Forestrike

Forestrike is a fantastic martial arts Roguelike that rewards reflexes, with the incredibly clever ability to practice each fight before committing.

It’s easy to get muddled in the endless sea of roguelikes, but occasionally, you wander on one that feels really special. Forestrike ticks that box. With a simple premise and a great combination of pick-up-and-play combat and involved strategy, Forestrike makes for a mighty fine martial arts adventure.

My complaints with Forestrike are ultimately quite minor, though. It’s an incredibly unique action game that requires a great deal of planning and foresight to see your way to the end. If you aren’t able to slow down and approach a game with patience than it won’t be for you but if you’re willing to meet it where it is you’ll find a compelling game which feels entirely singular.

Forestrike’s ability to turn mechanical knowledge into meta progression creates a very addictive and enjoyable gameplay loop, allowing you to slowly get better at solving each encounter with grace rather than through brute force. While it does unfortunately fail to provide much when it comes to randomization, the combat system does a great job at carrying the experience, even if the game is overly punishing at points. There are still a couple of rough spots that need to be polished, like the hitstop being way too long, something that can completely throw off your timing when parrying, as well as the RNG for techniques being rough, but Forestrike is bound to please those interested in brutally difficult titles.

Forestrike comes with a refreshingly clever premise. Its seemingly bare-bones combat system actually hides a surprising amount of depth, while its Roguelike layer is the opposite—flashy on the surface but primitive where it truly counts.

Forestrike is an action rogue-like where players can practice every battle before it occurs by using the Foresight. This system in and of itself is fun, but the game can’t get out of its own way with unfair balancing that punishes the player regardless of performance. Even so, when the gameplay works, it works wonderfully, with an excellent sense of aesthetics and a strong story and characters to back it up.

Torn between puzzle mechanics and rigorous martial arts brawls, Forestrike doesn't always find the right balance - but when lightning strikes, it strikes right on target. Finding the true worth of Forestrike requires training, dedication, and a good capacity to handle frustration.