Capes treats martial combat not as spectacle, but as a deadly art. As players progress, they’ll unlock new abilities and refine their approach, shaping their fighter into a personalized weapon of war—equal parts discipline and devastation.
Multiplayer is at the heart of Crimson Capes. Join forces with a friend in online co-op, while opportunistic rivals may invade your world to hunt you down. This interconnected system turns every moment into a strategic risk—do you explore alone for the thrill, or call for aid and risk drawing hostile eyes?
The demo also teases the full game’s intricate level design, with hidden areas, secret bosses, and unique loot scattered across its haunted environments. Players who take the time to stray from the main path will be rewarded with powerful upgrades, rare items, and tantalizing pieces of the game’s dark narrative.
Created by a small but fiercely creative team, Crimson Capes isn’t just another Souls-like—it’s a love letter to the genre’s challenge and mystery, filtered through a fresh combat system and a multiplayer experience that encourages both camaraderie and rivalry.
The Crimson Capes demo is available now on Steam. The full release is expected later this year.
