F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch

> Pretty but no personality ## Why - Much more realistic graphics than most (any?) Metroidvanias - Tries to differentiate itself with combos/multiple weapons ## Why Not - Combat is going for weighty but lands on clunky - Story/characters do nothing for me - Never felt any desire to play it ## Impressions FIST (what a name) stands out with its impressively realistic graphics compared to others in the genre, but falls down more or less everywhere else. Despite being fully voice-acted the story is ham-fisted and formulaic, exploration is there but basic and the combat just feels bad. There are plenty of optiona available between multiple weapons; each with different attack modes, but it feels too clunky and the enemies are too spongy to be enjoyable. It's a pity because there are some cool ideas here like the skeuomorphic menus and steampunk-with-anthropomorphic-animals aesthetic, but if a game isn't fun to play and its story doesn't pull me in I'm out sorry. Maybe there are people this lands for but for me it feels like a tech demo with some cool ideas that's a chore to play.

Great art design and anthropomorphized characters! Love the steampunk/dieselpunk aesthetic. Movement and jumping controls are good; unfortunately the controls feel clunky and unresponsive in combat which can require quick switching of weapons and a variety of multiple inputs to deliver effective combos. I've played games like Hollow Knight, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, and Grime and during combat in those games the characters did what I wanted them to do, when I wanted them to do it but I could not get that same experience in F.I.S.T. I played for almost six hours and ultimately decided to uninstall since the fighting was most likely only going to get more complex, lengthy and quick paced as the game progressed. I only have so much free time so I will move on to the next game in my backlog and hopefully find something a little more polished.

if you are wondering if you'll enjoy this game enough to buy it go ahead, it was worth it! the game was challenging where it needed to be but fun and smooth in progression most times. i went and got all the extra things to get 100% because it was actually fun to do. the music was just ok but the visuals and environments were awesome! I dont know why but it felt like a RARE platforming game like what donkey kong returns SHOULD have been instead. the weapons and paint jobs you can do on them are very cool and felt original. this game did not just want to give you the same old sword and gun stuff you usually get as a weapon, instead they made things that were complex and fasinating to use.

I like it

I enjoy the story, environment and overall game features. If you want to purchase it on that criteria alone, go for it! The controls in this game are horrific!!!! The game does not respond to inputs correctly and it greatly affects the gameplay negatively throughout the entire game. There is a portion of the game where you need to do training: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Fist, Drill and Whip. During the advanced training, you literally can't get through it because the inputs needed to accomplish the chain of combo won't work right. It is utterly ridiculous and frustrating! I have seen other people post about it as well, so I know I wasn't alone. I reached the end of the game, but before finishing, I wanted to complete all the side missions. After fussing over the Advanced training portion for several hours, I gave up and uninstalled. The combos are fine, but the chains never work right. You can't switch weapons on time, there's always an additional punch when you don't input for one, the character frequently switches directions without an input to do so. There are so many times the game does not trigger an input, even if you hit the button multiple times. IMO, personally, t…

Fun