Developed by Chinese company TiGames and published by Bilibili, F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch really cures that itch of Metroidvania style gameplay we don’t normally get as often as, at least for me, would like. When it was first announced at a Playstation State Of Play event, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. It’s a bunny with a giant mechanical arm. A concept like that could easily go either way and luckily, I’m happy to say that pretty much all of the decisions behind this game were ultimately the right call for what they wanted to achieve.
You play as a former pilot that goes by Rayton (who also happens to be a rabbit), who is seemingly retired from battle and just trying to live his life. When one of his close friends gets captured by the robotic villains that have taken over Torch City Rayton takes it upon himself to get back to what he does best; kicking butt with a giant robotic fist! Over time we learn more about Rayton’s backstory and some rivals he has made along the way. The story works well enough, it knows what it is and takes itself extremely seriously. With a furry steampunk type esthetic if they decided to poke fun at themselves the entire illusion of this crazy sci-fi fantasy would go away.
Gameplay is king here, while it is a side-scroller, you are given a lot of abilities and upgrades to work towards. You start off with basic attacks, but as you gain more and more currency you can start unlocking some great attacks that complement one another very well to form some really fun combos. The game was made on Unreal Engine 4 and it looks incredible. While graphics are usually an afterthought in a Metroidvania experience, there was no compromises as far as character designs and especially the map designs. While you pretty much can only go left, right, up, or down it doesn’t mean that what you’re looking at has to look so flat and “FIST” is a perfect example of this. They add so much depth of field to the environment, it really helps flesh out their world of Torch City and make the overall experience that much more enjoyable.
The overall experience is also rather lengthy, depending on your skills it could take you up to around 15 hours to complete, maybe even double that if you’re a full-on completionist. Be sure to be very thorough when exploring the maps, because there is a lot hidden and most of it is to help you skill up faster. Just when I was thinking I was taking too long in areas when exploring I was rewarded with something really special, so stay vigilant! I’ll admit I struggled at parts, so I may not be as experienced as others, fortunately they did have more than one difficulty option to choose from.
With a crazy concept, crazy characters, and everything tying together so well, it makes this steampunk adventure just super cool. While running at a very clean 4K 60 frames per second on my Playstation 5, I think F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch very easily gives fans of side-scrolling Metroidvania games one to remember for the foreseeable future.
8/10
Check Out the F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch Trailer:
For more information, visit: https://store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/10002960/
PlayStation 5 Review
Gaming since I was given an original Nintendo as a kid. I love great storytelling and unique ingenuity. When both collide in a single game, I'm a happy gamer. Twitter/IG @NickNavarro87
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