The Way of the Pixelated Fist
- April 27, 2015
- Blaze Epic
- 5h median play time
Get on Steam"The Way of the Pixelated Fist" is a parkour and martial arts-inspired cinematic platformer, where players control Dag in his journey through a hidden village's 36 Chambers. With tight platforming controls and an intuitive fighting system, players will face puzzles, stealth challenges, and various martial artists in this spiritual successor to Jump/Boxer. The game features a variety of platforming and combat mechanics to create a fluid and engaging experience.
Reviews
- The game features a unique blend of platforming and beat 'em up elements, providing a fun experience for players.
- The retro aesthetic and colorful visuals evoke nostalgia, appealing to fans of classic 2D games.
- At its low price point, the game offers a couple of hours of entertainment, making it a decent value for casual gamers.
- The game suffers from numerous technical issues, including bugs that can cause players to get stuck and require restarts.
- Combat mechanics are overly simplistic and can feel repetitive, diminishing the overall challenge and enjoyment.
- The level design can be confusing, leading to frustration as players struggle to navigate the environment and complete objectives.
- music9 mentions
- 44 % positive mentions
- 22 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The game's music is praised for effectively setting the mood, featuring a modern drum’n’bass soundtrack that complements its vibrant visuals. However, players are frustrated by the lack of audio controls, making it difficult to turn off the repetitive background music. While the soundtrack enhances the experience, some users desire more variety, particularly for boss themes.
“The music is great for setting the right mood, although I would like a different theme for the bosses.”
“Its graphic style suggests old 8-bit titles, but its soundtrack has a modern drum’n’bass tempo with a floating line of melancholic keyboards that looks at Thom Yorke’s solo works.”
“The soundtrack is really a step up too... 3 things that are nice when the game is about platforming.”
“Bewilderingly, the game doesn't include proper audio controls, so you can't turn off the annoying background music; you'll need to alt+tab out and stop the music using the Windows sound mixer.”
“The music changes when going from inside to outside locations, but the sampling is very short and loops constantly.”
“Its graphic style suggests old 8-bit titles, but its soundtrack has a modern drum and bass tempo with a floating line of melancholic keyboards that resembles Thom Yorke's solo works.”
- graphics8 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The game's graphics utilize a retro pixel art style reminiscent of old 8-bit titles, which some players find charming and evocative of classic games like *Knytt*. However, the lack of resolution options and modern graphical tweaks limits its appeal, as the visuals may feel outdated compared to contemporary standards. Despite this, the colorful palette and minimalist design contribute to a relaxed atmosphere that complements the game's soundtrack.
“The color palette resembles past Sega Master System games, but the minimalist approach taken in its graphic design creates a relaxed mood that evokes Nifflas classics such as 'Knytt'.”
“Its graphic style suggests old 8-bit titles, but its soundtrack has a modern drum and bass tempo with a floating line of melancholic keyboards that reflects Thom Yorke's solo works.”
“This aesthetic approach submerges the game in a distant halo of unreality.”
“A choice was made to use obsolete, decades-old retro pixel art as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics.”
“There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks.”
“Its graphic style suggests old 8-bit titles, but its soundtrack has a modern drum’n’bass tempo with a floating line of melancholic keyboards that looks at Thom Yorke’s solo works.”
- gameplay5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 40 % negative mentions
The gameplay in [i]the way of the pixelated fist[/i] is marked by a creative letterbox style and a fragmented visual approach, which some players find controversial. While the game offers engaging mechanics, it suffers from a slightly broken fighting system that allows for easy exploitation of moves, such as spamming the down kick against basic enemies. Additionally, each set of chambers introduces a distinct focus, adding variety to the overall experience.
“I also thought the letterbox style gameplay window in the beginning was creative.”
“This fragmented visual approach creates one of the most controversial gameplay features in the way of the pixelated fist.”
“This fragmented visual approach creates one of the most controversial gameplay features in 'The Way of the Pixelated Fist'.”
“Every set of chambers completely changes the focus of the gameplay.”
- story4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The game's story is criticized for its lack of exposition and engaging narrative elements, leaving players feeling disconnected and uninterested. Many reviewers lament the absence of friendly NPCs that traditionally provide guidance and plot context, highlighting a significant departure from earlier titles in the series.
“Hardly a success story; gamers just weren't all that interested in the game.”
“Maybe I am missing something, but this game has very little exposition and story, so I doubt I am missing a plot trigger.”
“I seem to remember friendly NPCs in these games that would strike up conversations and tell you where to go or provide plot details... 'well, those were in earlier games'... damn right they were in earlier games!!!!!”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that Gamemaker Studio is often associated with the creation of low-effort, retro-style games that are perceived as cash grabs, suggesting a negative view of its monetization practices.
“Gamemaker Studio is most commonly used to make retro pixel shovelware and cash grabs.”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players express frustration with the grinding aspect of the game, citing poor level design that makes progression tedious and difficult, particularly due to inconveniently placed objectives and excessive travel distances.
