Sirlin Games announced that their tournament fighter Fantasy Strike will launch on Steam Early Access today for Windows and Mac.
Fantasy Strike will become available on Steam Early Access at 3pm PDT for $19.99. This version of the game will contain many new “graphical improvements to the cel-shading and visual effects”. Additionally, the game will open up “Friend Match”, which allows players to to challenge other friends online without creating lobbies or using external Steam menus.
In order to play with a friend, players will new to highlight the name of their in-game Steam friends list and choose the challenge button.
“Whether you’re an expert at fighting games or new to the genre, there’s a big hump you have to get over in any new fighting game before you can ‘play for real’,” said David Sirlin, President, Sirlin Games. “Before you get to the juicy part where it’s all about your decisions, you have to be able to actually do all the moves, do the basic combos, know your entire move list, and so on. From its inception, Fantasy Strike has been about launching experts and new players past the usual training mode drudgery as fast as possible. We want you enjoying the intricate dance of fighting games in minutes, not in weeks or months.”
David Sirlin has worked on Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix as a lead designer and brought his experience in the fighting game genre to his own title.
Fantasy Strike simplifies the combo system, but attempts to keep the core features that fighting game fans expect. However, since the fighting system is easy to learn, Fantasy Strike hopes to gain the interest of newcomers to the genre as well.
Fantasy Strike is coming to PlayStation 4 and PC in 2018.
You can check out a new trailer below that shows of a new battle arena, Morningstar Sanctuary: