The Little Witch’s Promise

A former hero living quietly among monsters in the forest of Aethernia gets pulled back into the fight when a strange magic sweeps through the woods and turns his old neighbors feral. What starts as peaceful cohabitation ends with him beating the same creatures he used to protect.

The magic strips the monsters of their minds, leaving them rampaging on instinct, and only the hero's blood still running in his veins can undo it. He sets out to find whoever or whatever warped the forest in the first place, fighting his way through the corrupted along the way.

Combat plays out side-scroller style: wear a monster down in battle, then use the opening to channel the hero's power into her and purify the madness out. Winning fights is less about killing than subduing, which folds straight into the encounters themselves as he moves deeper into the forest and closer to the source of the corruption.