FORCED is a one-to-four player adventure/brawler game, with both RPG and puzzle elements, where you control a recently-"recruited" gladiator, and his spirit advisor, Balphus, whose initial goal of simply passing the tests to become a proper gladiator quickly take a turn for the worse, as the guardians, who are supposed to simply evaluate them, have let time and their own desires corrupt their once-honorable intentions, and the unfortunate gladiator finds himself caught right in the middle...
The gladiators can pick between four weapons/fighting styles (Volcanic Hammer, Frost Shield, Spirit Claws and Storm Bow), and the skills, both active and passive, that they bring. Further skills, as well as the slots to use them, must be unlocked by acquiring crystals, which are obtained in trials the player must pass. Furthermore, the gladiator's spirit advisor plays an important role, as he can be controlled by the player and is required to activate shrines of all kinds, as well as to operate the many puzzles the player will face.
This game provides examples of:
- Annoying Arrows: The Storm Bow needs to be charged to really do any decent amount of damage with a regular blow, though unleashing a storm of piddly arrowshots does have the advantage of quickly marking an enemy.
- An Ice Person / Shield Bash: The Frost Shield, with it's eponymous element and main form of attack respectively..
- A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: After Slarth's boss fight, Balphus reveals he was the one that trained him as a gladiator, before he became a guardian. He's far from happy from having to watch him get corrupted, malevolent, and finally killed.
- Body Horror: The guardians' corruption manifests in some undesirable ways. Graw is probably the ugliest, most mutated one, but Slarth gets bonus points for having once been completely human, now looking like a slim Big Red Devil with an extra head sprouting out of his shoulder.
- Bullfight Boss: Wrathhoof, who will charge into walls if you dodge him (but will pin you down and beat the crud out of you if you don't), getting stunned and allowing you to wallop him. Bonus points for being an actual bull.
- The Corruption: Graw has turned the forest that is the third chamber into a mess of reddish vines, rot, and bloody, poisonous mist. Even the shrines get corrupted, and can't be purified without completely breaking them.
- Deadpan Snarker: Balphus, usually when dealing with each guardian's antics.
- Degraded Boss: Of a sort. After each boss, a new enemy is added to the roster that takes after their traits, and some of their attacks, like Tauri for Wrathhoof and Sorcerers for Slarth.
- Exposition Fairy: Balphus, though one with a much more active role than most.
- Living Statue: In the second chamber, the statues you usually have to blow up decide they're not having any of that, and start attacking you, still immune to your non-power shrine attacks. That stone sword of theirs hurts like hell, so keep your distance at all times. Appropriately, after all the normal ones you detonated, the level they debut in is called "Revenge".
- The Mentor: Balphus, your Spirit Mentor. Quite a bit more hands-on than most, however.
- Mighty Glacier: The Volcanic Hammer takes its time to charge up, and doesn't allow many quick-movement skills, but the one thing that stays constant among the many builds it allows is, it hits hard.
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Nintendo Hard: This game is merciless after the first boss, especially so if you want the extra gems from the challenges and time trials. - Oh, Crap!: A few from Balphus, whenever he realizes the situation just got really nasty, but the single biggest one is when Wrathhoof decides he'd rather kill you than pass you, meaning you either die, or kill a Chamber Guardian.
- Shock and Awe: The Storm Bow
- Shoot the Medic First: Whenever Bloodspores (the floating purple gasbags) show up, you're going to want to go after them for this very reason. There's also a bit of a "Blow Up The Hospital First" variation with corrupted shrines, you CAN lead enemies away from them, but it's easier to just send Balphus their way and stand back while he does his magic. And we do mean stand back, they get a little fighty in their last moments.
- Stone Wall: Frost Shield users, who can block attacks regularly and get several protective capabilities, but whose damage output is somewhat gimped in comparison to other weapons.
- Throwing Your Shield Always Works: The very first skill you unlock with the Frost Shield lets you toss it like a boomerang. It'll hit anything marked up rather hard, but won't do squat to anything else.
- Wolverine Claws: The Spirit Claws.
