Forestrike

[h1]Interesting Blend Of Puzzles & Martial Arts[/h1] From the team behind Olija comes Forestrike, a martial art roguelike in which you use the power of foresight to simulate and predict the outcome of every single battle. The visuals have improved in comparison to the previous work, but the iconic, crispy, and grounded approach of the pixelated style remains. It is an interesting take on the martial arts' signature "one vs. all" theme. The game offers tons of tactical depth that rewards not only precision inputs but also strategical resource exchange. Even though Forestrike is a pretty barebone attempt at a roguelike, the process of refining each combat approach is easily rewarding enough for you to keep trying your best. [h2]Things I Like About Forestrike:[/h2] [list] [*][b]Foresight & Combat Puzzles:[/b] If you've played Katana Zero before, you might feel a little déjà vu. Forestrike basically shares the same core idea. In every fight you can use the power of foresight to simulate what's going to happen, to see what the enemies are capable of, and to learn how to deal with them. This is where the game shines the most. Forestrike is not just a 2D brawler. It's a combat puzzler in which you must carefully manage the resource exchange(dodge or block to expose enemies, etc.) in order to come out on top of every encounter. Experiment, explore, and practice all the possibilities until you find the perfect solution allowing you to survive the fight unscathed. Beware, though; unlike Katana Zero, you still need to enact that perfect solution in real time to complete the fight. It's an exhausting but satisfying process of trials and errors. No matter how threatening and difficult your opponents are, you will find the solution, which is something that never ceases to amaze me. [*][b]Schools Of Martial Arts:[/b] The game offers you five schools of martial arts to choose from. Each school plays out vastly differently from each other, including different defensive maneuvers, heavy attacks, and three starting perks that shape your playstyle. For example, The Leaf grants you a dodge that pushes enemies behind you, a heavy kick that sends any opponent flying, and three perks that focus on evading, friendly fire, or swapping positions with others when directly hit. During the run, you can also obtain new techniques to further hone your skills to perfection. My favorite is definitely The Monkey style. It's hilarious that you can simply double the projectiles you throw, surprise enemies in the most ridiculous way possible, or just lie down and watch the opponents hitting each other. [*][b]Other Compliments:[/b] [olist] [*]After completing the fight, you can see the instant replay to see how good/bad you are. You can also slow down or pause the replay to take the screenshot. [*]There is also a fun hat mini-game in which you punch enemies and their hats fly off in the air. You can position yourself to wear them as they fall down. They serve no purposes other than fashion. However, with certain techniques you can even turn them into makeshift projectiles or distractions. [/olist] [/list] [h2]Things I Like And Dislike About Forestrike:[/h2] [list] [*][b]After-run Conversations:[/b] This is a good trend that Hades kicks off in the roguelike/lite genre, and I am glad Forestrike follows through. After every failed run, you can always converse with the masters to have a glimpse behind the doctrine of the schools and their philosophy on life. This design goes a long way to set up the worldbuilding. It's also a natural and good way to turn the frustration of a failed run into anticipation for something different. However, what I dislike about this design is that you can potentially miss out on a lot of interesting dialogues if you succeed at a run. [spoiler] The respective master will leave the monastery for good[/spoiler], barring you any sorts of interactions you can get otherwise. [*][b]Roguelike Elements:[/b] The other problem is that Forestrike only provides the bare minimum when it comes to roguelike elements. It's enough variety to keep the game inside the genre, but you definitely wish there were more. "Protect The Smuggler" is a nice alternative combat puzzle that requires a different approach to solve. Sadly, this is the only variation in terms of combat; stage hazards only stop at falling rocks (second region only) and pitfalls. I wish at least the third and final region could have something interesting for us to deal with. Each region has a distinctive design, but the order never changes. Also, an endless survival mode would be nice. [/list] [b]中文小簡評[/b] 《奧利亞》的製作團隊最新作品，《預視武宗》兼具團隊別緻性的簡單像素畫風，遊戲也以獨特的角度描寫傳統武術「以一己之力對抗眾人」的特色，主打運用「預視能力」在腦中預演接下來的戰鬥會如何發展，不只講求精準操作，亦強調資源互換的特性。雖然本作在roguelike設計方面稍嫌不足，但核心玩法扎實，玩起來微燒腦又十分爽快。 [b]喜歡的點[/b] [list] [*]核心概念其實跟《武士零》有異曲同工之妙，主要都是透過腦內模擬戰場敵人的攻勢，了解敵人特性後思考如何應對，光是這點就讓《預視武宗》跳脫了一般2D格鬥遊戲的框架，每一場對戰都是一道謎題，必須謹慎把握每一次資源互換(閃避或格擋換破綻等)，不斷摸索和練習各種可能性，直到找出最佳解讓你能毫髮無傷地獲勝為止。 [*]值得注意的是，本作與《武士零》不同，模擬出答案後還是得實際做一次才行，因此要盡力校正及驗收你的完美打法。無論敵人隊伍看起來在怎麼難纏難搞，你肯定能找在眾多失誤中找到解決方案，過程雖疲憊但成功打出來讓人非常有成就感。 [*]本作有五種流派可以選，每一種流派各自有不同重攻擊、迴避手段、以及三個初始卷軸(決定你打法的關鍵)，每一run中也能獲得其他流派的卷軸，進一步精進你的打法，玩法十分多樣。我最愛的流派莫過於「瘋猴流」，不只可以狂丟東西，還能用最搞怪的方式震懾(驚訝敵人無法攻擊、迴避或防禦)敵人，亦或是用重攻擊躺在地上看敵人互毆。 [*]戰鬥結束後都有回放可以看你做的多好多糟，也可以放慢撥放速度截圖精彩畫面。 [*]敵人出場時有機率戴帽子，攻擊他們會擊飛帽子，抓準落點你就可以將之戴上，算是個沒啥意義的時尚小遊戲，如果是玩瘋猴流還可以拿來當投擲物用或是主動拋飛震懾敵人。 [/list] [b]又愛又恨的點[/b] [list] [*]很高興《預視武宗》有參考了《黑帝斯》的設計理念，運用角色間新對話將每一次失敗的挫敗感轉化為期待，每一run失敗時你都能在寺院裡和不同宗師對話，讓你一窺各個派系背後的故事以及為師們的人生哲理，有效地豐富世界觀。可惜製作團隊似乎忽略了一點，[spoiler]打贏一輪會讓相對應的宗師離開寺院[/spoiler]，以致於你有極高的機率錯過很多有趣的對話，即使失敗也無法觸發。 [*]另一個問題是roguelike特色差了點，有做到但會讓人期望能有更多：像是戰鬥解謎類別不多，「保護偷運人」就是個很棒的另類解謎，需要完全不同的思路，可惜這也是唯一的衍生；環境危害有，但局限於落石(僅限第二關)與懸崖；每個區域的場景設計各有特色，就是出場安排的順序始終如一，沒有一絲變化。 [*]缺乏無盡生存模式挺可惜的。 [/list] [quote=author]If you like what I write, please consider a follow to [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45738167/]my curator[/url] page, thanks! 如果你喜歡我寫的東西，可以追蹤[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45738167/]我的鑑賞家[/url]喔！[/quote]