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

Worth buying? What 282 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 282 Steam reviews actually say.

Very Positive · 87%Very Positive · 87%2021

$15.99

US Steam price, checked 4 h ago

The verdict

A good-looking dieselpunk animal metroidvania with deep combo combat and a well-built world. Skip it if you want tight controls, easy backtracking or a gripping story.

Great for

Metroidvania fans who want a striking dieselpunk world and combo-based combat, ideally on a controller

Main risk

Clunky, unresponsive combat and parry plus tedious backtracking with few fast travel points

What players love

Gorgeous dieselpunk art and world

Mentioned in ~1 in 3 positive reviews

“This metroidvania has one of the greatest worldbuilding I've ever seen! Dieselpunk is a rare fictional genre, but this game nailed the aesthetics!”
Steam review · 20.9 h played ↗

“Unlike many others, simply a beautifully drawn metroidvania. Attention is paid to literally every screen.”
Steam review · translated · 27.1 h played ↗

“I would often find myself pausing and take my time to suck in all the beautiful volumetric fog, screen reflections and rain effects.”
Steam review · 24.1 h played ↗

Fun combo-based combat with three weapons

Mentioned in ~1 in 3 positive reviews

“the game have a very good and solid combo system that pays well if you dedicate the time to learn them!”
Steam review · 25.7 h played ↗

“this game has such rewarding and satisfying "OOOOMPH!" sounds in combat - I LOVE it!”
Steam review · 22.5 h played ↗

Voice acting and story are enjoyable for many

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews

“I really appreciate all the voice acting and actual story.”
Steam review · 19.7 h played ↗

Well-designed levels and rewarding exploration

Mentioned in ~1 in 6 positive reviews

“You’ll go through a level and unlock a shortcut or different levels connect in ways that are quite creative.”
Steam review · 12.1 h played ↗

“Rarely do I feel the need to 100% but this was one of them.”
Steam review · 17.4 h played ↗

Great value and solid length

Mentioned in ~1 in 17 positive reviews

“+1 Lots of gameplay.”
Steam review · 19.8 h played ↗

“The game is long. I got all achievements to 100%.”
Steam review · translated · 33.1 h played ↗

What players complain about

Clunky, unresponsive combat

Mentioned in ~1 in 3 negative reviews

“unfortunately the controls feel clunky and unresponsive in combat which can require quick switching of weapons and a variety of multiple inputs to deliver effective combos.”
Steam review · 5.9 h played ↗

“Combos have long wind-ups and are unreliable. Enemies often ignore attacks, with weighty hits treated like a light breeze.”
Steam review · 11.6 h played ↗

Weak story, characters and voice acting

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews

“Atrocious voice acting, dialogue, and story.”
Steam review · 12.3 h played ↗

“It's the most boring, unimaginative narrative I have ever seen.”
Steam review · 10.3 h played ↗

Tedious backtracking and few fast travel points

Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews

“one teleport per location, and some locations have none at all”
Steam review · translated · 19.2 h played ↗

“So much backtracking and even when you finish an area, you're forced to trek all the way through the area you just cleared.”
Steam review · 11.3 h played ↗

Parry and controller input problems

Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews

“if you are using a controller, you won't be able to parry consistently.”
Steam review · 16.4 h played ↗

“I found it registers flawlessly using the d-pad, but not on stick.”
Steam review · 9.4 h played ↗

Broken combo training challenges

Mentioned in ~1 in 10 negative reviews

“During the advanced training, you literally can't get through it because the inputs needed to accomplish the chain of combo won't work right.”
Steam review · 49 h played ↗

“Impossible training with weapon switching!”
Steam review · translated · 13.2 h played ↗

Brutal final bosses and difficulty spikes

Mentioned in ~1 in 13 negative reviews

“there is a massive difficulty jump on the final two bosses”
Steam review · 20 h played ↗

“The water levels are boring and an extreme draaag. And the last 2 bosses are terribly designed.”
Steam review · 10.7 h played ↗

System requirements

From the Steam store page

Steam Deck: Verified

Minimum

OSWindows 10 version 1903

ProcessorIntel Core i5-6400 or AMD FX 8320

Memory8 GB RAM

GraphicsNVIDIA GTX 960 or AMD Radeon R9 280

Storage25 GB available space

Recommended

OSWindows 10 version 1903

ProcessorIntel Core i5-6400

Memory16 GB RAM

GraphicsNVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB

Storage25 GB available space

OSWindows 10 version 1903

ProcessorIntel Core i5-6400 or AMD FX 8320

Memory8 GB RAM

GraphicsNVIDIA GTX 960 or AMD Radeon R9 280

Storage25 GB available space

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