F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch (or simply FIST) is a 2½D Metroidvania developed by TiGames and published by Bilibili. The game was released for Playstation 4 and Playstation 5 on September 7th, 2021, and later for PC on October 3rd, 2021. It got a surprise stealth port to the Nintendo Switch in July of 2022.
The story follows Rayton, a retired soldier from a resistance war who lives in Torch City and wants to spend the rest of his days away from society. However, after his best friend is arrested without question by the Machine Legion, Rayton soon finds himself taking up his mechanical fist once again and working with a secret rebellion going against the Legion. It isn't long before he is warped into a conspiracy involving the Legion, the rebellion, and even the city's local mafia syndicate.
Not to be confused with FIST for the Sega Saturn.
F.I.S.T. provides examples of:
- 100% Completion: This obviously applies to sidequests, which reward you with various tools you can use to improve combat. But specifically, if you explore 100% of each area and speak to Mappo, he'll give you that area's soundtrack you can listen to on his record player.
- Action Girl: Lady Q takes on Iron Dogs with nothing more than her skills and gumption and beats them into piles of scrap just as handily as Rayton does.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Any EP-using gadget that isn't the Carrot Juice flask is this, with the exception of the grenade launcher; and even then, it's not useful enough that you'd want to prioritize it over healing.
- Big Bad: Cicero, the commander of the Iron Dogs and the main villain who's striving to find the Spark so he can gain more power and change all furkind.
- Big Bad Friend: Cicero used to be Rayton's former comrade and best friend during the war against the Legion. He's understandably shocked once he finds out he not only survived his supposed death, but also turned traitor and became a Legion commander.
- Combos: Hoo boy; three weapons, each with a fairly extensive assortment of combos and special moves which can be connected every which way, and the weapons themselves can be swapped mid-combo as necessary. One could say sky is the limit but it really isn't
. - Curb-Stomp Battle: The first fight between Rayton and Cicero ends with Rayton getting his ass handed to him almost effortlessly by Cicero.
- Defeat Equals Explosion: All enemies die exploding.
- Dieselpunk: The setting has a 1930s-like aesthetic, with cyborg dogs and a mechanical Power Fist for added color.
- Difficult, but Awesome:
- The Drill takes some time to build up momentum, which is necessary for combos; that might not sound like much but the combat's fast-paced enough that "some time" might get you killed. If you learn to pick your spots, however, the Drill is an absolute shredder of a weapon which can stunlock the weaker enemies to death and take huge chunks out of a boss' healthbar.
- Exploring the Arsenal will net you a parry ability that is straight out of Street Fighter III. It's very useful once mastered, but that won't happen overnight.
- Disney Death: Lady Q seemingly falls to her death towards the end of the game in the Ancient Complex. The Stinger reveals she survived the fall.
- Dub Name Change: Most of the character and location names have been changed to either similar-sounding western names or straight-up literal translations in the English localization, such as Lei De Wen to Rayton, Yan Xi to Western Range, etc.
- Evil Is Hammy:
- Cicero is of the cold variety. He typically doesn't scream or shout, but his voice has a malevolent presence, and he's definitely a villain whose character is shown from his flashy, violent combat style. He does get more vocal during his final battle though.
- Du starts off relatively mild-mannered, but becomes a cackling, moustache twirling villain who can't stop ranting about how he'll kill Rayton and take over the city the moment he steals the Spark and betrays Rayton.
- Fat Best Friend: Urso is Rayton's best (and arguably only) friend in Torch City. He's also a massive, heavyset bear who struggles to sneak through ventilation ducts because of his weight.
- Final Boss Preview: The first fight against Cicero gives the player a taste of things to come in a brutal fight. Eventually, Cicero will unleash an as-of-yet unavoidable attack to defeat Rayton.
- He's Back!: When the game starts, Rayton is still burnt out from his past transgressions as a soldier and wants nothing to do with rebellion despite Urso and Chuan urging him to do so. It isn't until Urso is forcibly arrested that he takes up his mechanical fist and gets involved with the plot.
- Hopeless Boss Fight: Cicero cannot be beaten in the first encounter.
