Game:

Fights in Tight Spaces (2021)

Duration: 1:28:58

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12

This game rocks. Sorry about the delay at the start of the run.

I take a lot of damage early-game because I know I can just replenish it by beating the boss fights quickly. Later on, around the middle of the ninja mission, I actually start paying more attention to the game. I tried to minimise the use of the fast-forward mechanic to make the viewing experience better. Though even then, unless you're already familiar with the game, you probably won't be able to parse the action.

Overall this wasn't super hard to pull off. The game can be impenetrable to new players due to the sheer volume of mechanics, but once you have a solid foundation of knowledge, it's not hard (just very boring and time-consuming) to play it perfectly. Every run I lost was due to getting lazy, misremembering a mechanic, or making a bad decision. I guess you could say that the game is pretty well-balanced.

Core Mechanics:
- You have a deck of cards which can be played in exchange for "momentum" (displayed in a grey octagon on the screen, starts 3/3 each turn). These cards can deal damage, push enemies, reorient them, force specific actions, disable abilities, etc.
- Enemies, on their turn, attack and then move. You can force enemies to attack each other by moving into their attack range and then dipping out, causing a "delayed reaction" where they attack on their turn when you've already left, possibly hitting an ally. It's also possible to push an enemy into another enemy's attack hitbox, triggering a "reaction shot" which does the same.

Enemy Traits:
- Enemies may have "block", a small secondary healthbar which regenerates fully at the start of each turn.
- Hazard symbols on the ground (a triangle with an exclamation mark within) indicate that an enemy will immediately autoattack you if you step on that tile. This is an ability possessed by bartenders and riflemen especially. Some enemies can autoattack repeatedly while others can only do it once per turn.
- Some enemies have a hexagon with an equilibrium symbol within underneath their feet. This is an indication that they will counterattack in response to any offensive act taken against them within one tile's range. They can do this without limit.
- Enemies may be immune to push (i.e. you cannot move them on your turn), grappling (so you cannot knock them down), or bleed (this is only true if they have armour).
- Some enemies move toward you on your turn if you use a movement card. This "stalking" mechanic makes repositioning an unreliable means of escaping these particular opponents.
- Bleed is a stacking status effect. At the start of any character's turn, they take damage equal to their bleed, and bleed decreases by 1. This means that build-oriented decks and bleed-stacking enemies can cause massive amounts of guaranteed damage-over-time to build up.
- Certain enemies will dodge the first attack made against them during any particular turn, especially beefy mafiosos and drunk martial artists.
- Knocking an enemy off the stage, such as through a window or over a railing, instantly kills them. This applies to the player too.
- Boss fights end immediately if the boss is killed, even if minions are still on the board. The only exception to this rule is the final boss fight against Agent XI.
- The player has finite health which does not regenerate between missions unless restored via very rare cards, purchased for at clinics, or gifted by beating bosses within a certain time limit.
- Yellow enemies (informants or ambassadors) spawn on some missions and must be spared or protected. Informants act like normal enemies but do not have to be killed to win the encounter, and if left alive at the end, they restore 15 of your HP. The same goes for ambassadors, however they don't have any attacks and are actively targeted by enemies.

Upgrades & Enhancements:
- Cards can be upgraded once to a better version of themselves at gyms or via rewards from events and combat encounters. This usually decreases their momentum cost, increases damage/block values, or affects some other utility.
- A small number of cards are unplayable, and have either positive or negative effects when held in your hand. Negative unplayable cards are accrued via in-combat injuries.
- The player can acquire enhancements as they progress, making their character permanently stronger through increases to momentum, combo gain (combo is a currency which you gain every time you hit an enemy and lose every time you move without hitting anything; it may be spent in combat to augment or unlock the use of certain cards), etc. They take up the same slots as long term injuries, which are permanent debuffs which may only be removed at a clinic.
- Gyms let the player prune their deck of useless cards, upgrade what they already have, or acquire new cards.

Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:13 - Biker Gang (Red)
13:53 - Prison Network (Orange)
31:05 - Ninja Clan (Green)
49:18 - The Mafia (Purple)
1:14:59 - Renegade Agent (Black and White)

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