One of the rare pleasures in this business is when a game legitimately comes out of nowhere and blows you away. With that in mind, you can only imagine my pleasure when realizing that F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch had the potential to be one of these unicorn titles. Does the first outing from relative newcomer Shanghai TiGames have what it takes to create a massive dose of mechanical Metroidvania madness, or will it end up punching below its weight class?F.I.S.T. Forged in Shadow Torch Review – Start at the MiddleIf you were to take a good long look at Rayton, the protagonist of F.I.S.T. Forged in Shadow Torch, you’d probably assume that he’s the bastard lovechild of Jazz Jackrabbit and Marcus Fenix. This in-fur-iated lagomorph (see what I did there?) is dressed to kill in the most literal sense possible, all while trying to reconcile that his best days are long past and the war he was so deeply engrained in, didn’t go his way.The story kicks off in the aftermath of this conflict, where a very active military state has gone into effect, and critters are getting unjustly locked up right and left. Upon hearing that one of his close friends has been sent away to the big house unjustly, Ray sets off to make things right in the best way he knows: by force. Equipped with a mechanical articulating arm attached to his back that doubles as a weapon (among other things), He will set off on one of the best Metroidvanias in recent memory.Though it may not show overly well in the screenshots, F.I.S.T. is a gorgeously dystopian view of a very violent future. As you might expect given the genre, the stages are huge, sprawling interconnected mazes hellbent on confusing the ever-loving shit out of players. And, quite frankly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. When you’re not desperately scouring the map or trying to fend off seemingly endless waves of mechanical dumbasses, you will get the opportunity to explore every nook and cranny of the fully unlocked map.When I say “fully unlocked” that doesn’t mean you won’t encounter countless locked doors or secrets stashed behind lock and key. After all, it’s a staple of the genre at a pretty fundamental level. The game is unlocked in the sense that there is nothing that is forcing you to go in any one direction, and as long as you can manage to navigate without dying, most paths are wide open. A perfect example of this was the misguided hour I spent exploring the sewers, long before any mission sent me in that direction. Let’s just say that the map is going to be your best friend in this open-ended adventure because openness also carries the double-edged sword of getting lost rather easily.F.I.S.T. Forged in Shadow Torch Review – Seeing the SightsAs Ray continues on his quest, he’ll begin to unlock new attachments to his arm, as well as a bevy of different combo-centric attacks. New additions to the arsenal will also open up a whole new series of locations to explore. Utilizing all three attachments will eventually allow exploration of the entire world, but you are forced to earn it first. When observing Ray’s skill tree, the first batch of attacks or enhancements only requires the spending of currency that is acquired through combat or exploration. The second round of upgrades will have a substantially higher cost, but also needs one of the hidden tapes scattered about the architecture before advancing.While attempting to complete F.I.S.T.’s seemingly endless series of nested objectives, you will have your patience, reflexes, intellect, and precision tested. Nothing demonstrates this more effectively than the finely-tuned combat. Instead of forcing you through numerous tutorials to make sure you’re up to snuff, you’re pretty much thrown in the deep end and left to sink or swim. Fortunately for all involved, fighting feels crisp, responsive, and easy to pick up and play.Enemies that you may struggle with early on will eventually become the easiest drones in the campaign. It goes a long way to demonstrate how organically you improve your skills on the sticks over the course of the adventure. Eventually, you’ll learn the odd quirks and tendencies of each adversary, and then the difficulty morphs into throwing numerous enemies at you simultaneously, for wave-after-wave. Honestly, this was my biggest complaint of the entire experience. It got to the point where if I died in a battle, it was simply because they had more husks to throw in my direction, which felt excessively cheap.F.I.S.T. Forged in Shadow Torch Review – Bring the PainThis is even worse in the case of boss battles, which seem to be custom designed around making you want to hurl your controller in frustration. There was nothing like brawling tooth and nail, only to barely squeak by, dispatching the sizable roadblock. Now imagine that instead of clearing the huge bot from the screen, it’s then revived by another massive bot, and now you have to fight both of those giant motherfuckers. Never mind the fact that it took me a dozen attempts to clear out that bastard the first time around, and now I have to do it twice more, without getting a refresh on my health bar. Oh, and did I mention that the checkpoint takes you back to the beginning of the skirmish?Luckily, moments like this were rare, and most times, fights felt challenging but were rarely of the unattainable variety. You get the chance to legitimately feel good at the combat, while also navigating the far-reaches of this world. Throughout this process, you’ll also be coming across occasional abilities that are not necessarily tied to clashes. I mean, who doesn’t want to use a massive turbine to float to the ground, instead of plummeting like a stone?Throughout F.I.S.T.’s surprisingly stout campaign, it’s hard to not fall in love with the world that has been so carefully crafted and oozes atmospheric personality at every turn. It feels like a universe that has very much been lived in and is in desperate need of a hero. Considering the PS5’s relatively young life so far, it’s the perfect time for a title like this to get plenty of valuable attention. It makes the most of every second on-screen and delivers both an appealing and compelling experience from top to bottom.While it may not redefine the Metroidvania style of games by any stretch of the imagination, F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch is a stellar example of the genre done right. Featuring mildly interesting characters, a world teeming with life, and a well-designed map that is very player-friendly, it genuinely feels like it does damn near everything right. As long as you don’t mind an occasional table flip encounter here and there, this is a hare-raising adventure for the ages.F.I.S.T. Forged in Shadow Torch review code provided by publisher. Reviewed on PS5. For more information, please read our Review Policy.8.5 Amazingly well-designed map that prevents excessive backtracking Very amoshperic Combat is crisp, responsive, and challenging Difficulty becomes more about number of units than their quality Some boss battles have an additional stage to screw over the player
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