Furi (2016)

This game is a stylish, fast-paced boss-rush action game that blends tight hack-and-slash swordplay with twin-stick shooting. Every fight is a unique duel against a distinct, personality-rich opponent, each with its own attack patterns, phases, and music theme. The controls are precise, the difficulty is unforgiving but fair, and the synthwave soundtrack is a standout, especially for fans of the genre like myself, it’s as much a part of the game’s identity as the combat itself, and what drawn me to it.

The story is minimalist but intriguing, drip-fed between battles through cryptic dialogue and gorgeous, neon-soaked visuals. It has an intense, rhythmic gameplay that rewards mastery and punishes hesitation, not much filler, just pure, escalating showdowns. These elements are not very different from other boss-rush games such as Titan Souls for example, but again, the standout is the artistic aspects of the OST and visuals, quite an unique mix.

If you like challenging, stylish action games with a focus on skill and atmosphere, Furi is a gem. But if you’re looking for variety beyond boss fights or prefer a laid-back pace, it might feel too punishing. I highly recommend if you like hard games to any extent, and this is truly a must-play for fans of the boss-rush genre, one of the best ones that I've played and made me fall in love with this genre.

After Bloodborne put me off with all that farming bullshit I decided to go back to a game that made things simple. You've got the tools, you fight.

Fuck this game slaps. The action, the colours, the music. Everything that's here is here for a reason and it's amazing. The Strap is still such a highlight. Her screams, her transformations, her desperation.

On this playthrough I noticed a little design detail that I hadn't noticed before. Parries heal you. In any other game, that could incentivise playing defensively when at low health and especially if that stage's health bar is low. Instead of attacking and going to the next one, it would be better to wait, parry a few blows to heal and only then move on. But because your health is filled up between stages, this game encourages you to fight back to move on to the next stage asap. So you get this tense and exhilarating moment of veing almost dead but attacking relentlessly anyway. I love it.

A few years ago I tried this game and dropped it after the second stage because it was too hard. Now for some reason I decided to pick it up again and really loved it. It is still hard, but in the years I might have get a bit more proficient with the controller and used to parrying and quick dodging so it felt more manageable.

Very little can be said against this game. It fully accomplishes what it tries to do: a series of hard fights against weird bosses. Half hack and slash, half bullet hell, and very focused on its handful of mechanics.

Each boss has several stages with slightly different behaviours and attacks. Between each stage there's usually a "sub-stage" in which you go into close-up combat, so fights feel fresh throughout. The enemies not only are very different between each other but they also tend to have a good variety of attacks, so for the most part even retrying the same fight has some level of variety.

Something I appreciated is that after each stage, both the boss and the character go back to full life. So if you finish a stage with just one hit left, then you are not instantly killed in the next one while you learn the new attacks. I really liked this mechanic.

The bosses themselves are all memorable. They represent shallow archetypes. The one that wants revenge, the one that fights you reluctantly, the one that is fighting for his son. But they do flesh out some interesting lore and are they all have interesting designs. A particular favourite is the second one, which is pure pathos and changes dramatically between each stage.

Each level of the game is masterfully done and waved together. Gameplay, enemy design, voice acting, writing, and the fucking music. The soundtrack features banger after banger. Absolutely incredible.

I didn't know what I was getting into when I started this game. It was a freebie on Prime, at some point, and of course I picked it up. I am the self proclaimed: "Queen of collecting all the free games!" :D The art style looked interesting and I decided to jump in to this game called, Furi.

Holy guacamole, was I shocked when I found out that Furi was boss fight, after boss fight. Now, that might sound intimidating at first, but it is so well done! It was a nice change of pace to my typical pick of videogame. Normally, you get your boss rush stages once you have completed a game and it's an achievement perk at the end. Not with Furi. This game tells such a great story through the various boss fights, and then throws an AMAZING twist at you at the end.

Beautiful art style, amazing character designs, catchy music, and challenging unique fights all the way to the end that build on each other. Such a hidden gem! I highly recommend if you are looking for a bit of a change and a challenge. Furi will not disappoint!

I could give 5 stars easily.

Great atmosphere. Awesome story. And i love katanas. Very. Very much.

But.

Some bosses are so boring, long and repetitive. Sniper boss, mothership boss... so unnecessary. They are not hard. Just boring.

And "dash" lags so hard sometimes. Controller support is subpar. Never had that problem so far in any game before.

I'll not play "One More Fight" DLC. Heard it only has health-whore bosses with so many phases.

Whoever described this game as ultra-responsive should be ashamed lol. The input lag on the dash move is INFURIATING (no pun intended) and is making the last fight way harder than it should be (if not all fights, really).

I'm playing the switch port. Has anyone here compared it to the original pc/PS4 versions? Are those more responsive in any way?

