Exanima is not a forgiving game.

Exanima

http://www.baremettle.com/games/
A medieval dueling game and dungeon crawler. I personally don't care for the dungeon crawl aspect and stick to the Arena mode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfoiafyodJw
This isn't the full Arena mode, but the practice version. The real thing features buying/trading items, picking out different kinds of fights (including bareknuckle brawling), managing a stable of hired and recruited fighters, etc.

The combat system is different from most any other game I've played and quite hard to "get" at first, but man, once you finally understand and git gud, the most satisfying thing is how viciously you can end most fights and how it shows the effectiveness (and occasional downsides of) armor. Some people do naked or leather runs, but that's a really good way to get murdered in-game, whereas with a full suit of plate, your odds of actually dying are low (KOs are another matter). With the physics involved, you can do all sorts of cool shit with weapons, like having your bill snag on a dude's shoulder armor and wrench him to the ground or using your voulge's sweep to actually knock someone off their feet. Or getting two kills with one blow using a two-handed sword.

You can even do a hadokken-style rising uppercut and knock people flat on their ass!

My original Arena main.

He also doubled as my pit boss, which was something of a mistake. Of course, I didn't realize until I was hours and hours into building him up into an expert combat monster. Clad in layers of leather, padding, mail, lamellar and plate, while being armed with only the finest in bardichery, he was pretty much a medieval murder machine. Easily capable of taking on full-plate Masters in challenge matches.

In the end, it was my hubris that killed him.

He was fresh off back-to-back elimination (six fights in a row) matches, saving up for the big ticket items like a pole-axe and switching out the mail+lamellar setup for full-plate armor, so he was a little beaten up. Probably 40% health as far as the red bar (permanent damage) went. But I was on a hot streak and another Master challenge match popped up for big $$$. I could have just done pugilism and healed a bit, but figured greed was good.

Start the match and the first thing I see is a full-plate opponent armed with a pole-hammer.

I wasn't anxious or concerned, just a bit more excited -- pole-hammers have long reach and can hit very, very hard, regardless of my fighter's armor -- and played things a bit more conservative than usual. One good hit along with two mediocre ones and Mr. Wanna-Be Knight seemed destined for a fall. My fighter was still fine, modest amounts of stamina lost, but the actual red bar remained at a third. No big deal. At least until I stepped in at the exact wrong moment and caught a pole-hammer to the jaw.

Down goes my fighter.

My pole-hammer armed foe casually strides over and hesitates for a second or two, letting my fighter rise up, then lazily raises his pole-hammer and drops the blunt end right onto my fighter's plate helm. I could hear the solid crump of metal and cry of anguish. That's when I looked down and saw a full red bar.

"Is he dead?"

Clicking Exit and being taken to the start screen confirmed my worst fear. I had died, lost all the items in my possession, all the other recruited and hired fighters, all the money, everything.

RIP in peace, old medieval murder machine. :(

Guilty of assassination.

And ending my first Arena career by killing the pit boss. Look at him, staring up, begging me to come down there and do something about it.

My new main.

How far the mighty have fallen. Mismatched and garish colors, mostly cloth armor (not even a leather tunic, just that pink gambeson and green waistcoat) with minimal head and leg protection to boot. At least my shoulders and forearms are protected.

The winged spear (called "a short spear" in-game) is actually surprisingly effective for its level. Thrusting is a bit difficult to get the hang of and requires training a whole separate set of instincts to effectively know timing and reach in a fluid fight, but you can pick through the guard of shield-users (bane of everyone) by aiming for their usually less-armored feet and legs. Or you can attempt a dramatic blow by sending a thrust straight at their face and seeing whether the shield can rise to block or parry in time.

So it isn't all bad, but I still have a long march back to the top, especially when it comes time to train up other fighters. Fortunately, I have a non-fighting pit boss, so there won't be a repeat of the first ending. I still might have my main get killed, but at least I'll get to keep the money, items and other fighters.

Remember kids: it's all fun and games, until your pit boss' getting maimed.