There’s something to be said about the genre of anime and media that blends King-fu-style combat with magic, all set in the real world. It’s a genre that resonated strongly in the late ’90s and early 2000s, and one that I’ve always loved diving into. This is the style of world captured in the new brawling fighting game, The Hidden Ones, and I was fortunate enough to attend a preview in LA this week to see what all the fuss is about.
Based on Hitori No Shita – The Outcast universe, the game brings a lot of elements to the table. While I have some questions about how everything will come together at launch, it delivered some of the most fun and intense combat I’ve played this year. I wasn’t even aware of The Outcast webcomics, animated series, or upcoming movie, but with it available on Crunchyroll, I’m seriously considering checking it out—if for nothing else, to learn more about these characters.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what to expect from when I first saw the trailer, but as I learned more about the franchise and spent time experiencing what it has to offer, I’ve become eager to hear more. Developers Morefun Studio have built a game that is visually stunning and manages to capture the frenetic energy of martial arts fighting to such an extent that it’s hard to put down. With each battle I experienced in the demo, that “just one more game” feeling kept creeping into the back of my mind.
But I digress—it’s worth breaking down exactly what The Hidden Ones actually is.
For those who have not watched the Outcast series or read the comic, the story of The Hidden Ones revolves around a secret group that has mastered the Eight Secret Arts. After an event in 1944, it was believed these Arts were lost along with the people who mastered them. However, in the modern world, these skills have resurfaced, and depending on who wields them, they could bring chaos. Building a world that blends elements such as Chinese kung fu, spells, Taoism, Yin-Yang Bagua, and chi, the universe of The Hidden Ones and Outcast is filled with complex alliances, tense epic battles, and a compelling mix of supernatural concepts and martial arts.
The game takes these concepts and builds different modes around the core ideas and characters, ensuring it is accessible to anyone—even if they have never watched the show or read the comic. The Hidden Ones is divided into a series of game modes (Story, Duel, Boss Rush), each showcasing a different aspect of the experience while offering something unique for players based on their skills and what they want from this style of game.
While each mode in The Hidden Ones pushes you to use the core skills of the game, the way they are tested and the intensity of the battles differ—at least when you first jump in. The Story mode is where I personally started my time with the demo, and it’s where it would make the most sense for anyone jumping in for the first time. If you’ve ever played an anime fighting game’s story mode, you’ll feel right at home here.
“…the universe of The Hidden Ones and Outcast is filled with complex alliances, tense epic battles, and a compelling mix of supernatural concepts and martial arts.”
In the demo session I played, I stepped into the role of Wang Ye, who is out to save his village. To do so, he must challenge the leader, a man named Li Gaofeng. While he emerges victorious in a sparring duel, things quickly go sideways when his second in command, Ling Jiu, murders her master, and he soon finds himself blamed for something he did not do.
The Story mode, while simple, does a great job of teaching the basic skills and the overall battle system. When not in boss battles, The Hidden Ones story mode feels very much like a brawler, where you fight through waves of goons to eventually face the bosses who stand in the way of story progression—and it works.
The boss battles I experienced pushed me to use the skills I learned throughout the story and gradually helped me build mastery of the different systems. The last boss I fought offered a solid challenge, with the snake she summoned adding a dynamic element to the battle.
I will also say, for a story mode that feels designed to teach the core mechanics of the game (this may change as you progress further), it managed to look surprisingly good. Battles and overall animation were solid throughout. While you do face many duplicate goons, as is common in this style of game, the full voice acting gave the experience a level of polish that elevated it overall.
The meat of the game feels like it rests with the Duel mode—the fighting game-style aspect of the experience. This is where you pick a team of three fighters, each with their own skills and abilities, to take on another player doing the same. The selection of nine different fighters provides a wide range of styles and special moves, with the need to choose three forcing you to learn a variety of styles to come out victorious. However, the way the game is designed makes everything feel incredibly intuitive.
This is not a game that rewards button mashing but rather one that becomes incredibly fun once you learn the controls and the flow of combat. Once you get the hang of a fighter’s move set, the back-and-forth in a fight is thrilling, with each move and strike against your opponent feeling well-earned and exciting.
Don’t get me wrong, there is still plenty of polishing needed in the game, but even in its pre-beta state, The Hidden Ones ran incredibly well. The issue lies with the balancing, at least from what I experienced in the demo. While most characters feel fairly well-matched, one character, Feng Bao-Bao, a young woman in overalls with a kitchen knife, felt incredibly overpowered. She was fast, could chain combos in a brutally efficient way, and once she initiated one of her combo chains, it was incredibly difficult to break free and retain enough health to make a difference in the flow of a match.
“…even in its pre-beta state, The Hidden Ones ran incredibly well.”
Granted, this was while playing against other journalists who also didn’t know the game beyond their limited time spent, so this may be mitigated when everyone is on the same skill level—but that has yet to be seen. There were other fighters capable of chaining combos in brutally efficient ways, such as Lu Jin, a cold man with a wild fighting style, but few could go head-to-head with Feng Bao-Bao and walk away unscathed.
The last mode, the Boss Rush section, was unfortunately the one I ran out of time for and only managed to watch others play. From what I saw during the session, the mode feels designed for players who want to build their skills with different characters. With The Hidden Ones throwing progressively stronger bosses at you each round, it quickly tests your mettle and forces you to learn the more complex combos and fighting styles to stand a chance of winning—exactly what you want from a game like this.
It looked like the team at Morefun Studio has built the game to allow players to learn and jump into matches easily, with this mode helping players go beyond simply understanding the mechanics and working to master the many systems at their disposal.
Even with the limited time I had with The Hidden Ones, I have to say I’m impressed. It was incredibly fun to pick up, and the level of fidelity and detail is staggering. Watching the way the animations play out and the attention to detail for each character convinces me that using actual martial artists for motion capture paid off, delivering a game that feels as fluid as it is enjoyable.
Slated to release for iOS, Android and PC in Q3 2025, with a beta planned for early 2025, The Hidden Ones is shaping up to be a game to put on your radar. The team wasn’t discussing monetization at this event, but if they manage to nail that and deliver a game with this level of polish while making it accessible to all players, they could have a winner on their hands. It looks great, plays incredibly well, and feels like a game any fighting fan will want to check out.