Death's Gambit Is 2D Dark Soulsvania Of The Colossus

Death's Gambit [official site] wins because the 'D' in its logo contains both a skull and a scythe. It wins because it's not on Kickstarter after being picked up by Adult Swim Games. It wins because it's a side-scrolling slasher which depicts Shadow of the-style colossi with crisp pixel art. Come see the first trailer below and a curated selection of GIFs from the game's development blog.

It's nice that Dark Souls exists now so people don't have to describe gothic-medieval combat games in relation to Castlevania alone. I'm going to go elsewhere with this and say it is Golden Axe to Titan Souls' Gauntlet.

Described as an action-RPG, the game's site sums up the three tenets of the experience: "Climb big creatures that will test your resolve. Fight dangerous monsters that will make you think outside the box. Give up everything for glory." There's a little more information on the game's development log but not much, although you might be able to glean a little more about the rhythms of its combat from GIFs showing its blocking, dashes, rolls, and health bars.

I promised a curated selection of those GIFs, but actually I'm picking just one. Red trees in a stark, snow-covered world is all you need: