Maroc - 3RD-STRIKE.COM - A La Une - 26/Oct 23:01

Star Fire: Eternal Cycle – Review

With customizable elemental upgrades, sci-fi themed enemies, and fast-paced character leveling, Star Fire: Eternal Cycle pays homage to classic side-scrollers. The game is an action roguelite, offering quick fun and customizable upgrading. Playing through has been consistently pleasant, making it easy to jump back in. The visuals are clean and bright and add to the retro feeling. Star Fire feels naturally addictive. Although simple and repetitive, there is an ease when playing, even in moments where you get stuck. As Ethereal Fish Studio’s first release, they have created a reliable and punchy game that deserves to be praised. Story  You jump into the game quickly, following a tutorial and general introduction to controls. The main point is to defeat enemies and gain upgrades, being able to choose the most beneficial option for your playstyle. Although the game doesn’t follow a strict storyline, with more focus on light and fast-paced gameplay, it still felt well thought out and interactive.  Graphics  The graphics are clean cut, resembling those of a comic book, with black outlines defining vibrant colors. As a side scroller, you would expect it to be mainly 2D, although there is an added visual depth to the character and more freedom with movement than expected. This added a level of tactical defense needed when facing off with elite enemies, one of the boss fights featured within the game. The game offers multiple ways to customize settings, including beginner tips, screen shake, and effect transparency.   There are also multiple additional visual aids throughout Star Fire. Dashes were signified by orbs on the character; this was very useful in planning attacks and using combos. Along with red blocked out sections to point out where enemies were attacking. Sound  The music and sound effects are fairly basic throughout Star Fire. Each level is filled with general audio and music, with the elite and boss fights being an exception. As you enter these specialized areas, the music changes and acts as a signature for the enemy and their introduction. There were some important sound effects, for example, during fights, enemies charge their powerful attacks, signified by noise, which in turn is followed by a visual red marked area. These were helpful as you progress and face a variety of enemies that require different fighting techniques.  Gameplay  Star Fire: Eternal Cycle is an action-packed roguelite in which you’ll play through different stages, killing a variety of enemies, with elite battles marking the halfway point and boss fights at the end of each world. The game offers full controller compatibility. It would be perfect for a Steam Deck playthrough. If choosing the keyboard setup, you will find the accessibility welcoming. You can complete everything without a mouse, from running your character through areas and fighting off enemies, to simply exiting the game. This factor allowed a lot of control over the character and felt natural for the gameplay. In a way, it also brought back the feeling of playing at an arcade machine.   As you progress through the levels, while fighting, you gain XP, and on completion of areas, you receive crates of equipment. With three different options to choose between, the upgrades provide a variety of specialized advantages you can tailor to your playstyle. The advantages on offer range from diversifying attacks, increasing health, and new equipment, to areas specific to earning gold you can spend in the shop. Eventually, you will receive upgrades to allow additional slots and reduce cooldowns for your combos. Each additional upgrade affects the way the character visually reacts within the level environment. With waves thrashing around the character as they run, vines appearing around the area, and thundering bolts crashing out, damaging approaching enemies, you have quite a few tricks up your sleeve.  After your first death, you can assess the damage and benefits of your loadout during the mission, allowing you to adjust in your next run. Then, being sent back to the base, you are able to practice combo attacks, change gear, and unlock talents depending on the loot you have acquired. As the game is a roguelite, dying is expected, and unfortunately, this does lead to a feeling of repetition. Star Fire did well at breaking this repetitive cycle by unlocking a variety of upgradable components and allowing different upgrade choices and levels.  As you play through more of the game, different level sections open up to you, along with the ability to unlock different characters and weapons. Visual character customization is limited, but a few options are provided, with more focus on adding skills and traits to your character. Conclusion  Star Fire: Eternal Cycle has provided an entertaining gameplay experience, matched with smooth mechanics, fluid character upgrading, and punchy visuals. Although there was a bit of repetition, this is a feature expected in roguelites, and Star Fire did well at involving the customizable elements to break this repetition up. This meant the game’s playability stayed consistent. Overall, it is very easy to play, and there wasn’t a period of adjustment to learn the controls. There are also multiple customizable elements within the game, from general settings to in-game upgrades. These choices allow the player to create a gaming experience tailored to their needs and playstyle. As a first release, Star Fire has ticked all the right boxes.