| The Hidden Ones | |||
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| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Register & Pre-Order | Review |
The Hidden Ones is an upcoming arena fighter based on a popular Chinese webcomic. Read on to learn everything we know, our review of the Pre-Alpha version, and more.
Everything We Know About The Hidden Ones
The Hidden Ones Plot
Project: The Outcast is a video game adaptation of the martial arts anime The Outcast, likely covering the events of its first two or three seasons. The story follows an ordinary individual whose encounter with the unusual unveils hidden abilities and leads to entry into a secretive society of extraordinary people.
The narrative delves into themes of identity and power, set against a backdrop of intense conflicts and ancient philosophies. As friendships are forged and rivalries ignite, the characters uncover concealed truths about their world and their own destinies, seamlessly blending high-energy battles with moments of reflection and mysticism.
The Hidden Ones Gameplay
Project: The Outcast is an action-packed fighting game where strategy and patience are key to victory. Players must carefully assess their opponent and strike at the right moments to avoid counterattacks. Each character comes equipped with a diverse toolkit, including combos, strings, unique abilities, dashes, ultimate moves, grabs, multiple stances, and classic fighting game mechanics blended with limited RPG elements.
Battles are fast-paced and deeply influenced by traditional Kung Fu, enhanced with technology, unique mechanics, magical abilities, and elemental effects. These additions heighten the excitement, complexity, and depth of each encounter, making every fight both strategic and exhilarating.
The Hidden Ones Release Date
The game currently isn’t entertaining a release date for public reference. The studio is aiming for a 2025 release, though, so stay tuned!
The Hidden Ones Review (Pre-Alpha)
Might as Well Release It Now
The only reason The Hidden Ones caught my attention was my casual fandom of Bruce Lee’s movies. What does that have to do with the game, you ask? Well, one of his most-cited metaphors—delivered in an ancient TV episode of Longstreet—was also featured in the game’s first promotional video. Back then, it was still called Project: The Outcast, which should have immediately set off alarm bells for my fellow Chinese webcomic fans (and red flags for fans of the webnovel Release That Witch).
For the uninitiated, The Outcast is the subtitle of the Chinese webcomic Yi Ren Zhi Xia (一人之下). It’s a fairly popular series in the East and even received multiple anime adaptations under the name Hitori no Shita: The Outcast. But honestly, even without the name, fans of the series could tell what the game was about the moment they saw two of the anime’s second-season protagonists—Wang Ye and Zhuge Qing—appear in the trailer.
Eventually rebranded as The Hidden Ones, the game revealed itself to be an arena-style fighter, similar to Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm or Dissidia: Final Fantasy, but with fewer aerial combos (to an extent).
It’s All Skill
The Hidden Ones is a game that forces players to rely purely on mechanical skill to win. To enforce this, it almost entirely removes the RPG mechanics that are popular in its mobile gaming peers. In other words, there’s no leveling system, nor can you equip your characters with anything (unless they decide to add that in later).
Each character is limited to a specific set of moves, skills, and gimmicks—core mechanics that are shared across the entire roster. First, every character has a basic attack combo. These have no limitations aside from the usual windup and recovery times. Every character can also block or dodge attacks, though the effectiveness depends on the type of attack being dealt with.
Stamina is a vital resource, displayed as charges that gradually replenish over time. Essential maneuvers such as dodging, recovering from a knockdown, and canceling attacks consume one to three stamina charges per use. Careless usage often leaves you with no means of quickly escaping enemy attacks—something you’ll regret immediately.
Then there are character skills, which are primarily governed by cooldowns and, depending on the character, other conditions. These are your bread and butter for dealing significant damage, as your basic attacks hit about as hard as wet pool noodles compared to these bad boys. However, they don’t just have cooldowns to consider; they can also be blocked or dodged if your opponent anticipates them, forcing you to integrate them into combos to secure a hit.
Getting your attacks blocked or dodged might not sound like a big deal in other games, but in The Hidden Ones, you really don’t want that to happen. Blocks can easily be turned into counterattacks or parries, meaning any reckless attack is just begging to be punished by a skilled player. And when that happens? You’ll find yourself on the receiving end of an extended combo or an entire string just to rub salt in the wound. Dodged attacks, meanwhile, are a much more straightforward death sentence—you’re getting punished immediately.
