After more than 3 years of development as a SoloDev, this project has gone through various stages and many changes since the initial idea. Furthermore, it has been over a year since the release of the Demo, which has been consistently updated with improvements and changes that better align with the current vision for the project.
In addition to the name change from Reinforced Hearts to Parasited Will, I will detail some of the game's features below—some already present in the latest Demo version and others exclusive to the Early Access version, which is still in development.
Thank you for all the support shown through the current Wishlists; we managed to surpass the 1,400 mark, and I hope it keeps growing. Development continues toward a first final version for Early Access, which will contain the first chapter of the story.
Greetings and have a great start to the year 2026.
Rage Mode and Concentration
Concentration consists of 30 units divided into 3 spheres of 10 units each, following three basic principles:
Gain 1 unit of concentration for every hit landed on any enemy.
Gain 10 units of concentration for every successful Parry.
Lose 2 units for every hit received.
Rage Mode is an empowered state that utilizes the concentration gained by hitting enemies without taking damage. Once activated, it can be used in several ways:
Increased movement and attack speed, as well as increased attack damage for 5 hits.
Rage Dash: Exhausts Rage Mode to allow teleportation in one of the 4 directions when using the basic Dash.
Rage Avoid: A defensive move consuming 5 units of concentration. If the player is hit and uses the Rage Mode input, the character performs an evasive maneuver to move away from the enemy and reposition for a counter-attack.
Grapple Hook
The Grapple Hook is an item used for both combat and traversal, depending on how it is applied:
Full Combat: Used against small enemies, it pulls "Hooked" enemies toward the player. This works regardless of whether both are on the ground, the player is airborne, or the enemy is airborne.
Combat Mobility: Used against large enemies, "Hooked" targets act as solid objects, and the player pulls themselves toward them to continue fighting. Warning: If attempted against Bosses, they may perform a Parry and pull an unsuspecting player toward them instead.
Full Mobility: Activated when used on the environment (posts or tree branches) to cross terrain that cannot be navigated by simply jumping or running.
Foundry and Shredder
The Foundry and the Unraveler are utility stations located in the village blacksmith shop:
Foundry: Allows you to transform scrap metal obtained in dungeons into Iron Ingots, which are used to craft Equipment.
Shredder: Allows you to transform cloth scraps found in dungeons into Balls of Yarn, used for crafting Equipment.
Random Loot Box
These are random loot boxes that appear in random rooms within dungeons. Their spawn probability and potential loot vary according to the dungeon's difficulty.
Difficulty Modes
A new sequential difficulty system has been implemented, enabled based on the current quest:
First Step / Prelude: Involves the first incursion into the dungeon.
Branching Point: The difficulty level where the dungeon Boss battle occurs.
Aftermath: Same difficulty as Branching Point, but without the Boss (canonically defeated).
Boss Rush: Face a powered-up version of the dungeon Boss directly. To enter this mode, you need special keys obtained in "Branching Point" and "Aftermath" modes.
Character Swapping During Gameplay
You can now switch characters during a dungeon in two different ways:
Campfire: Found in certain rest areas within dungeons. Interacting with it allows you to freely select your character without consuming items.
Parasite Invoker: A new craftable item made from "Parasite Remains" (dropped by enemies) and "Wood Scraps" (obtained by hitting broken trees). To craft it, you need its blueprint, found in Random Loot Boxes.
Note: This item allows character swapping even during battle. It must be used tactically as the transition is not immediate.
Cooperative Modes
Three cooperative game modes have been implemented:
Local Hosted Server Co-op: Opens a session where one player acts as the Host and companions act as Guests.
Dedicated Server Co-op: Commands the cloud to open a session where all players act as Guests.
Local Co-op: An offline mode without a network session. Each player uses a different character with different controls (Keyboard + Gamepad or Gamepad + Gamepad). To enter this mode, you must have more than one character on your account.