Promising action RPG goes viral as a "capoeira Soulslike" where spinning kicks beat magic, dev explains why the Afro-Brazilian martial art is so important

Upcoming action RPG Deathbound has been on my Steam wishlist for several months, and it recently had a bite of virality thanks to a newly rediscovered clip of one playable fighter using capoeira martial arts to absolutely dismantle some monsters by kicking their teeth out, foregoing the usual Soulslike slew of swords and magic. According to narrative director Thiago Baptista of developer Trialforge Studio, capoeira actually stems from a pillar of the game's design. 

Are you familiar with Capoeira? In #Deathbound, one of the fallen warriors can decimate enemies without relying on weapons or magic...#SoulsLike #DarkFantasy #ActionRPG #IndieGame pic.twitter.com/m5YIbSVpd2November 30, 2023

The whole pitch for Deathbound is absorbing and utilizing the fighting styles of fallen warriors from around the world, even forming a sort of one-person party of fighters to swap between on the fly. Capoeira, then, is just one style of melee available to you. 

Baptista recently discussed the role of Mamdile Ogaté, the capoeira fighter seen in that viral clip, and Afro-Brazilian history in Deathbound. In a Twitter thread, he explains that Mamdile "is a fighter of the Sinjwari, a monastic Order of fearsome capoeira-fighting warrior-monks, dedicated to Goddess Death and Her Church." Mamdile's homeland is the Sayabakn Sultanate, one of Deathbound's four nations, which is based on medieval West Africa. 

"We made a point of having a kingdom based on medieval Africa, especially on the Ghana and Mali Empires, because of the way Africa is generally portrayed in Western media - a primitive, 'tribal' land of hunger, misery and backwardness," he says. "A racist picture, scar of white colonialism."

"Mamdile Ogaté is a way for us to explore this rich culture and pay homage to the strong African origins of Brazilian culture," he adds. "Brazil has the largest black population outside of Africa, and our capoeira, for instance, is a product of our African (especially Angolan) roots." 

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