Lysfanga The Time Shift Warrior takes place in a fictional orientalist world called the New Kingdom. With each new generation, the kingdom is blessed by the birth of a new protective warrior named Lysfanga, whose mission is to protect the population from the Raxes, mysterious demonic creatures. In fact, in this isometric game, we play as Imë, a warrior with the power to go back in time a few seconds. Each time she returns to the past, she creates a reminiscence (in-game afterglow), namely a duplicate of herself in the form of a memory.
As you have understood, the game is entirely based on a time loop system. Although it is a hack ‘n’ slash, the title is extremely tactical and strategic. In other words, it’s not just a matter of stupidly rushing into waves of monsters while chaining together combos, as is the case in some games of the genre. Your brain will therefore be drooling.
A faultless artistic
Let’s start with what jumps out at you from the first moments: the game is splendid. The artistic direction clearly draws its inspiration from 19th century orientalist paintings. It is in fact a fusion between a Western vision of Aladdin, as we know it thanks to Disney, and the illustrations of Arab-Persian artists from the tales of the Arabian Nights.
At times, we have the impression of finding ourselves in the middle of the works of Michael Peraza, artistic director for Disney’s Aladdin, with the same blue and purple tones. The decorations clearly reflect the charm of medieval Arab-Persian architecture, with its badguirs (ventilated tower systems), its draped roofs, its souks and its squares, sometimes complex with numerous staircases to access the different buildings. It’s a visual treat. However, the world around us ultimately seems quite deserted, with no citizens going about their business, as the only encounters will be either divine or demonic. The settings are sometimes sorely lacking in life.
On a technical level, Lysfanga The Time Shift Warrior is quite convincing, whether in terms of lighting effects, textures or the various 3D effects. To avoid spoiling anything, the dialogues are presented via a 2D animation system in drawing format for the most beautiful effect. Without being a graphic slap, we can still salute the beauty of the environments we cross and the various lighting effects. It’s aesthetically pleasing and above all very fluid. The studio has very good mastery of the Unity engine.
We tested the game on a fairly modest PC configuration (RTX 2060) and encountered no problems. The game features many volumetric and particle effects that help create a fantastical atmosphere in this ancient kingdom. Magical orbs, luminous dust, rays of light, everything is there to immerse you in this fictional universe, and it works very well. If we add to this some oriental music of the most beautiful effect, we find ourselves head first in a true journey worthy of the most beautiful Arab tales.
The time loop at the heart of the game
Very quickly, at the very beginning of the game, our first fight against the Raxes begins. These are creatures that are visibly inspired by Japanese folklore, notably the onis, red humanoid beasts with horns and very sharp teeth. A nice mix with the Persian style that works quite well.
The combat system is ultimately quite simple. Initially, you have 4 time loops that you can use as you wish to defeat opponents. Whenever you want, you can end your current loop to create a new one.
The little subtlety lies in the fact that each new time loop allows you to benefit from an afterglow, that is to say a perfect ghostly copy of yourself, which replays all your actions. For example, in an arena with multiple opponents, you can kill some of them on a first pass, then use your power to go back and create an afterglow. Your actions are then validated and a ghost will repeat your actions as soon as you move again, allowing you to go and liquidate the rest of the enemies in the area, or to go about other activities elsewhere. Be careful, in the event of an error you will have to start the arena from the beginning in most cases.
A perfect difficulty curve for Lysfanga
However, the developers added some extra difficulty to spice things up. If you touch a condemned opponent or get too close, they can attack you. You must therefore pay attention to your trajectory to avoid finding yourself in a too delicate situation with too many Raxes on your tail. The difficulty curve remains fairly constant, each new arena is more complex than the previous one. Once you complete one (so to speak), you can move on to the next area, and so on.
Of course, to defend yourself and defeat your opponents, you will have access to different options. In addition to a fast and heavy attack, you also have a spell and an ultimate attack called Power of the Goddess. The latter charges as you attack. Generally, it involves accumulating energy to unleash a powerful attack that deals massive damage around you. As for spells, you can only equip one per fight, and each has its own tactical specificities.
For example, you have an “orb of light” which allows you to carry out ranged attacks, or even a “grab vortex” which literally attracts opponents. You will have to make wise choices, because if the first arenas are simple, the difficulty really increases after a certain time. To help you in your task, you can also collect afterglow fragments during your exploration which, after 3 collections, allow you to obtain a new time loop. Exploring the environment outside of combat is therefore mandatory to gain power.
From monster to shovel
In addition to facing more and more opponents in the arenas, which require more and more loops, you will also encounter increasingly varied and tough enemies. Beyond simple monsters, you’ll be dealing with the Guardian, a shield-wielding giant who is impossible to defeat without an afterglow. Later, you will also encounter Bombwings, demonic bats that explode when you die and which you can send flying towards your opponents. Even worse are the twins: two demons resembling Jabba the Hutt who can only be killed when both are defeated simultaneously. Indeed, a living twin always resuscitates and heals its partner. So you will have to use a loop to defeat them, unless you are very fast.
A constant challenge and fun
To add challenge, each arena is timed, and it is even possible to use a portal to replay an event and improve your score. Being faster not only flatters your ego, but also saves loops, simplifying your progress. The objective for those who like challenge and speed-running is therefore to defeat as many demons as possible in a single loop in order to reduce problems in the next one. You will therefore have to use logic and tactics to determine in what order to defeat the opponents. Sometimes it makes sense to start by eliminating the weakest and then attack the strongest, but it can also be the other way around, depending on the level design. Sometimes it may happen that you need to destroy a crystal near a monster to open a magic door that is blocking your progress (things get complicated).
Add to that a variety of environments and monsters, as well as multiple approaches to defeating them, the complexity can quickly become confusing without a well-defined method. Each victory is therefore particularly rewarding, and the pleasure in Lysfanga The Time Shift Warrior is instantaneous. It’s even more exhilarating when you have to use your ingenuity to triumph, so you really feel like you’ve accomplished a job well done after a difficult arena.
The few limits of Lysfanga
Especially since your character is quite vulnerable and can die very easily after a few well-placed attacks. Fortunately for you, but unfortunately for the game, the adversaries are sometimes (often) not very active, and you should not expect Diablo 4-style assaults. It is difficult to say if this is due to a limited artificial intelligence or if it’s intentional on the part of the developers, but the monsters sometimes take a while to attack you, and you really have to be very close for the action to begin. However, this doesn’t really hinder the gameplay and even less the fun. Because despite everything, the fights are extremely satisfying. The attacks are fluid and the pleasure of playing is undeniable. Unless you are prone to anger…
In fact, we still advise you to breathe carefully before certain arenas, because some particularly tough enemies can be difficult to defeat, whether on the keyboard or the controller. Moreover, at this level, the game actually recommends using a controller, but we are pleased to note that Lysfanga The Time Shift Warrior is also very accessible to the keyboard and mouse. This further demonstrates the remarkable work carried out by the Sand Door studio.