This is one of the most fun experiences I've had in a while. The soundtrack was awesome and I will defintiely be checking out some of the artists soon. The art style is BEAUTIFUL. I was in awe between and during fights.

It definitely gave me a Samurai Jack vibe as I was walking between fights, looking badass and holding my sword. The gameplay was also super fun, and fairly simple to pickup, but tough to perfect. I definitely recommend this game to everyone.

Also, knowing that the guys who made this also made Afro Samurai definitely makes me want to check that out too.

Played on PC

After weeks of struggling I finally finished Furi the other day. At times I grew a little frustrated with it and put it aside, but I'm glad that I always picked it up again and managed to see it through.

Furi is weird little genre-blending game, borrowing elements from many different games. The entire game is a series of boss fights: you are a neon ninja cyberpunk prisoner trying to escape back to your world and each boss is a successive jailor. "The jailor is the key: kill him and you will be free."

There are no upgrades or different weapons, armour or any RPG elements. You start the game with all your abilities and controls and as you progress through each increasingly-harder boss you become stronger, not by upgrading but by actually improving your skill, your control and understanding of the game mechanics. Your character has two weapons: a gun and a sword. The sword can do light/heavy attacks as well as parry and dodge (with i-frames). You can use your gun for ranged attacks with a twin-stick shooter control scheme. Progressing in the game is all about learning the patterns of each boss and finding ways to counter their movesets. The combat is extremely satisfying, on the level of Dark Souls and defeating a Furi boss delivers that same satisfaction.

Each boss is entirely different and will use unique and often surprising attacks and their environment to try to kill you. But the intense boss encounters are broken up by these peaceful exploration sections where the narrative is developed. Each boss inhabits an entirely different realm and as you approach the next boss, you can explore his/her world as you begin to slowly reveal the story (of the game-world and each boss) and the mysterious past of the protagonist. These "walking" sections offer a calm, quiet rest between fights, a nice way to break up the intensity. The overall appearance of the game is bold: lots of neon, crazy 70's hair, strange architecture, and carefully-chosen colours. Combined with the entrancing beat of the electronic soundtrack (reminiscent of Daft Punk), this game-world is positively oozing with style and flavour.

Originally I wasn't going to play Furi because I'm not a big fan of bullet hell games, and the art style didn't appeal to me. But I'm glad I decided to give it a go because I eventually got into it and really enjoyed it (and the bullet hell sections are minimal).

In terms of challenge, this game is tough as nails. Even the "tutorial" boss gave me a lot of trouble to begin with and I definitely struggled through other parts of the game. But the controls are tight, the fights are fair and no death ever felt cheap.

Now for a few small complaints. Firstly, the game has four alternate endings, one of which happens half-way through the game (if you make the wrong decision). This happened to me and it wiped my save file, so I had to start the game over from the beginning, which was extremely frustrating. For anyone playing this, I suggest backing up your save file into a folder after you beat each boss... the game should really have the option to save manually. My other complaint is the final boss: I expected the fight to test all of the skills I had developed up to that point. Instead, the last fight is a big gimmick that puts you in a little "mini-game" uninteresting, frustrating and unrelated to the previous fights, and gives you unfamiliar skills, weapons and camera. Personally I thought this was a big blunder in terms of game design, and it felt completely out of place compared to the rest of the game which I enjoyed so much! Still though, it was tough and it felt great to finally beat the game, the final boss, and to unlock hard mode!

For anyone who likes a challenge, I would highly recommend Furi. It has a really unique vision, atmosphere and art style.. refined, addictive and satisfying gameplay, a wonderful thumping soundtrack, a formidable challenge and a brilliantly-executed narrative.

Furi lacks in a lot of areas; its typical electronic hip music (here's looking at you Brut) doesn't fit the game and feels out of place. The story is light and inconsequential to the player's enjoyment, and it's very short. What makes it good? What makes it deserving of such a rating?

The game is challenge and tight action incarnate. Moving constantly from place to place, stick shooting and knowing when to place a good charge shot, evading curtains of bullets, and parrying at just the right time is key in this game. The game is a focused set of ten bosses at its core, ranging from snipers to melee fights to long-distance to everywhere in between. Each boss may come with its own set of challenges and frustrations, and are thankfully unique.

That said, Furi isn't bad looking; its rendering looks not as detailed but is fresh with color and smooth effects. The walking feels unnecessary (but thank goodness for an automated walk button) but allows a nice look at some creative looking areas.

Is this game for everyone? No. Am I elite for liking this game? Heavens, no. Furi fills a niche that I often look for; slick and challenging fights that encourage repeated play for mastery. No padding, no RPG elements, just a straight-up challenge. And I like that type of straightforward nature in a game.