All those who come here not by choice,
but by an act of the Goddess.
You'll need to fight.
Rune Fencer Illyia is an upcoming PC Platform Game about Illyia of Moonstone, a teenage girl and fledgling Runist who wakes up in the debris of the airship she had been traveling on. Now, she finds herself in the Sunken Kingdom of Ithos, a mythical ancient island that supposedly sunk beneath the waves thousands of years ago. Illyia must explore this strange, ruined world that she's arrived in, find her missing twin sister, and the way home.
Illyia of Moonstone is a young, tomboyish Runist-in-training, seemingly incapable of performing most kinds of Runic, outside of summon a conjured runic sword. While her timid twin sister Lilly of Emerald is considered a genius child prodigy capable of using an immensely powerful Emerald glyphstone, Illyia has yet to graduate past a beginner's glyphstone: the humble but versatile Moonstone.
As the game begins, Illyia gains the ability to temporarily steal an enemy's Rune, using their own abilities and weapons against them. She eventually also learns skills like running on walls and ceilings and temporarily stopping time.
Created by Nootbox Games with a core team of two people, the game is a massive 2D Metroidvania inspired by games like Zelda, Dark Souls, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, Kirby, and more obscure Playstation 1-era Action RPGs like Brave Fencer Musashi. It is a considerably challenging game, with the difficulty considered to be more in the range of Souls-like games than most in the Metroidvania genre.
Tropes:
- Action Girl: Illyia is more athletic and physical than your typical Runist, doing acrobatic feats and slicing enemies apart with her conjured blade.
- Bow and Sword in Accord: Illyia can use both her sword and a bow together, provided she has stolen a Bow rune.
- Character Title: Illyia of Moonstone is referenced in the title "Rune Fencer Illyia."
- Cloudcuckoolander: Shelke of Malachite, who wants Illyia to help her free the souls chained to the cursed kingdom of Ithos - has a very dreamy, detached way of speaking, almost to the point of seeming rather ditzy.
- Cute Bruiser: Other characters are surprised by Illyia's sheer strength and hardiness, despite her general tininess.
- Glass Cannon: Illyia can deal a lot of damage, but she doesn't have much health to spare - potentially getting one-shot in several scenarios.
- Accepting the permanent Mark of Pain memory stone doubles the damage Illyia takes, making this even more relevant.
- Healing Checkpoint: The Goddess Statues heal Illyia when she prays at them, as well as allowing her to eat meals for temporary buffs.
- Idiot Hero: While not an idiot, Illyia herself clearly feels like one compared to her bookish twin sister, Lilly. She has very little interest in book-learning, and her impulsive nature seems to get her in trouble at the academy.
- The Lancer: Ceci of Aquamarine acts as Illyia's foil from the very beginning of the game.
- Magic Knight: Although other Runists seem more on the squishy mage side of things, Illyia and Solina focus on using their conjured swords just as much (or even more than) more typical Runic.
- Mercy Invincibility: Illyia receives iframes after being hit, and bonus invincibility frames upon a successful knockback recovery.
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Nintendo Hard: The game can be brutally difficult, particularly in boss battles. Illyia can be killed in only a few hits, requiring skillful dodges. - Status Effects: Illyia can be afflicted with many status effects, such as Poison (constant HP loss) or Blight (unable to Heal).
- Summon to Hand: Illyia can quickly summon her conjured runic blade to her hand to an instant.
- Power Copying: One of Illyia's core abilities is being able to steal a Rune from any enemy and use it to cast runic spells inspired by that enemy's weapon or skillset.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Illyia is cheerful, energetic and impulsive, compared to Ceci's frosty attitude and (mostly) stoic level-headedness.
