Speak Softly and Carry a Big Ass Robot Fist!
It's that time again for a new episode of Chichuki Plays, the show where I go hands-on with upcoming games and show them off. Usually, it's about an hour or so but I don't want to spoil too much of the game for you. This time, we're looking at Star Fire: Eternal Cycle on Steam.
Fans of the side scroller, beat-em-up era of gaming will have to check out Star Fire: Eternal Cycle. It has the look and feel of an old school, SNES beat-em-up like TMNT: Turtles in Time. The twist here is that the game throws a different wrinkle into the mix, roguelike elements. I didn't know what to expect going into this and the first time I booted up the game, it crashed. That being said, that instance was the only time I had loading issues with the game. The controls in the game are very simple to pick up and play right away. It will take some fine tuning to master them. I felt comfortable with the Lightning Fist since it was able to attack quickly. It also had ranged lighting attacks too. You will want to learn combos quickly because they will save you when there are a lot of enemies in a room. Attack enemies to level up and gain new skills/abilities. The higher your level, the better chance for survival.
There are all kinds of different rooms to traverse during your journey. Core Plundering allows you to find new insectoid cores to strengthen your build. Insectoid cores have elemental attributes like water and grass for example. You'll be able to have multiple cores equipped so you can use multiple at once. I had a water shield doing damage while dashing whereas in another run I had grass equipped and vines were attacking enemies for me. It's fun to grab different cores/skills to have different experiences. A Treasure Hunting room could net you new equipment or "treasure" to help with the run. You'll also be able go shopping for new cores/equipment and the option to craft cores together. The cores will have to be the same level/type to craft them together. You can also find the HP Recovery room during runs to heal yourself. Enemies can attack quickly so keep an eye on health.
If you happen to fail a run, you'll be sent back to the Base. The base is the starting point, like your hub world. There you buy permanent upgrades, or in this case Talents, for your character. Health increase or being able to hold more insectoid cores are some of the things you can expect to grab here. You can also switch weapons here as well.
I really like the design in Star Fire: Eternal Cycle. The main character has an anime style combined with a sci-fi twist and I'm all for it. There are character skins you can unlock and I'm looking forward to seeing what design direction they go in. The enemies are really cool too. I really like the combination between bugs and robots. Now if you give me the change to attack robot bees, then you'll score some bonus points because I'm not the biggest fan of bees.
To recap, Star Fire: Eternal Cycle has a lot going for it and I'm looking forward to the full version of the game. Roguelike fans will want to keep an eye out for this one.
Make sure you check out the hands-on video below.