Blessed Surface

Blessed Surface is a world, containing much to offer, and little commitment necessary. Casual exploration with a skill-rewarding, easy to learn combat system make up the core of gameplay.Combat
In combat, landing your strike cancels your attack animation, allowing you to attack again, immediately. Various degrees of knockback ensure that continuously landing hits will require constant re-positioning. You can equip two weapons balanced around these factors at a time, offering a wide range of builds with diverse movesets. You'll need to find weapons that combo well together, and can adapt to any situation.
Variety in combat styles is also encouraged by collecting temporary weapons and perks. You'll always have your basic equipment, of course, which can be swapped out if you find something you like better.Exploration
Events, both random and based on the real time clock, ensure that you'll always see something different each play session, from different creatures emerging at certain hours, to daily bosses.
Lore and writing fleshes out a fairy tale-esque world, telling you fantastical stories about its unusual inhabitants through various sources, including an in-depth NPC dialogue system.
And perhaps, if you are determined, you might just find the Blessed Surface...FeaturesA seamless open world
Large population of unique enemies and bosses
Skill-based combat system, with different weapons, armor, and perks for variety
Functioning ecosystem allowing for creature population control, invasive species, and other innovative mechanics
Random and timed events
Keyword-based dialogue system, hiding many secrets if you know what to ask, allowing players to take conversation at their own pace
Deep lore and stories to discover
Basic two-player online multiplayer; players are synchronized, enemies from another player's world are not (easily join via Steam, no port forwarding or setup required)Why open-world, rather than a Metroidvania?There are a few subtle differences, in both level design, and the way content is structured. Metroidvania level design is generally a series of interconnected paths, whereas you can think of open world as a perfectly connected grid. Metroidvanias are based on going from place to place to find new things, whereas an open world contains a lot more dynamic systems, to give you a unique experience no matter where in the map you are!
For making it to the end, you have been blessed by the Biter of good fortune.