- Inexplicable Treasure Chests: Exploited. Throughout the game, you'll find various piggy banks and even Skeleton Chests in some bizarre locations—many of which are traps the Iron Dogs set for players who go out of their way to explore every inch of the map. One chest, in particular, is found in the middle of the sewer, and when you open it, you'll be forced into a boss fight against a Ninja Frog. It's still odd that the Iron Dogs would go through so much trouble of placing these Skeleton Chests in some of these locations.
- Knight in Sour Armor: Cute, fluffy, cheerful bunny Rayton definitely isn't; charitably one could describe him as rough around the edges. He is however fiercely devoted to his friends and, once he gets out of his existential funk, dedicated to making Shadow Torch a better place.
- Lag Cancel: The loading screen tips mention jump and dash cancelling out of the attack animation; what ISN'T mentioned is that a rather noticable lag occuring while switching weapons can be circumvented mid-combo by pressing the weapon switch button while the previous attack animation is playing out. For best results, just press attack and weapon switch buttons together.
- Lightning Lash: Rayton's Whip weapon is composed of electricity and typically used for stunning enemies and dealing dozens of rapid-fire attacks.
- Power Fist: The game's eponymous fist is a giant mechanical hand used to break open doors and beat or crush the Iron Dogs to a pulp. Unusually for most examples of the trope, it's not wielded on Rayton's hand, but is rather worn like a backpack and functions as a third limb. It's used to be part of a more standard-looking Powermech that Rayton piloted during the war before it got scrapped and badly damaged towards the tail end of the fighting, being recovered by Urso afterwards and fixed up. The rest of the mech is visible in Urso's workshop, and it's implied that Rayton's skill with using what is effectively a partially-functioning piece of his old gear so effectively is due to his skills as a pilot.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Earlier cutscenes in the game show that the Iron Dogs behave and act like normal soldiers in the army would, with some even complaining that they're low on power and need to recharge or expressing concern over encountering and being destroyed by Rayton.
- Real-Time Weapon Change: You can swap between the three weapons at will using the D-pad; this can be (indeed, should be) even done mid-combo.
- Righteous Rabbit: Rayton, of course.
- Rule of Cool: The game is all about a rabbit with a mechanical Power Fist beating up cyborg dogs. Enough said.
- Scenery Porn: Torch City may be under dystopian rule, but it's very pretty to look at.
- Shout-Out: Many Easter Eggs referencing popular works of media can be found throughout the game. To point out just a few:
- The movie posters is probably the most concentrated spot for this trope, as each one is a spoof on a well-known video game/film/anime, with gems such as Dark Wolf, Aria of Moon and Amira.
- The Spark, which much of the plot is revolved around, functions almost identically to its Cybertronian counterpart, being the fuel which can be used to power mechanical lifeforms, and can even remake organic lifeforms in its image (if Cicero's claims are to be believed).
- The Assault Armor's design is quite clearly inspired by Metal Slug, looking like a cross between the Nop-03 Sarubia and the Di-Cokka with its stout body and stubby cannon which lodges bouncing grenades at its enemies.
- This Is a Drill: The eponymous Drill weapon, which can be used for traveling underwater at high speed, breaking through hard barriers, and shredding enemies to tiny metal pieces.
- What Measure Is a Mook?: Rayton never even considers harming another furtizen unless they outright threaten or attack him. Meanwhile, he has no problem nonchalantly destroying hundreds, if not thousands of the Iron Dogs throughout the game, even though the game makes it clear that the Iron Dogs show some level of sapience and some of them are just soldiers doing their jobs. There's a point in the game where Rayton even spares an Iron Dog Section Chief who surrenders without a fight (three times), but then goes right back to destroying Iron Dogs as if the event never took place. note
- White-and-Grey Morality: There are clear-cut heroes, but there isn't a single clear-cut villain in the game. Rayton is a Knight in Sour Armor because while he's rough around the edges, he puts his life on the line to save those in need, with the thieving Flip and members of the Rat Gang being the only secondary characters who could be considered morally-ambiguous. Even Cicero and the Duke of the Rat Gang are both Well-Intentioned Extremist types, as the former wants to evolve Torch City to preserve all of furkind, while the latter wants to destroy Cicero and the Legion (though he also wants to take over Torch City himself).
- World of Funny Animals: There are no humans present in the game. All of the characters are anthropomorphic animals who walk, talk, and dress like humans or robots who look like giant metallic canines.
