izigame.me

TL;DR: yes

Pros:
+ Nice world. Immersive.
+ Looks so good. Graphics very nice and detailed.
+ Combat can actually be quite complex and is satisfying once you get some combos down that work for you.
+ 3 very different weapons that you will prefer depending on your play style.
+ Nice soundtrack (I wish the repeating loud noise on the main menu could be muted so I can listen to the music!)
+ Not normally a fan of animal-people but it just works with Chinese folklore.
+ Would definitely play a sequel or spin-off. There's potential here. China is getting really into animated series at the moment (to compete with anime) and I'd watch a series that expanded on this world. Would it be 2D or CG? Not sure.
+ Later bosses actually require strategy.

Mid:
~ Map design: You can tell a good map layout from the bad once the end is near. Once you need to start revisiting areas to collect optional missed things with new abilities, if it's an absolute slog to get from one place to the next, you can tell when the map starts to fail. There are large chunks where there's no shortcuts or teleporters even close to where you need to go, especially the slow and tedious underwater parts. I'm a Metroid veteran so I'm likely very biased here (or experienced?). Starting from maybe Prime 2, Metroid got its act together with traversal. Fusion had minimal backtracking, which is no good, and Prime 1 had way too much, but later games really shine with their end-game maps when item hunting. FIST misses the mark somewhat with exploration and layout. There's no point taking the time to explore while in an area because, unlike Metroid which can get you new optional abilities/weapons, FIST has none. You'll find maybe something somewhat decent like a health or energy piece, but it'll likely be another disk or poster. You're better off just heading to the objective marker and coming back later with all abilities. Some areas feel like a slog to revisit instead of having an itch to get there to see what waits for you.

Gripes:
- Don't slow/hinder my movement when characters are talking!
- Lack of puzzles. There's ONE actual puzzle right at the END of the game but it was too little, too late.
- Parry. Instead of a dedicated parry button (should have been L2, replacing the useless "cycle through weapons" button), the developers opted for you needing to be standing completely still and then tap the stick towards the enemy before the attack lands. This can go two ways: It can go the Metal Gear Rising route and be so completely broken it can be abused to remove all danger, or the FIST route in that it never bloody works when you want it to. I can get it to work 80% of the time when I'm actually trying but trying to parry Cicero with him screw-attacking all over the place with the stick you use to move is just not going to happen. Eventually I dropped the parry mechanic altogether and completed the game without it. There is no point in the game where you MUST parry. It's completely optional.
- This game is clearly an action game first, an adventure game second and a platformer third. The platforming sections can be frustrating at times mostly due to how it handles. I want the option to be able to swap the left analog stick with d-pad. Precision is key in Metroidvanias when platforming and a stick just feels off for a 2D game. Metroid Dread was the exception because it has 360-degree aiming and also Metroid is the top-dog with a lot of things, including handling. With this, I want to move with the d-pad and swap weapons with the stick.
- Some minor gripes of cheap enemy placement just to whittle your health down a bit to force some tension. The boss at the bottom of the mines (the demon hand) pinned me between the wall and itself twice and I couldn't get out so I just had to let it kill me.