Furi Relentlessly Drops You into Stunning Boss Fights

As soon as you step into the world of Furi, a new third-person action game from French developer The Game Bakers, its manga influences are immediately apparent. This is in no way an accident. Furi bleeds things like Afro Samurai in its over-the-top action, with an emphasis on dueling and especially the flowing, colorful art style. In fact, Afro Samurai creator Takashi Okazaki designed all of the Guardians (the bosses in the game), using a very similar theatrical approach. There's even a Kuma-inspired character with a rabbit mask for a head. 

The studio's co-founder, Emeric Thoa, told me that Furicame out of his determination to make his dream game, one that would focus on intense duels against enemies that weren't the massive hulking beasts you might encounter in things like the Dark Souls series. Thoa was inspired by his days as an amateur boxer back in France. He envisioned Furi's boss fights as 1-on-1 standoffs where one false move could mean the difference between victory or defeat, and in more than just the excellent electronic music from Carpenter Brut, the game indeed demands a dance of perfect footing and technique between two partners. 

Furi is as much about rhythm as it is your ability to aim, shoot, and dodge. In this way, the game's Japanese influences are more than one. Thoa really wants the game to be a return to the fast-paced action and highly responsive controls of Japanese titles like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta. Reaction time and quick wit are absolutely key to defeating any boss in the game. 

Much of my time with Furi at PAX East 2016 perfectly played out like a boxing match, as I entered the arena to face off against the game's first Guardian, an intimidating masked opponent that could spew electricity from his fists, which I fell victim to more than once. Thoa coached me as if this were my big PPV fight in Las Vegas. He instructed me to stay as far away as possible from the Guardian in the first stage of the fight. What I faced was a colorful but deadly bullet hell that I had to dodge at all costs while also laying down my own fire with the right stick. You can fire in quick bursts of blue laser beams or with a more deadly long-range shot that quickly staggered my opponent.

The close quarters combat was a lot more punishing, as I had to quickly memorize the Guardian's attack patterns (I died a lot trying to do this), parry, and then go on the offensive with my sword. The early sections of the fight were way more defensive, mostly because I couldn't get close to my enemy without swinging at nothing but air (these guys are REALLY fast) or getting my face crushed by his lightning fists. 

After several restarts, I started getting farther and farther in the fight, depleting the boss' multiple health bars until it was down to someone making a mistake in footing or revealing his hand too quickly. The tension of these boss fights never subsides and they'll definitely make you sweat. Thoa wants the duels to feel rewarding, and that's exactly how it felt to finally take down my enemy for good after thirty minutes of fighting. 

While most of the gameplay is made up of boss fights, there are quieter sections of the game, moments when you get bits and pieces of story, as well as info on your next opponent in the time it takes to exit one arena and enter the next. Thoa said that these moments were designed to reveal more about why the main character had been imprisoned in the first place (the game is basically about his escape from the mysterious, electronic jail) and also psych you out in the same way boxers do in the morning weigh in before the fight. 

Furi is a very purposeful attempt to recreate the feeling of facing an opponent in the ring for a one-on-one test of endurance. More often than not, you'll slip up in the early rounds, but if you manage to regain your footing, learn from your enemy's weaknesses and exploit them, you might just have a chance to leave the arena a winner.

Furi is out in 2016 for PS4 and PC.