Have you ever wanted to dive into a tactical kung-fu fighting game? Well then, I welcome you to Forestrike. This game has a retro pixel style with great foreground and distant terrain detail, which fits nicely into the side-on-view. You embark on a journey playing as Yu, a martial artist, travelling through the country to free the empire from the evil Admiral’s influence and facing more challenging foes as he progresses while learning new techniques from one of five unique masters.

Starting in Forestrike, you can play the tutorial or go straight into the main game. Beginning in the tutorial, you get a full rundown of every game mechanic, with each level getting more challenging with new enemies and new skills to use. With Foresight, you can test and practise engaging the enemy without consequences and work on a strategy for the real battle ahead. You only have one life, so if you die, the game resets, so it’s best to learn your attackers first, as you are always outnumbered.

With the main story, as you progress through levels, you get the choice of three cards, which can be passive bonuses or active ones, which can help you immensely through your journey, not to mention replayability. Some enemies you can look forward to facing are shamblers, as they are drunk and can only melee attack.

Next are the chargers, which run at you and knock you down, and finally, the tank, a massive buff guy who, if they slam their fists into you, it’s almost an instant death; the rest I’ll leave for you to find out.

With controls, playing with a controller is recommended as there is full support, and the game feels natural and smooth. The game also supports a mouse and keyboard, although I suggest something other than that, as buttons are everywhere, making it feel clunky and rough.

I noticed with Forestrike that it can be very complex to choose passive skills further down the line. As it may impede your progress and force players to restart, it does build a great strategy tactic, making every choice you pick and may further affect the game, with also falling on what master you choose to take with you on your adventure as each master has different abilities some of which are still locked due to the game not being fully released yet.

So, I’m excited to see the new changes and additions to the game.

One thing that caught my eye was the graphics with its pixel art form with smooth animations and unique transitions, showing what pixel art should look like. Even the rain and explosion effects work so well, pulling it together with the foreground and distant terrain with shading, giving it fantastic depth.

Sound was also a critical key to making this game so much fun to play. Each action and enemy had its own sound, bringing the whole game together. Realistic rainfall sounds and peaceful, yet critical music helped the levels flow nicely.

I think Forestrike has a great story that blends well into the game and provides a good chunk of time by being able to replay and change up the entire strategy, along with the current content. I can’t wait for the full release to see what they bring to the table.

Even though as you play, the harder it gets, it gets easier with abilities and passive skills. I would like to see a difficulty setting for those wanting to push their strategy skills to the limit. Otherwise, Forestrike is a fantastic game.

Written by: TypicalCambieAU