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

 PlayStation 5
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 115 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 82 out of 115
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 115
  3. Negative: 21 out of 115
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  1. kasparius
    Nov 24, 2021
    6
    As I played more of the game, it appeared clear that it was developed by fans of the Metroidvania genre with a lack of experience or skill. There is ambition at work here, expansive map, tons of items to discover and ever expansive combat tools, however it is in the fine details that the game falters. Tedious and friction laden stealth and puzzle sections that showcase an inability toAs I played more of the game, it appeared clear that it was developed by fans of the Metroidvania genre with a lack of experience or skill. There is ambition at work here, expansive map, tons of items to discover and ever expansive combat tools, however it is in the fine details that the game falters. Tedious and friction laden stealth and puzzle sections that showcase an inability to spice the game up without resorting to tired ways to challenge the player, and an overall sameness to the entire affair. The creators are trying really hard to create a memorable story and charming characters, but the fuzzy cast seems pulled out of a creepy third rate puppet tv show cancelled after a test screening ended up with traumatized children begging their parents to leave. I’m not sure whose idea it was to have a bunch of rejects from Watership Down and Animal Farm as the unlikely heroes of a clunky futuristic rebellion, but suffice to say I was skipping cutscenes and hitting buttons with zeal during conversations.

    To be honest I’ve always preferred my Metroidvanias light on story and dialogue, environmental storytelling should be key here, and the only thing the environment was indicating was a lack of creative spark in the world design department.

    It’s not all bad, mind you, combat was enjoyable enough in a belt action kind of way, and the presentation even though lacking in style indicates a lot of work went into it, but there is a very strong lack of polish that permeates most aspects of the game and I can only recommend it to Metroidvaniacs who’ve played pretty much every other game in the genre and need a fix. For others, if the mood strikes you there is so much better out there.    … Expand
  2. zzuchara
    Sep 17, 2021
    6
    The game is generally good, the art style is excellent, the combat system pleases, the plot in the style of old superhero action movies also made me smile a couple of times, but the game has a very big but. I did not go through it to the end because I was finished off by your giant labyrinths overflowing with obstacles .. well, this is too much ... I would like to put all 10, but excuseThe game is generally good, the art style is excellent, the combat system pleases, the plot in the style of old superhero action movies also made me smile a couple of times, but the game has a very big but. I did not go through it to the end because I was finished off by your giant labyrinths overflowing with obstacles .. well, this is too much ... I would like to put all 10, but excuse me, I'm not a masochist and the game did not pass. In the end, she disappointed me with her artificially wound duration
    Игра в общем хорошая , арт стиль прекрасен, боевая система радует ,сюжет в стиле старых супергероиских боевиков тоже застиавил пару раз улыбнуться, но в игре есть очень большое НО. Я не прошел ее до конца потому что меня добили ваши здоровенные лабиринты переполненные препятсвиями..это уже слишком много... Хотелось бы поставить все 10 но извините я не мазахист и игру не прошел. Под конец она меня разочаровала своеи упрямои искуственно накрученной продолжительностью    … Expand
  3. Swamileoni
    Sep 15, 2021
    7
    I wrapped up the game last night, here are my thoughts:

    Pros: The game is stunning. The devs paid great attention to detail blending Chinese and Steam-Punk art styles. Many of the areas are large in scale and the backgrounds are very creative. The combat system is fun. There’s good variety and the challenge the game gives you trying to link combos together makes it fun to pummel    I wrapped up the game last night, here are my thoughts:

    Pros:
    The game is stunning. The devs paid great attention to detail blending Chinese and Steam-Punk art styles. Many of the areas are large in scale and the backgrounds are very creative.

    The combat system is fun. There’s good variety and the challenge the game gives you trying to link combos together makes it fun to pummel enemies.

    The platforming is fun and challenging. The team brought together some new ideas that blend well with the different areas. To traverse certain parts of the game, you’ll need to use your gadgets.

    Cons:
    Enemy variety is really lacking. Think of it like the ‘footclan’ in TNMT. They’re all technically ‘footclan’ but some of the members do different things. In one area a new type of enemy shows up, but that was it.

    The battle system needs some work. Switching through weapons is done through either L1/L2 or trough the pad. It can be confusing when executing a multi-weapon combos. Further, one of the weapons is much stronger than the other two. I ran through the whole game with one combo with one specific weapon and it made the game easy.

    The difficulty spike happened too late in the game. You don’t start seeing the game get difficult until the area with the new enemies. Even then, the game was a breeze. I died a few times, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t do a few tries over. From the enemies to the platforming to the bosses, they were all easy. Nothing really screams ‘challenging’ in this game.

    The game was much too linear. At all times, you knew exactly where to go. The game pushes you in a certain direction and in the end, it gives little incentive to backtrack. I understand this is how the story was written, but it made the game feel short. Maybe they could have taken more of a ‘detective’ direction and let you figure the story out.

    Overall I’d give it a 7/10. Although the game is beautiful, the combat is deep and there are some fun ideas, the game suffers from a lack of enemy variety, easy areas / bosses and a forced linear approach.    … Expand
  4. RexZor
    Sep 14, 2021
    6
    This game is a metroidvania that doesn't do anything revolutionary but it has great moments that are hindered by some awkward design choices.

    The combat in this game at first seems very cool and deep especially by the trailers and the combo training lets you see you complex the combos can become. But the issue lies in how clunky pulling off combos are. You have 3 different weapons in    This game is a metroidvania that doesn't do anything revolutionary but it has great moments that are hindered by some awkward design choices.

