Spartan Fist is an entertaining fighting-themed roguelike where you play as a gladiator of some sort. In this game, you are unceremoniously dumped into a multi-room gladiatorial arena to fight for your life for the amusement of the many spectators on the high stands... only with your fists.

As you play, you'll unlock better "fists" (a.k.a. gloves) as well as the several "add-ons" that you can coat on each fist, all of which can be stacked as long as the coating is the same (I assume). Note that in this game, you are allowed to equip two different types of fists, one on each hand. Different fists will naturally offer you different styles of combat as well as combos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9mPt6eQxy0
- Managed to get into the Underground and battle the second boss :P

In addition to the variety of fists, which you'd likely choose based on your play style... personally, I like faster punches and I'm a fan of the Rat Fists, the game also provides you with 3 Battle Stances that vary both the combo you get and the attack pattern/speed. My personal favourite is definitely the Updraft just because I could punch enemies into the air and knock them down in this stance :)

The game seems to offer a nice variety of enemies as well - I've encountered 3 within my first playthrough, minus the bosses. The boss fights are rather souls-like - it reminds me a bit of Vampyr. As long as you learn the patterns and dodge accordingly, boss fights can be fairly straightforward.

+ Nice the voxel-style graphics
+ Nicely-challenging boss fights.
+ Permadeath but your upgrades are retained. Though, I'd say that the second tier upgrades can be pretty costly.
+ Has a "no gore" mode
+ Plays well on the keyboard and mouse (as long as you turn off auto-lock on), but it does have full controller support.

- It'd be nice to have a block ability. The enemies seem to have one. (P/S: I've checked the key binds and couldn't find the key to block; if there already is a block ability, I think it might be good to add it to the key binding list)
- The auto-lock on system doesn't work - the current workaround is to just inactivate the option via the Settings.
- Could use a bit more soundtracks
- Around $15 is a bit high despite the replayability. Might want to wait until there's a discount before buying.

Spartan Fist may not appeal to everyone but it's definitely a fun bash-em-up roguelike that's worth playing. Besides the tons of upgrades, the different fists, combos and stances change how you play a little, offering some amount of variety. The boss fights are also pretty interesting and challenging, especially for someone who's as reckless as I can be :) However, despite the replayability, which mainly involves farming Guts to invest into various upgrades, I still think that the game might be a bit costly. Wait for a discount before buying!

If you like this review and would like to follow me for more, please feel free to drop by my curator page: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33780629-The-Midcore-Gamer/

[b]Spartan Fist[/b] is an entertaining fighting-themed roguelike where you play as a gladiator of some sort. In this game, you are unceremoniously dumped into a multi-room gladiatorial arena to fight for your life for the amusement of the many spectators on the high stands... only with your fists. As you play, you'll unlock better "fists" (a.k.a. gloves) as well as the several "add-ons" that you can coat on each fist, all of which can be stacked as long as the coating is the same (I assume). Note that in this game, you are allowed to equip two different types of fists, one on each hand. Different fists will naturally offer you different styles of combat as well as combos. [h1]Watch me play![/h1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9mPt6eQxy0 - Managed to get into the Underground and battle the second boss :P In addition to the variety of fists, which you'd likely choose based on your play style... personally, I like faster punches and I'm a fan of the Rat Fists, the game also provides you with 3 Battle Stances that vary both the combo you get and the attack pattern/speed. My personal favourite is definitely the Updraft just because I could punch enemies into the air and knock them down in this stance :) The game seems to offer a nice variety of enemies as well - I've encountered 3 within my first playthrough, minus the bosses. The boss fights are rather souls-like - it reminds me a bit of Vampyr. As long as you learn the patterns and dodge accordingly, boss fights can be fairly straightforward. [h1]Pros[/h1] + Nice the voxel-style graphics + Nicely-challenging boss fights. + Permadeath but your upgrades are retained. Though, I'd say that the second tier upgrades can be pretty costly. + Has a "no gore" mode + Plays well on the keyboard and mouse (as long as you turn off auto-lock on), but it does have full controller support. [h1]Cons/Feedback[/h1] - It'd be nice to have a block ability. The enemies seem to have one. (P/S: I've checked the key binds and couldn't find the key to block; if there already is a block ability, I think it might be good to add it to the key binding list) - The auto-lock on system doesn't work - the current workaround is to just inactivate the option via the Settings. - Could use a bit more soundtracks - Around $15 is a bit high despite the replayability. Might want to wait until there's a discount before buying. [h1]Overall[/h1] Spartan Fist may not appeal to everyone but it's definitely a fun bash-em-up roguelike that's worth playing. Besides the tons of upgrades, the different fists, combos and stances change how you play a little, offering some amount of variety. The boss fights are also pretty interesting and challenging, especially for someone who's as reckless as I can be :) However, despite the replayability, which mainly involves farming Guts to invest into various upgrades, I still think that the game might be a bit costly. Wait for a discount before buying! [h1]Side Note[/h1] [quote]If you like this review and would like to follow me for more, please feel free to drop by my curator page: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33780629-The-Midcore-Gamer/[/quote]