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"What if you knew you were going to die?
If you knew that thousands would die in your wake?
What if you could stop it from happening?
What would you do?
What wouldn't you do?"


Bloodstained Hands is a 20 hours plus (approximately) RPG following the story of Rain, a young man forced into living his life cloaked in blood and shadows. As he fights to overcome the oppression of a tyrannical Emperor, he will come to realize that evil is not so black-and-white as it may seem, and none can say who the true villains are.

Features
  • A beautiful world artistically crafted using Parallax Mapping techniques
  • A breathtaking soundtrack from Fesliyan Studios (https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/)
  • An immersive story with a fresh take on your typical RPG clichés
  • An ATB battle system with various customizations
  • An intense, dynamic Overdrive system
  • A New Game Plus mode - play through the game with all your party members and skills intact!
  • No RTP. Just extract and play!
  • Various types of crafting
  • Optional mini-games in certain towns and pubs
  • A host of side quests to keep you entertained
  • Repeatable missions for endless adventures


Download Instructions
If you are downloading this game for the first time, just extract and play! No further instructions required. There is a read-me file in the root folder that explains controls and how to modify them.

If you are updating the game from a previous version, simply move your save files from the root folder of the old game into the new one. To ensure the game updates properly, activate the list at the entrance to the Sanctuary at any time after completing the training sequence at the start of the game, then unequip and re-equip your characters.



Thanks to orochii for the game page CSS. Support orochii here.

Latest Blog

Bloodstained Hands v5.9.8!

This update has been ready for a while now, but I just never got around to releasing it. Regardless, here it is! Bloodstained Hands v5.9.8!

What's new?
- Added a new encounter mode, and ability to switch between modes
- Added two new Overdrive skills
- Intimidate now affects enemies with queued actions
- Updated some of the more challenging puzzles
- Modified the secret final boss

Here's a full breakdown of the update list, with the reasons behind each update. Spoilers ahead.

So, first and foremost, the encounter mode. A lot of the feedback I've gotten relates to the random encounters, which is a pretty dated system that doesn't hold up as well in the present day, but does have some nostalgic charm. It seems as though avoidable touch encounters are a preferred method for turn based battle systems, and I agree. So, to that end, I've implemented touch encounters similar to a style seen in Villnoire. However, since I personally like the random encounter system, and I'm sure there are lots of other players that do too, I've kept both styles, and added an option in the System menu to toggle which encounter type you currently have active. Now you get to choose! Bait has also been modified to work with either encounter type, and certain dungeons that don't support touch encounters will still have random encounters.

Next, the two new Overdrives. Major spoilers here. So once you get the two ultimate staves, you get access to the skills Fiend and Celestial. While these skills are certainly powerful and useful, they lose their significance once they've been triggered once. They're basically just a stat buff. What happens when you get another Overdrive ready, but you've already used those skills? You're left with the default character signature Overdrives. Well, not anymore. Now, if a character has either Fiend or Celestial already active, their next Overdrive will unlock Abyssus or Aether, respectively. This is a massive Dark or Light spell that targets all enemies and hits three times, all at no MP cost! Definitely powerful, but takes some preparation to truly pull off!

On to the next update, Intimidate. This skill was pretty useless unless your wait mode was set to Full, since it wouldn't affect enemies with queued actions. Now, it does. It will always drain enemy wait gauges if they're not completely full, but now it will also have a chance to cancel a queued enemy action as well. This could be pretty overpowered, but certain enemies will have a better chance at resisting this skill, although no enemy is completely immune.

And finally, the secret final boss! I've made some adjustments to this boss that make it more than just a simple damage sponge. It still has the same hooks it had before, but it also has a new conversion skill that swaps immunities and resistances to Light and Dark magic - for the player. In other words, while this skill is active, healing magic will damage you, but if you're hit with a Light or Dark spell from the boss, you'll be healed. You can cancel this status at any time, but... well, there is an incentive to keep it active on at least one of your party members. I won't say more than that.


