The main hook of Neon Bleed is that all damage the player deals to an enemy is not taken away from that enemy's health. Instead it increases the bleed intensity of that enemy, then that enemy takes damage per second based on bleed intensity.

Also a fun fact, besides the parallelograms used in the UI and the fonts. Every asset in this game is a default asset. I'm very happy with the particle effects especially. This is definitely the best I've done in this regard.

In a bullet hell roguelike game like The Binding of Isaac, sometimes dealing damage and trying to focus on staying alive i.e. dodging the bullets become difficult to do in parallel for the average player. I wanted to see if I could design a mechanic that could teach players how to manage their positioning and damage output. And make the transition to higher levels of technical skill smoother.

I also added on a shield system which I think will facilitate harder difficulties. I was inspired to try this after finishing Furi. Furi is a boss rush game with a parry system + twin stick shooter (I would recommend this game highly). It has a health system and a "life system" by default the player has 3 lives. If the player loses their entire health bar then 1 life will be used up and the current phase of the boss fight will be restarted (but not the entire boss fight). If all lives are lost and the final health bar of the player is depleted. Then the player must start the entire boss fight again. But if the player reaches the next phase of the boss, then all the players lives will be restored. This mechanic is by leagues more forgiving than games like Elden Ring or Dark Souls (which are huge inspirations of mine). But unlike Elden Ring, Furi is entirely difficult boss fights. This mechanic allows the designers to very quickly introduce interesting boss attacks and new mechanics which don't feel cheap as they only cost a single life within a new phase and not the entirety of the boss fight.

The blood shield system in Neon Bleed, works similar but with more diminishing returns. The player starts with 3 shields, taking any damage breaks one shield. If all shields are broken, the player will then take health damage from any damage source. If the player can collect enough blood then they can regenerate all their shields. But if the player takes too much health damage, reducing their health below 66% of their maximum health, then they will only recover 2 shields. And if they have less than 33% of their maximum health, they will only recover 1 shield. The idea is to allow the player to make risky maneuvers so long as they can make up for it through their dodging ability later while collecting blood. This also incentivises the player to deal damage if they are on low shields. The player is incentivised equally to dodge and deal as much damage as possible to regain their safe position.