F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch - An Anthropomorphic Rambo in the Middle of Eastern Dieselpunk

What do you know about Chinese gamedev? I don't know much either. I associate Celestial gamedev with conditionally free shooters, where on the screen two opposing squads of girls in miniskirts are fighting each other, shooting from submachine guns, framed in bas-reliefs. Or the same girls with full-length swords in the middle of some fantasy world comes to mind...

That makes it stranger to see an inexperienced Chinese company TiGames project like F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch. Well, a Chinese platformer-metroidvania with an anthropomorphic character in the title role in the middle of a dystopian world in the dieselpunk setting... TiGames, you were able to interest...

Rabbits are not cowardly at all, that's a silly stereotype

The world of the not-too-distant future. Six years before the game's events began, the machines rebelled, plunging the planet into war. The machines won the war, so the world in F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch is a cross between George Orwell's 1984 and Tim Burton's 9...

The war left bloody wounds in the world, but the war heroes did not rest in unmarked graves, but mostly turned into renegades and recluse. The main character is just one of them. Rabbit Rayton fought in the war against the machines, and after the defeat of his army began to live his life aimlessly. Rayton has a friend, a bear named Ursa.

Raynott's life is not rosy, but for the time being he endured the blows of fate. The last straw in the cup of Raytheon's patience was the arrest of Ursa by the local police. This Rayton could not tolerate. Rabbit returned with an echo of the war, the only spoils of war - a huge cybernetic arm, which had once been part of his combat robot.

An uncomplicated platformer that works

Although F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch seems at first glance to be an ordinary platformer, the game is stacked and does not break down into elements. The gameplay is interspersed with platform jumps, battles with groups of enemies, and bosses. Each element is worth explaining in more detail. 

The combat system, on the other hand, is much more complicated. Our Raytheon receives coins for killing enemies, which he spends to improve his combat abilities. The RPG element in F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch is not built around the usual "+1 to attack power" upgrades. For money we unlock new strikes for combos. Character characteristics largely depend on the player's sensitivity in finding hidden nooks and crannies, which is how TiGames encourages us to better explore locations and remind us that we're playing metroidvania.

F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch is a rather long game by modern standards, so the intervals between gaining new abilities are tangible. The simplest fist punch we have from the beginning of the game is an attack with medium speed and damage. Later on, Raytheon's fist turns into a slow but mighty drill, and then into a lightning-fast whip with less damage but more range. The game is designed so that as the player gets accustomed to one type of attack, another appears.

You can switch between the three attack modes at any time, which creates room for combos. If the player learns the combination of fast and slow attacks, he can do these combos almost until he loses his pulse. At times like this, F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch is reminiscent of a two-dimensional Devil May Cry.

The good news is that Raytheon's ability to level up doesn't make the game any easier, but rather frees up the player's hands and gives them more options for spectacular battles. In the skills branch, you don't have to buy all the techniques, we won't use them all anyway. TiGames have chosen the right approach to game design, because this way the skills of the player and protagonist are pumped in unison.

Boss battles also succeeded, but not on the same level. Overpowering a boss from the first time is not an easy task. Most of the time, the average player succeeds on the fourth attempt, not before. F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch is not a "Souls-Like" project, so don't expect battles in multiple phases. The bosses here do not have cheat skills, nor do they require tremendous savvy or cyber-sporting skills.

On paper, it's simple - learn the patterns of behavior and gently deplete your opponent's health bar. If you relax, start over.

Is F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch worth buying?

TiGames managed to pleasantly surprise with the release of F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch. There are only a few complaints about the game: there is no way to skip clips, sometimes you have to watch the same scenes 4-6 times. The second complaint is that the fast movement points are located too far from each other, which is extremely inappropriate in metroidvania. However, these roughnesses are shamelessly allowed by the eminent developers, so we will make F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch a big discount as a pioneer and recommend buying it at big discounts. However, the game can't be categorized as a "must-read" game, it's just not a bad game. It's optional to play or skip.