Forestrike Preview

Developers Skeleton Crew Studio and Thomas Olsson — creators of Olija, a game I absolutely loved — are now releasing a roguelike tactical martial arts game called Forestrike. A demo has just been released for gamers to check out. There’s no official release date yet, but I was excited to dive into the limited demo, which lets you play through one section of the story: the Leaf School mission.

Forestrike tells the tale of an admiral who was brought in to help maintain balance in the kingdom. It turns out he was a liar and manipulator: once he realised he could exploit the forces of the Empire, he convinced the peasants to turn against the Emperor and follow his lead. You play as Yu, the last apprentice of the Order and the youngest martial artist to hold their secret technique. Yu is summoned back to the Monastery to protect the Emperor who is taking refuge there — he’s the only one capable of taking down the scheming admiral and restoring peace.

We join Yu on his journey — and it’s far from uneventful. Early on, you encounter two drunken peasants eager to fight a member of the Order. This first battle acts as the game’s tutorial, showing you how to fight. Throughout your runs, you’ll face off against 34 different enemy types.

To prepare for battle, use the left trigger button to activate your Foresight ability. Using this allows you to replay the fight multiple times to discover the best strategy to defeat your enemies. The first move you learn is the Light Punch, performed by pressing the left face button, which deals one health bar’s worth of damage. After using Foresight to explore a few battle outcomes, you’ll be able to apply your new knowledge in the real fight. When you’re ready, press the right trigger button to proceed and complete the battle.

Once you learn the basics of combat, you can either use Foresight before attacking or jump straight into the fight. If you’re defeated, Yu will lecture you about the importance of using Foresight. I did use it a few times — it’s just tricky to time your attacks perfectly before the enemy hits you! Just because you succeed in the Foresight simulation doesn’t mean the real battle will go the same way. I’ve had plenty of times when I won during Foresight and still got my butt kicked in the actual fight. Losing is okay early on, as you’re still learning, but once you reach the Monastery, the fights become much less forgiving.

When you’re surrounded by enemies, they don’t all attack at once — they’re surprisingly considerate, standing around while you plan your moves. Once you’re ready, they spring into action. If you win, a replay shows exactly what you did to secure victory. Afterwards, you can return to the map to travel to your next destination.

One cool feature is the ability to share your fights. During a battle, you can pause the game to access a unique code. Other players can enter this code from the Monastery’s pause menu to challenge the same fight. It’s a fun addition that lets you see if others struggle with the same encounters you did.

Forestrike isn’t just an action-packed 2D fighter — it’s a tactical roguelike that demands strategy and foresight. I’m having a fun, albeit sometimes frustrating, time playing it. It’s one of those games that keeps pulling you back in for “just one more try”. I’m really looking forward to the full release so I can explore the other routes and see what changes have been made along the way.