Anyway, that's it for this update! I won't be adding any more content to this game, it's officially done now. I will update it if anyone finds a bug or glitch that needs to be fixed, but this is the final update for Bloodstained Hands. I've had this ready for a while now, but I didn't want to release it until I was sure that I was done with the game and that everything worked smoothly. Thank you to everyone who played this game and gave feedback, you've really helped me to become a better developer!

Posts

Also, there seems to be a mechanic that differs between the final dungeon flame puzzle and the tower of Bestia, in that now all four have to be lit at once and can move off the torches, making it a much more difficult task. How would I solve this puzzle, given the new requirements? Gray is level 52 already, and although I did do a lot of grinding, that was for herbs in order to get healing items. Given that I brought both Gray and Mia I'd envision the final boss would be manageable, especially at my current levels.
Oh wow, yeah you should have no problem with the last boss. As for the flame puzzle, it derives from the top floor of the tower of Bestia, where it was impossible to tell with soldier went to which switch. In this case, you can tell the flames apart, but not which torch those flames go to. Try focusing on one flame at a time, then move that flame onto each torch until you find the correct one. There is also a solution for the puzzle mentioned in the Story Mission Guide.

EDIT: Ugh, I also just realized there's a bug that I didn't fix with the last update. It's not game breaking, but it is annoying. The bug is basically that Imperial Mages will only ever cast Life VII unless they can activate an Overdrive skill. They're supposed to use several offensive and support spells, but I messed with their priority during testing and forgot to change it back. I'll fix it in a later update, but not just yet. Still, keep an eye out for it.
Finally beat Mortalitus, it only took me 4 attempts. This was an excellent RPG, I really enjoyed the unconventional mechanics and storyline. Is there a postgame?
Absolutely, there is a full New Game Plus mode which allows you to start a new playthrough with all your party members intact. You keep your party member levels, your skill levels, any equipment that is not Legendary or a key item, and you can freely change party members from the start of the game. Beating the game on New Game Plus also unlocks a special postgame mission.

Glad you enjoyed the game! Thanks for playing!
Just submitted a minor update. There were a few bugs that I came across in a casual playthrough, and while most of them are not very noteworthy, there was a bug that drastically changed the AI of a particular enemy that I couldn't let go unchanged.

Basically, now Imperial Mages have their AI fixed so that they actually cast their full range of spells, which includes several elemental spells, a healing spell, and a revival spell. Before, they would only ever cast Life and revive fallen enemies.

I also fixed a bug where special death animations could be completely skipped over, as well as several other small bug fixes.

The Menu System Options have been altered for a more consistent UI, and the window color changer has been modified to allow for up to 64 colors, instead of just eight. This also only uses one image file, instead of a new file for each color, so it reduces the file size of the game itself. This SHOULD be compatible with your old saves, but there is a small chance that it could throw an error. Let me know if anyone has challenges updating their game.

Finally, Toxins have been changed. Instead of a (useless) series of damage dealing items, now Toxins apply a special status to allies when used. While this status is active, that ally will have their name displayed with green text, and their physical attacks and physical skills will apply the Poison status ailment to enemies based on their resistances when hit. Higher quality toxins will keep this status longer, and top tier toxins will last for a full 50 turns and you only need one to apply poison to all ally weapons.

As always, this version is (theoretically) compatible with previous save files. If anyone has any difficulty updating their game, please comment below and I'll attempt to fix the problem. Simply download the new version, then move your old save files from the previous game folder into the new one.

