Furi

Furi is a boss rush action game that mixes melee combat with bullet-hell mechanics. It's stylish and cool with really tight mechanics and punishing difficulty. The formula of the game and it's description was really appealing to me as a fan of intense action games. Going in I was absolutely sure I would get one of my favourites going into the future. And while I liked most of it, it fell short of it in just a few occasions. The story of Furi is minimal. Pure "show, don't tell", where information that was given to us through the voice lines of other characters. Each character has less of a name and more of a title, what they represent in each of their little worlds. Our character, The Stranger, held in the layered prison and guarded by the powerful fighters, that gave their existence to protect the world and not let The Stranger out. The reason on why exactly Stranger is being kept in prison is not clear, but through the dialogue we might get some clues. The Stranger is set free by another person, presumably another prisoner, who will be known is named by the game as The Voice. This guy wearing a giant rabbit mask is definitely hiding his real power level and makes it clear that he is using Stranger's power for his own means to leave this prison, and if he had other options, he would've done it. But with no other choice, he gives The Stranger his weapons and let's get out. The jailer is the key, kill him, and you will be free. The story while becomes much more clear at the end, still deliberately obscures some details on what actually is going on and motivations for each character. But it is interesting nonetheless. There is enough lore to chew on, while not being the main focus of the game. The game's visual style is bright neon colors set in pastel world. Each level has unique setting, a little world of their own for each of the Guardians, showing their style and design before we even reach them. The characters themselves have striking designs, each memorable in their own way. Most of the characters have their faces obscured, wearing masks or other pieces of clothing, which deliberately hides limited facial animations of the characters. And everything works really well. Everything feels very stylish and works very well. Up close certain textures might seem a little cheap and blurry, and when the game tries to show human faces up close they seem a little like plastic action figures, but overall designs are so strong and overwhelming you don't really notice it. The game also features a very strong synthwave soundtrack, with each level featuring tracks from a different composer. The game's overall presentation might've been seen as a cliche, since a lot of the games from 2010-s had this kind of stylish, violent aesthetic with a synthwave soundtrack, but I kind of miss that. The game is definitely stands on it's own with it's style and certain moments really had me standing there and just admiring what it showed. The gameplay of Furi is focused on one singular thing, fighting bosses. Imagine if Dark Souls or Devil May Cry removed all of the content surrounding boss-fights, no exploration, no side-quests, no collectibles, no low-level enemies to grind for leveling. It's just you and that guy over there and you ahve to learn hisattacks or perish. There are little walking segments with narration from THe Voice, where he gives some exposition on what is going on and who is the next boss that we are facing, but those are mostly for the vibes and have no value, outside of providing some downtime before the next boss. In the fight, The Stranger has access to ranged attack, melee slash, dodge and a parry. Every action, except parry, can be charged for a better effect. Your pistol shot can be charged to deliver more powerful shot, sword attack can be charged for a powerful slash that moves you forward. With parry, there is a mechanic where you can time a perfect deflect that will leave opponent stunned and wide open for a powerful melee attack. I would love to say that each mechanic wrks perfectly, however... The dodge was one of the most frustrating evasive abilities I had used in this type of game. Dodge is the most important ability you have, allowing to avoid any attack that you can't just parry or run from. The enemies on their last phas usually use a desperation attack, where they go all out trying to stop you from escaping and usually it's a very powerful moment. But then they will throw wave after wave of unavoidable attacks that you have to dodge through to survive. Dodge, like I said, can be charged and activates when you release the button. Depending on how long you hold the dodge button, the farther dodge goes. Sounds simple, but this whole system made the dodge very inconsistent, in a way that made it feel way more than just simple skill issue on my part. There were so many situations where I dodged perfectly the first attack, where you get face first into the sonce wave or a nearby bullet, while trying to time a shorter dodge would lead to being stopped right in the middle of the wave and taking damage. That one simple thing made some of the bosses infuriating to fight against. The best bosses in the game are lgitimately the ones where they focus on 1-on-1 sword combat, where the main thing you need to focus on is parrying their attacks. The game's design requires controls to be super tight and responsive, and if the dodge was tuned just right it would've been perfect. But still I highly recommend to check out Furi if you like challenging boss fights or just seeking for the next difficult game to get through. It's stylish, compact, and focused on what it wants to give to you. Outside of some slight blemishes, it's a real treat.

very good

si

A generic action game with sloppy mechanics. It may be underbaked but at least it has ugly graphics.

much bosses

ótimo boss rush, dificuldade balanceada, durante as boss fight é como se o chefe mudasse quase que completamente, cada chefe é único.