If you follow video game news at all, you already know that the number of so-called “independent” games has exploded recently, with thousands of titles being released each year on Steam (the main gaming platform) alone. (PC) . To survive in this ocean, it is better to be supported by a powerful publisher. And that's exactly what the French from Sand Door Studio have managed to do by releasing their latest game, Lysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior, from Quantic Dream, to which we owe in particular Detroit: Become Human, Beyond: Two Souls and Heavy Rain.
For the philistines, let's remember that in hack'n'slash-like games you take control of a character in an isometric view, that is, with a camera placed at a height. The goal is often to slaughter hordes of enemies, sometimes with RPG (role-playing game) components, with skills and equipment that evolve over the course of the adventure. The genre has been around for decades, but it's actually the Diablo series that gives it its reputation.
Now back to Lysfanga. The game we are testing here is currently only available on PC. It enriches the hack'n'slash genre with a daring proposal, proposing a fusion between frenetic action and strategic thinking through the unprecedented use of time travel mechanisms, with Imë, a warrior in charge of protecting the Kingdom of Antala temporal powers granted by the Goddess of Time.
Never-before-seen game mechanics
Although at first glance it seems like a simple clone of Hades, Lysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior turns out to be much more. It stands out from the title of the Supergiant Games studio with truly innovative gameplay. The heart of the game is based on a time loop mechanic in which the player uses clones, called afterglows, to fight.
Specifically, the user is given the task of clearing arenas populated with enemies. The first phase is no different from a classic hack'n'slash, as only Lysfanga is visible on the screen. However, a kind of hourglass with a relatively short time limit ticks down quickly – so quickly that it is impossible to finish the game in one go.
©Sand Door Studio
However, when the last grain of sand falls and your time is up, you travel back in time. And there comes a temporal clone – the famous Remanence – to assist you by performing exactly the same actions that you did in the first round. This means you don't have to worry about eliminating enemies or activating mechanics you've already taken care of. At the start of the third round there are two Afterglows that repeat your actions identically. And so forth.
Therefore, measures must be planned in advance to make optimal use of this mechanism. As the levels progress and become more difficult, the number of rounds increases. And whoever says additional towers says new afterglow. At the end of the level you can quickly count on a real small army to support you. But that doesn't mean you can just charge forward with your head down.
©Sand Door Studio
The game also becomes more complex by introducing enemies that require specific tactical approaches and judiciously using Afterglow to exploit enemy weaknesses. Levels are designed to encourage strategic planning, requiring players to think about the best approach to each battle, taking into account the order of objectives and optimal use of skills. As you've probably understood, Lysfanga is completely redefining the hack'n'slash experience by introducing this tactical dimension.
A pretty world… that sounds hollow
The game mechanics are extremely original, but the same cannot be said for the scenario. Set in the imaginary kingdom of Antala, the story follows the adventures of Imë, a warrior gifted with worldly powers by the Goddess of Time to save her world from an ancient threat.
Unless it's unpleasant, the scenario only serves as a stopover between action scenes. The narrative structure therefore usually seems very simple. It revolves around progression through various battle arenas, interspersed with narrative sequences.
©Sand Door Studio
However, these narrative moments are not very exciting and the player sometimes even perceives them as unwelcome interruptions and not as an enriching gaming experience.
Additionally, the search for collectibles, while encouraging to explore, isn't really integrated into the main story and quickly becomes monotonous. The character writing style is of the same ilk and the various protagonists that cross your path seriously lack depth and often boil down to archetypes without much originality.
©Sand Door Studio
Again, it's not disastrous, but it's not the story or the interactions with one or the other that will make Lysfanga a landmark. This is all the more a shame because the developers managed to create a fairly pleasant universe with a game-specific mythology.
To end this part on a slightly more positive note, it should be noted that on a few occasions the game manages to create a connection between gameplay and narrative, particularly through the use of Imë's temporal powers. We won't tell you more so as not to spoil it, but we know that these rare moments give a taste of what Lysfanga could have offered with greater integration of narrative into gameplay.
On the technical side
That's a shame because the visual aspect invites you to immerse yourself in the world of the game. Graphically, the title of Sand Door Studio shows a quite remarkable artistic direction, drawing inspiration from the orientalist paintings of the 19th century. The game universe, bathed in shades of blue and purple, is reminiscent of stories from One Thousand and One Nights and medieval Arab-Persian architecture.
©Sand Door Studio
This successful visual representation is supported by high-quality lighting effects, textures and animations. Without being memorable, the sound design is consistent, with oriental musical compositions that do not clash with the artistic direction. Finally, the game runs on Unity and works perfectly on not too demanding configurations. The minimum configuration recommended by Sand Door Studio is as follows: Intel Core I5-2300 @ 2.80GHz / AMD Ryzen 3 3200G, 8GB RAM, GeForce GX 780 [3GB] / Radeon RX 580.
We didn't have such a modest configuration on hand to test the game, but it still feels a bit light to us, especially when it comes to the exploration scenes. Because, as surprising as it may seem, it is the latter that seem to be the most demanding in terms of resources. On Steam Deck, for example, the combat phases flow perfectly, which is crucial for a title that relies on precision and timing of actions.
©Sand Door Studio
In fact, the game is fully playable on Valve's PC console, as long as the few lags only occur in the exploration phases. However, we spent the majority of the sessions on a Huawei MateBook 16s (2022).
So a non-gaming PC, but still has a Core i7-12700H processor and 16 GB of RAM. However, this remains lower than the editor's recommended configuration: Intel Core i7 10700k / AMD Ryzen 5 3600, 16GB and GeForce RTX 2060 / Radeon RX 5700 XT. However, we had no fluidity issues with our MateBook 16s and the level of detail was perfect.
The end is only the beginning
Let's end this overview of Lysfanga with its replayability and post-game content. After completing the main story, players can delve into various challenges and game modes that extend the experience well beyond the initial ending. Battle Arenas, the heart of the gaming experience, offer optional time goals for those who want to fully master each level. This pursuit of improvement encourages you to revisit battle scenes, refine strategies, and explore all the possibilities that Lysfanga's unique gameplay mechanics offer.
©Sand Door Studio
Additionally, the game introduces post-game level variations, with combat modifiers that refresh clashes and provide more difficult challenges. These changes add a new dimension to familiar battles and require players to adapt their tactics.
While this isn't the most exciting point of this game, completionists will be pleased to learn that searching for collectibles, hidden artifacts, forgotten powers, and other equipment upgrades also provides a reason to delve back into the game to discover all of its secrets.