Furi

Much of my disappointment comes from Furi's success in creating such intriguing landscapes, and subsequent failure to do anything engaging with them. While the story is mostly bluster, later encounters introduce some much-needed nuance and muddy your role in the narrative. I'm sure some masochistic players will enjoy bashing their head against Furi's towering wall of difficulty, but with little else to go on, I was questioning my reason for fighting long before the protagonist started to.

There’s definitely fun to be had in Furi’s fast and frenzied battles against a colorful cast of quirky boss characters. While it finds its strongest moments in its rewardingly rhythmic, precision-based one-on-one duels, an unwelcome level of tedium and occasionally cheap sequences — made even more frustrating by janky mechanics — keep the action from being as consistently strong as it is visually stylish.

There's definitely fun to be had in Furi's fast and frenzied battles against a colorful cast of quirky boss characters. While it finds its strongest moments in its rewardingly rhythmic, precision-based one-on-one duels, an unwelcome level of tedium and...

Furi lures you in with a cool lead character and a powerful soundtrack--qualities that are easy to appreciate--but its the journey to become a better fighter that defines the experience. Its disparate components are potent and leave an unforgettable impression that you won't soon forget. Furi will make you sweat under pressure, scream in frustration, but it will also give you the drive to get better; to become a boss of your own. Once you do, there's almost no feeling like it.

Furi is going to find its audience, that much is certain, but the real shame here is that with a couple of tweaks, that audience could have wound up being far larger than what it likely will be. Still, boss-rush games seem to be few and far between nowadays, so if you’re looking to get your Punch-Out!! on in a whole new way, you could do far worse.

These shabby peripheral elements prevent Furi from being a masterpiece, but scarcely detract from the exquisite white knuckle action Furi delivers in spades. Furi may look rough around the edges and its seemingly slight slew of content may be a tough sell (especially at the somewhat pricey €24.99 / $24.99) but at the end of the day it's a winning premise done right. Elegant, deep, inspired, and oh so tight, Furi is a gem.

There's definitely fun to be had in Furi's fast and frenzied battles against a colorful cast of quirky boss characters. While it finds its strongest moments in its rewardingly rhythmic, precision-based one-on-one duels, an unwelcome level of tedium and...