Everybody was kung fu fighting with Fantasy Strike in Early Access today

Today, Sirlin Games announced that the fighting game Fantasy Strike will be released on Steam Early Access today. The game aims to be accessible to both beginners and veterans to the fighting genre, and mixes up intricate mechanics with simplistic controls. The game is planned to exit Early Access and head to PC and PlayStation 4 next year.

Designed with accessibility in mind, Fantasy Strike provides players with a rare experience in the world of fighting games: a game that’s unusually easy to jump into, yet with the depth of strategy and tactics that hardcore fans of the genre expect.

Fantasy Strike’s diverse roster of combatants includes a painter, a watchmaker, flame archer, a dragon-man, and more. It’s fifth and latest battle arena debuts in today’s release: the beautiful Morningstar Sanctuary—the in-world location of the Fantasy Strike tournament itself. A full set of game modes are also available, including arcade, practice, local versus, and online play with the best-in- class GGPO networking technology to minimize online lag.

The Steam Early Access release also unveils many new graphical improvements to cel-shading and visual effects as well as a new “Friend Match” feature. True to Fantasy Strike’s mission to be as approachable as possible, Friend Match allows players to challenge friends online without the hassle of creating lobbies or bothering with external Steam menus. To play a friend, you simply highlight their name in your in-game Steam friends list, click challenge, then you and your friend are presented with the same flow as if you were playing the local versus mode together in the same room.

The game looks great right now, and hopefully it finds a balance between casual fighting game fans and hardcore veterans. Check out the trailer above, as well as a video from Core-A Gaming about the delicate balance of simplicity in fighting games below. Check back for more news here on Gaming Trend.