Fantasy Strike is not what I originally thought it would be. With the vibrant world and brightly colored characters, you will have a good time fighting against computer enemies or real people. For the price of $29.99 USD, there is plenty for you to do. It is a full game, just like Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter, but for half the price. If you want a change in pace from those other guys, give this one a try.
Fantasy Strike is a shining example of a fighting game that’s incredibly easy to play without sacrificing the mental chess and decision making that makes them so much fun. It’s very rough around the edges, with a roster of twelve characters that are much more interesting mechanically than they are visually, and a few interesting, though ultimately shallow single player modes. The inability to set up a private match with friends who are also playing for free is a tough pill to swallow, but its value as a free-to-play fighting game cannot be overstated. This truly is the best entry point for those who want to dip their feet into a traditionally difficult genre – and those who stick around will find it stands up as a great fighting game in its own right too.
tl;dr tl;dr
It's now my 2nd favorite fighting game. Please give Sirlin all your money so I can have more characters. Smash Ultimate plays a bit better but is harder to control and has serious problems. Fantasy Strike has less expressive gameplay but is incredibly balanced and has ALL the quality of life features.
Fantasy Strike is more than just "another fighting game." It's a philosophy and the culmination of Sirlin's work. tl;dr review:
Pros
+Accessible. Anyone with working fingers can play.
+Competitive. Sirlin says no grinding!
+Balanced. Unlike 99% of game developers, Sirlin knows how to balance things. All moves are useful and all characters are viable. It's amazing.
+Elegant. The yomi counter is especially innovative and fun.
+Challenging. While FS is easy to pick up it's very hard to master. The mind games are intense, the roster is diverse, and you can train and learn nuances like in any other fighter. There's serious replay value here.
+Plays great. Rollback networking and cross platform support make this game a joy to play.
+Polished.
+Sounds great. This is probably my favorite fighting game sound track.
+Looks great. It's the best that you could ask for from an indie company. I love the fantasy martial arts style and the designs, lore, movesets, and presentation all come together perfectly.
+Good single player modes.
Cons
-Far less freedom, especially compared to Smash Ultimate. You still get meaningful choices, they're just less granular and expressive. It's a reasonable cost to pay for an insane boost in accessibility.
Conclusion
Despite the lack of freedom and my initial tilt from losing too much, I keep coming back for more! It's addicting. There are few games where even losing is this much fun. While it's not as mechanically fun as Smash Ultimate, Fantasy Strike does everything right and is the kind of fighting game that we've been sorely lacking. Games like this are a rare treat and I'm incredibly happy to see Sirlin's design work finally put into action. IMO this makes most other fighting games obsolete. Buy it.
One of the best fighting games I played:
- Rollback netcode
- Simple characters, make easy to learn matchups
- Very good introduciton to the genre and even for more advanced players to relax
- Cool characters and guides
- The community on discord is awesome
Fantasy Strike isn’t going to blow anyone away aesthetically and its arcade mode is a little barebones. However, in terms of gameplay, it absolutely achieves what it sets out to, offering fun and accessible fighting action to newcomers whilst at the same time possessing enough technical depth in its roster of characters to keep more seasoned fighters interested. Online ranked team matches and Boss Rush modes are an absolute blast and, in stripping away many of the complex layers that have built up around fighters over the years, this is a game that’s rediscovered the simple pleasures that lie at the beating heart of the genre.
Overall, Fantasy Strike takes a leap and tries to create a deep fighter that’s also accessible. It’s successful, but I don’t see it dethroning any of the heavyweight fighters anytime soon.
What we've got here is one of the most thoughtfully constructed fighters we've ever played, but Fantasy Strike initially presents as off-puttingly amateurish, and we fear few are likely to give it the second chance it deserves. [Issue#336, p.122]
If you really are new to fighting games, Fantasy Strike is worth giving a go. But you’re probably going to want to move onto something a little more advanced fairly quickly. It’s a well made game, but the action just gets too repetitive too fast because of its limited movesets. I just can’t help but feel that Fantasy Strike is a little too simple for its own good.
Don't let the simple controls fool you; this game offers a great deal of depth for dedicated fighting game players. The difference is that in Fantasy Strike you're not distracted by rote execution like messing up your combos or missing 1-frame links, you're worried about making the right choice to outwit your opponent.
The game epitomizes easy to learn, hard to master, and I love it.
I'd never been able to get into fighting games before (other than playing Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter as a kid) but after playing Fantasy Strike, I'm an addict. I feel like I'm learning the fundamentals and actually getting to play "the real game" without having to spend 100s of hours mastering difficult to execute combos. A must buy for anyone looking to get into this awesome genre.
Es un juego entretenido para jugar con los amigos o la familia un rato, pero no se me hizo la gran cosa, tiene modos de pelea en linea, pero no se me hizo tan satisfactorio.
SummaryFantasy Strike is a colorful fighting game where fantasy meets martial arts. It focuses on depth and strategy rather than difficult execution. It’s designed for tournament play, but also to welcome you to the genre if you haven’t played other fighting games before. Online play uses the excellent GGPO networking technology.