Thanks and happy playing!
There is a story mission guide that you can access from the directory on this game page, and the solution to that dungeon is listed under the category "Vengeance." Try referring to that, but if that still doesn't help then let me know more specifically what you're struggling with and I'll see what I can do to help. Thanks for playing!
I don't know if I'll finish it, but you know I like your game and those new adds are nice. The only thing that could has been made differently is the way lockpicking is handled. I'm not delicate enough, I guess, so the only thing I found is to endlessly reset until the moment it's good, since items are important.
Ooh, that's a good point. Haven't done much to balance lock picking since it was first implemented, although the game heavily emphasises preparation, and extra lockpicks can be bought cheap at the sanctuary. There is also a method later in the game of making it way easier, but definitely for the first play through it can be challenging. Regardless, thanks for playing and thanks for the feedback!
I've been working on a little something just for fun. It's not included in the game yet, I have some serious testing to do to make sure this doesn't break the game at crucial locations, but I've re-vamped the party selection screen. Frankly, the old system is archaic and slow, and it makes changing party members a bit of a drag. It also doesn't help that you can only change your party in one specific location, and you have to go all the way back there every time. Kind of a pain. With this new system, you can switch your party right from the menu, as long as you're on the overworld. It's much faster, much smoother, and provides considerably more information about each member that you're selecting. Don't worry, I changed actor names, portraits, and sprites to avoid spoilers in the screenshot below.



The way this works is simple. Actors that are greyed out are currently in your party. Selecting those actors sends them back to your reserve. Selecting a party member that is in your reserve will send them to your party. If you want to rearrange the party order, you can. Just fill your party in the order you desire. You have to select a full party in order to close the window, and you can't select a party that is entirely dead. As you highlight different party members, their info such as portrait, name, class, HP, MP, and applied states will appear at the bottom of the screen.

I took some inspiration from Villnoire on the simplicity of the design, but the code and the execution is my own work. Didn't actually think I could pull this one off, but it works! I'm so excited to share this with you soon!
I want to do the 'Haunted' side-quest after 'The Test' but the quest didn't activate
Hmm. That's strange. Did you speak to the innkeeper in Diamo? And if you did, when did you speak to her? Was it already night time, or was it during the day? I would suggest try speaking to the Diamo innkeeper during the day, that should activate the quest. I'll release a bug fix later, I think there's a problem with trying to obtain the quest at night.

EDIT: Hmm... looking at the quest, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the eventing. There might be something wrong with the variable that triggers the quest, I may have accidentally reset it at some point without knowing. I'll dig a little deeper. Let me know if you manage to make it work.
Right now I'm trying every hour (day&night) to see if its just me or there's something wrong
You've definitely FINISHED the Test, right? It's only available after the main mission. Other than that, I'm not sure what to say, I haven't been able to find anything just yet. I'll keep digging though, it wouldn't surprise me if I included something for testing that broke the game.

If you want to send me your save file in a PM I can take a closer look after work today to check the values of certain variables.
I don't know how to send file here
I tried every hour and it didn't activated (already complete The Test)
Just upload the file to your locker and send me a link to it in a PM. You just need the single file labeled "save1" or whichever one is your current save. I'll definitely have to look into this further, not sure what could be going wrong.
Ah, I forgot about that. I should have mentioned it in the guide, and I'll update that when I get the chance. So, the side mission "Haunted" can only be accepted when no other repeatable contracts have been accepted. This includes "Plant Hunting," "Assassination," and "Infiltration." Turning in those missions will make this side mission available.

The reason for this lies in how homes are accessed at night. During this side mission, progress can be reset when you enter a home or leave the village. Since homes can be broken into during some of those optional contracts, I disabled access to the side mission while those contracts are active, as there would have been compatibility issues otherwise. Try turning in the contracts first, then come back to access "Haunted."
I finished the mission, thank you
you should add warning in the guide
I'm going to release an update in the near future that eliminates that restriction. It's actually really simple to fix, not sure why I bothered to set it up the way I did. Just gotta finish testing a few other new systems to make sure they're fully compatible, but it should be available this weekend.
NOTICE: There is a bug in the latest version, BSH v5.9.5. The bug prevents players from accepting side missions from Sanguine at the Sanctuary. This has been fixed, and the updated version is live. If you encounter this bug, simply download the latest version and move your save files from the old folder into the new one. Sorry for the inconvenience, and happy playing!