"I Know Kung-Fu" - Devolver Reveals Martial Arts Puzzler, Forestrike

From Olija studio, Skeleton Crew, rebel publisher Devolver Digital has today revealed an all-new kung-fu title with a twist.

Forestrike is something of a martial arts puzzler in that as the player-character, Yu, you have what is known as the "Foresight", an ability to see into the future of a skirmish in order to pre-plan all of your attacks, evades, reversals, weapon uses and more. "Repetition" is a key term utilised in the release we received, and while that might sound a tad tedious, one look at the game's official reveal trailer might have you thinking differently. It's certainly sparked our interest, and then some. Check it out:



The game won't actually see the light of day until 2025 (with no specific date attached), but is already in playable form and will be shown off this weekend at BitSummit in Japan, which is a leading Indie showcase event there, so we might get to see more in the coming days and weeks.

Here's some of the official verbiage from Devolver Digital on the game:

As a martial artist, named Yu, you embark on a journey across the country to free the Emperor from an evil Admiral's influence. Adopting techniques from one of five unique Masters, each battle presents a puzzle that must be solved using your mind as well as your fists.

Yu encounters many foes on his path to the capital, and he is always outnumbered, but has a secret weapon: the Foresight a meditative technique that allows him to mentally perceive fights over until he finds a sequence of movements that allows him to overcome the odds.

Once ready, our hero must fight in reality, where losing means starting everything over, but progress is permanent. Winning doesn't always mean he will emerge from each encounter unscathed, but the further he travels, the stronger he will become.

Utilising the distinctive gameplay mechanic of Foresight, Forestrike challenges players to learn precisely how a combat piece is going to play out, but where it differs is that you can't play out the entire fight in full, and all decisions you make have their own consequences that you need to see play out before you can potentially make it all the way through. Additionally, there's a Roguelike element to that game with procedural battles, meaning no two runs are the same twice, keeping players on their proverbial kung-fu toes.

Stay tuned as we learn more about Forestrike in the lead up to its release next year on Nintendo Switch and Steam (Wishlist here) and check out the first batch of images for the game in our carousel below.