    The combat in this game at first seems very cool and deep especially by the trailers and the combo training lets you see you complex the combos can become. But the issue lies in how clunky pulling off combos are. You have 3 different weapons in this game and swapping between is not smooth at all. Its very slow and clunky at times and at other times it works fine. Not to mention later on in the game one weapon outshine the other two by a huge margin and makes the other 2 obsolete. Also that best weapon has the least combo variety so you are just spamming simple moves for big damage. On paper this games combat should work but in execution it falls a little flat.

    Overall map design and flow is probably the best thing about the game. There are ton of secrets and collectables so you 100%ters will have a lot to do. The platforming is pretty good not the best I have experienced but it fun. When you are using all the abilities given to you to traverse the map it is satisficing and a joy to do over and over.

    As a PS5 game you expect a certain level of speed. This is the first PS5 game I have played with a ton of loading screens and elevators. And this becomes an issue when you are repeating boss fights because you are dying. You have to wait for the loading screen, run back to the boss then watch an unskippable cutscene every single time before you can fight the boss again. If this was last generation this would not be a complaint but with the current state of games this is not acceptable.

    The difficulty of this game is the same for everyone and it starts off relatively easy and by the final boss fight it is ramped all the way up. Be prepared to die again and again. The enemies also get more complex and tankier the later the game goes on. So if you are looking for a challenge you have it.

    Overall it is a decent Indie game but I would recommend to wait for the price to job before picking this up. Or if you have Xbox gamepass wait for it to maybe go on there. I give it 6 carrot sticks out of 10.    … Expand
  5. xiekaidream
    Sep 27, 2021
    7
    普通模式坚持到雷霆兄弟-。-果断切了简单模式~
    玩起来又想到了墨西哥英雄大混战2，不过墨西哥战斗是无双，这个是硬核格斗~
    到后来变成了无限鞭子蓄力攻击，就像大乱斗卡比无限↓B=。=
    剧情演出有点生硬，女主Lady Q实在代入不进去TAT
    虽然缺点一堆，但还是玩的停不下来~
    期待更多国产佳作~！
  6. Vasot
    Oct 4, 2021
    5
    Another game oriented mostly for kids and teen gamers. Fluffy animals that talk and behave like humans wearing gadgets and carrying weapons typical 3D cartoon game made for the "young audience". While graphically speaking looks pretty good the art and the characters look childish to say the least and the story has many cliché taken from Kids TV shows....As for the gameplay it's a veryAnother game oriented mostly for kids and teen gamers. Fluffy animals that talk and behave like humans wearing gadgets and carrying weapons typical 3D cartoon game made for the "young audience". While graphically speaking looks pretty good the art and the characters look childish to say the least and the story has many cliché taken from Kids TV shows....As for the gameplay it's a very linear game the enemies are lacking in variety it gets repetitive fast. It's one of these casual games after you finish them you just forget about them… Expand
  7. xenomorf
    Apr 15, 2023
    6
    Nice metroidvania game. But th inaccurate controls ruin it a bit for me. This becomes apparent in the barrel challenge in the western range where hits are not registered. Very frustrating
  8. SprigganXIII
    Dec 27, 2021
    5
    So this has been in my back log for a few months. I am 12hrs into the game and it has it pluses but the combat in this game needs a lot of tuning work:
    Examples: Do the Combat Training and while the combos aren't hard there is often delay that cause them them to fail, most while attempting mid-air/jumping combos or when you change to change weapons these combos will fail 90% of the time    So this has been in my back log for a few months. I am 12hrs into the game and it has it pluses but the combat in this game needs a lot of tuning work:
    Examples: Do the Combat Training and while the combos aren't hard there is often delay that cause them them to fail, most while attempting mid-air/jumping combos or when you change to change weapons these combos will fail 90% of the time do to input delay.
    Throwing enemies should be a fun experience (there is an achievement to throw 20 flying enemies into another enemy) however everything needs to be perfectly set-up in the stupidest way:
    1. If you are slightly above or below an enemy you will only ever toss an enemy straight so you will auto miss.
    2. If enemies are stacked you will grab one then throw through the nearest enemy instead of hitting it.
    3. Throw distance is tiny so make sure you're close be not too close... see above point.
    ^ All the above points could have been fixed with auto-targeting and would make the enemy toss fun and satisfying.
    Enemies have more I-frames then the player.
    Devs put a lot of thought in to the combat, you can tell with all their systems, but they didn't tune it at all so while you will have combos you will NEVER use them because you're more like going to take more damage trying to pull them off then will do the enemy.    … Expand
  9. DarthAlco
    Sep 17, 2021
    7
    Really good fun, cool move set, awesome character design and world building.

Awards & Rankings

36
#36 Best PlayStation 5 Game of 2021
43
#43 Most Discussed PlayStation 5 Game of 2021

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 35 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 35
  3. Negative: 0 out of 35
  1. Gamersky
    Dec 2, 2021
    92
    As a Metroidvania, F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch has achieved the point of "making players feel comfortable". Even if you are not a fan of this type of game, its comfortable controlling feel, brilliant gameplay and moderate difficulty are still worth to try.
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  2. CD-Action
    Nov 15, 2021
    85
    Torch City is really impressive. Every district has its own unique style and all the environments are extraordinarily detailed. The game’s atmosphere is fantastic, exploring the wonderfully designed world is very engaging and the combat system is great. Just go on and play it, unless you’re allergic to backtracking, because F.I.S.T. relies on it quite heavily. [11/2021, p.27]
  3. Meristation
    Oct 21, 2021
    80
    Forged In Shadow Torch is a highly recommended adventure for fans of metroidvania style, with gorgeous graphics and art design and frenzied and forceful gameplay. Only some issues about control and difficulty keep it from excellence.
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