Finally, there are ultimate skills. They deal massive damage but are also ridiculously easy to avoid. This means you’ll almost always need to land them as part of a combo just to guarantee a hit—and even that assumes you can land an opening to begin with.
Again, there are no RPG mechanics to artificially give you an edge over your opponent. Every match in The Hidden Ones is as much a test of patience and foresight as it is of raw mechanical skill, as both you and your opponent constantly gauge each other’s reactions and adapt accordingly.
This Will Be Free? With Those Audiovisuals?
I’m honestly shocked by The Hidden Ones’ production quality. Calling it good
is an understatement—it’s the kind of polish I’d expect from a game with a $39.99 price tag. And yet, it’s going to be completely free, aside from whatever you might spend on unlocking characters because you're too lazy to grind for in-game currency.
Then again, high-quality free-to-play games aren’t exactly rare anymore. Recent mobile titles have been gunning for premium-tier presentation, catering to dolphins (players who spend around $5–$15 a month) in a way that makes them feel justified in their expenditures. Just look at Wuthering Waves, Girls’ Frontline, Zenless Zone Zero, and Infinity Nikki—all of them look like they were made to compete with full-priced alternatives.
Since The Hidden Ones doesn’t have to render expansive open worlds, the devs were able to pump more resources into visuals, allowing for stunning mystical arts, colossal explosions, and an absurd amount of detail—like the ridiculous number of loose strands in Feng Bao-Bao’s hair. This also means that every frame of the game’s brutal, high-speed combat is rendered in excruciating clarity.
In other words, you’ll be able to watch yourself lose in high definition.
And the audio? No slouch either. The English voice acting is surprisingly solid, which is rare—typically, English dubs struggle with making Mandarin terms sound natural, but these voice actors pulled it off.
Sound design is also top-tier. Attacks hit. Every punch, kick, and impact is satisfyingly meaty, giving fights an intense weight. Combine that with dynamic combat voice lines, and The Hidden Ones might just be the most aesthetically and sonically satisfying arena fighter on the horizon.
My only real complaint? The game stutters a bit in the main menu. But honestly, if that’s the tradeoff for flawless in-game performance, I’ll take it.
Finally, a Balanced Story
I usually don’t mind relentlessly serious game stories. Some of the best live-service narratives—like those in Girls’ Frontline and Arknights—never give you a break, constantly dragging you deeper into their conflicts.
But games adapted from existing comics, anime, or light novels tend to handle story balance better. They mix serious, high-stakes conflicts with lighter character-driven moments, giving players room to breathe. This isn’t exclusive to adaptations. Most major JRPGs use the same approach.
The Hidden Ones follows this balanced philosophy. While the game revolves around the dark underbelly of modern martial arts, it still finds time for banter and mischief from its younger characters. The humor isn’t excessive, but it’s just enough to add some much-needed color to an otherwise serious narrative.
No Gacha!?
Yep, you heard that right: The Hidden Ones won’t be using a gacha system for character acquisition. Instead, players can earn in-game currency through gameplay and use it to purchase fighters directly.
The catch? Characters aren’t exactly cheap. Some even require premium currency, which is significantly harder to farm. While it’s possible to grind for most of them, it’s clear that free-to-play players will have to invest serious time if they want to unlock everyone without spending money.
That said, at least all characters seem fairly balanced; each one is priced the same within their respective currency tier. So, at the very least, we shouldn’t see any blatantly pay-to-win fighters locked behind a paywall.
Extremely Sweaty, Extremely Fun
Saying I’m excited for The Hidden Ones would be an understatement. As someone who used to main fighters, getting a high-quality title for free—one that I can play casually with friends and seriously against strangers—is like a dream come true.
Even better? The game actually has a story mode that isn’t just lazy black screens with white text.
I’ll have to wait a while longer since the game isn’t even in Beta yet, but maybe they’ll do an Early Access release on Steam?
…No way, right?
The Hidden Ones Similar Games
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Wuthering Waves Action, Adventure, RPG |
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Zenless Zone Zero Fighting, RPG |
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