Furi

[Squire Grooktook]

Not sure if everyone knows about it, it really came out of nowhere. Thought I'd make a thread since I just got around to playing it. This is basically the game I've wanted to play since I was 10.

Furi is a mix of Platinum style hack and slash character action, boss rush, and bullet hell shmup. The camera is mostly top down, and at long range you run around dodging the enemies bullet hailstorms until one of you gets close enough to start trading slashes, combos, parries, and quick steps. Sometimes the camera even zooms in and adjusts to a more typical hack and slash perspective when you've both gone all in with sword play.

It has character designs by the artist for Afro Samurai, and an awesome synth-wave soundtrack by several artists which combines with the purple, neon-lit aesthetic to give the game something of an 80's vibe. I wouldn't call it banking on that aesthetic though, the character designs and script really give it a personality of its own.

Speaking of, I must say I'm really enjoying the presentation and cutscenes, almost as much as the (excellent) gameplay itself. Furi is like watching a killer 80's sci-fantasy acid trip cyber-ninja anime/movie fused to a radical Treasure-esque boss rush shmup meets platinum-games swordplay extravaganza.

I don't recommend actually watching a playthrough, because honestly I think its better to experience the game without being spoiled. But the official trailers gives a nice taste of it:

 

[Kawalorn]

Yeah I got it and finished it. Pretty awesome game. :D I love all the bosses except

Spoiler

Final one: The Star.

That one felt so... generic. And also auto-aim kept screwing up for me on that one.

Other than that, music is great, story is great, characters are great and gameplay is incredibly satisfying.

 

[Squire Grooktook]

I'm about 3 bosses in, so far really enjoying it. This is one of those games that I'll likely be revisiting throughout the years every so often.

I kind of love how exaggerated and zippy the melee attacks are, as necessitated by the birds eye perspective usually employed. Lots of energy, and really gives the melee combat its own personality. Reminds me of the lego-men sword fights 10 year old me would stage whilst imagining a game like this. Woosh, zip, pew pew.

Also one thing I really like is how they add that little flash to enemies indicating an attack can now be parried. As much as I love Dark Souls/Bloodborne, I don't actually enjoy having to memorize attack timings to avoid dodging/parrying huge sweaping strikes too early, heh.

 

[Mr Peck]

I dropped it after the first 3 bosses because it felt like a large amount of combat came down to looking for the big obvious tell, then pressing the parry button on reaction. I didn't get much out of the "don't stand on the red Pac-Man" sections or the super easy bullet patterns either. It felt like everything boiled down to the designer going "here's something that's easy to react to, now press the button to react!" and rewarding me with the win when I did it. Maybe some of the later fights will involve more strategy or spacing, but it felt like it was sorely missing from the ones I played.

It's good that other people like the game and I won't stick around to moan about it, but no one else listens to my whining so you get to read it here instead c:

 

[Squire Grooktook]

I dropped it after the first 3 bosses because it felt like a large amount of combat came down to looking for the big obvious tell, then pressing the parry button on reaction. I didn't get much out of the "don't stand on the red Pac-Man" sections or the super easy bullet patterns either. It felt like everything boiled down to the designer going "here's something that's easy to react to, now press the button to react!" and rewarding me with the win when I did it. Maybe some of the later fights will involve more strategy or spacing, but it felt like it was sorely missing from the ones I played.

It's good that other people like the game and I won't stick around to moan about it, but no one else listens to my whining so you get to read it here instead c:

I dunno, at times it seems like that, but then I take a random swipe at the enemy and it connects. I think they want you to parry, shoot, and slash at the right times, but there's some wiggle room.

I think spacing is also kind of the games main thing, really. It's all about running in and out of shoot vs slash range, and the flow between both styles of combat is really what makes it appealing to me.

I'm also told the game really picks up and becomes a lot more organic after the first 3 bosses, but I'm already sold from the first tbh.

 

[Mr Peck]

That's good to hear! Once I got to the third boss and still felt the same way I was worried that the whole game would be that way, not just the opening. I'll give the rest of it a try when I have the time.

 

[Squire Grooktook]

I might as well throw this out there, but with game design, I do have certain preferences and ideals, but I can suspsend them when I find something that I think is really unique and special.

Like, I usually like a balance of semi-randomness in enemy behavior (to keep you reacting instead of memorizing), fair telegraphing on hazards, strategic variety, etc. etc. blah blah blah. But as of now, Furi owns the market on fast paced arcade style boss rush 3d bullet hell swordplay, so there's not many alternatives. And even if there were, it's unique aesthetic and atmosphere is all its own.

So far I feel I'm a bit too early to understand how the games boss ai and overall gameplay really "works", so I can't offer much in the way of criticism. But I do appreciate everything on a surface level, and I enjoy the experience its offering.