Furi Review

I'd like to thank Chris Wagar for giving the game its final recommendation for me to get to playing it. We spoke a bunch about stuff in the game after going through it. I think he ended up liking the game almost as much as I did. He has a lot of written articles you can check out here: critpoints.wor...
The script for this video has been posted if you'd like to read along, or want to review what I say afterwards:
jphanderson.wo...
Patreon: / josephanderson
Twitter: / jph_anderson
Books: www.amazon.com...

[@alicaido6616]

the mention of looking at the screen and going "this is insane" really sums up how I feel about this game, at times you're just in awe because of how difficult something looks, and by the very fact that you managed to pull it off this is the type of power trip I look for in a game, not mowing down hundreds of enemies, but beating one enemy to a pulp so precisely that you just feel like a boss

[@glowerworm]

Then you'll love Sekiro

[@goblinbastard]

this is why I play fighting games

[@Runexn]

let me mention that The Edge has become my favorite boss of all time, its incredibly motivational for the type of game Furi is, and as soon as I beat the the game for the first time and unlocked practice mode, the very first thing I did was run the fight 30+ times until I beat him without taking damage. The first thing I noticed was that every single one of his combo's is telegraphed before he uses them. if he is using the one hit, he sheathes his sword, 3 hit, he raises his sword above his head first, and if hes doing the long combo, he flourishes the sword. This is why he picks up the Oar, it masks the combo tells with harder to read animations. and finally, in the last stage, you can actually hit him multiple times, as well as between each hit of his combo, which allows you to benefit immensely from getting good at the game. this boss is like, the pinnacle of pattern recognition and I love it to death because of it.

[@grandpanoogie2665]

The Edge is 100% a dad that motivates his kids because he know they can do whatever they need to with a little motivation.

[@thedevilsadvocate4854]

Also his build up is so good,i was hyped up by that sentence from the voice : What would you do if you had an eternity to do nothing but wait ? Do you keep busy, do you daydream, do you freak out ? *H E T R A I N E D*

[@SlytherpuffHouse]

My favourite thing about The Edge is the attack in the oar phase where he feints you to draw out the parry and then goes for the real swing half a second later, that attack feels like a real moment of the devs trusting their players to have mastered the systems.

[@Xirbtt]

How are they hard to read when every move has a big white light and sound accompanied to it??

[@misspurdy27288]

Xirbtt clearly you haven’t played it. It may seem obvious in a video, but while playing it’s a challenge to keep tabs on that and everything else the boss does.

[@rowanatkinson3594]

"The penultimate phase is often more difficult than the final one" *rocks back and forth in the fetal position mumbling Let's take this to the next level*

[@moonraven6145]

we all know your pain.. we do :)

[@rowanatkinson3594]

let'stakethistothenextlevel

[@vorval96]

With the last life and last bit of hp I managed to survive the Burst's last phase. However what I didn't expect was close combat section right after!!

[@MrCompassionate01]

I love how the music gets faster and faster during that segment, so stressful.

[@JetStream0509]

I am disappointed in you, rider.

[@daltonfuchs3847]

Quick tip: You can still teleport while your sword is charged, and it will hold the charge so long as you keep holding the sword button. I would regularly charge my sword, teleport to avoid attacks, then strike during the pauses.

[@tafu4049]

You can also parry WHILE holding the charge. So you can esentially move around and parry while holding your charge

[@Arichson]

Also I too do that but I mix. Dashes with attacks I usually would dash slash 2 times then parry cause they would parry and counterattack me in the second slash then charge up a slash after and attack when there doing their next attack

[@Novacanoo]

This might be the only review to ever convince me to play a game on a higher difficulty.

[@cactussenpai9625]

Novacanoo ikr

[@thevoyofloy]

The intro taught me that you can parry The Song’s dash attack

[@engandaus8815]

Same I was so annoyed at myself after realising

[@owensitod3260]

Me too lmao I just charge shoot her

[@plugshirt1762]

I did it on accident the first time out of a panicked reaction was just surprised it actually saved me

[@damienmichiels4119]

I hear in most reviews that the walking segments between the bosses is a downside to the overal game, especially the ign review. I actually really love them and don't think I am the only one. The bunny character gives some backstory, but for me he also really hypes up the fight. I'm on my third playthrough now with quite some time inbetween them so perhaps the repetitiveness hasn't yet set in for me. But I absolutely love most of the music and the scenery that occurs in these segments. And as Joseph said in his review it is also a great way to get some rest after finally beating the intense final phases of the most recently killed boss so you don't get instantly thrown into action again. Felt like sharing after reading ign's review completely bashing this part of the game. But hey, different people, different tastes.

[@thedevilsadvocate4854]

I may be late,but the walking section just before the fight against the Edge was the HYPEST moment for me in the game. That simple sentence : What would you do if you had an eternity to do nothing but wait ? Do you keep busy, do you daydream, do you freak out ? *H E T R A I N E D*

[@danielfraiz74]

If only they added the possibility of running faster when you do the story a second time after you finished it, like when the credits end while you're on the earth, it's like, hey you already know the story if you want to hear it, hear it, if you want to rush it, do it

[@pedoncule1419]

Iam late but into a no subtitles interview, Emeric Thoa said that he create this phases to transmit to the player the very particular sensations when he walked slowly to the ring (he is boxer) with his music in his ears before the fight.

[@thedevilsadvocate4854]

@@pedoncule1419 That's a perfect way to do it. Thanks for the info,love those moments.

[@SlytherpuffHouse]

The walking sections are fine the first time but such an utter chore after that. My Story Mode score will forever be stuck at a pathetic D rank whilst my speedrun time is in the 48ish minutes range simply because I can't be arsed to have to watch the Stranger plod his way along for 3 hours between fights.

[@sasoriharuno2898]

"They can't just kill you?" He's literally indestructible...

[@zinfuldreams1709]

He also didn't say why they want to keep him imprisoned. It's a spoiler free synopsis

[@freddiekruger3339]

The star says "They don't even know we exist" (to be fair, the voice definitely seems to know more than he says and I think the line mentions something about "a dot on the sun" probably being the ufo, but I think it's just assumed that rider has an op healing factor)

[@Arunnejiro]

@@gearlock3573 I remember one of the characters distinctly saying that they tried all sorts of ways to kill him but none were effective

[@maaxorus]

@@gearlock3573 The Chain says that he's gonna enjoy repeatedly killing the stranger again and again in the very first exchange of the game. Some other guardians, like the Voice or the Line state that he can't be outright destroyed by their methods. That leads me to believe that the stranger can be damaged enough to be rendered unconscious for a few hours, but not much more beyond that. Maybe chopping off limbs or the head isn't an option at all, either.

[@maaxorus]

@@gearlock3573 I don't see how it's a plot hole. It wouldn't be that far-fetched to say that an insanely strong entity that is unkillable by human means has durable enough arms to be unchoppable.

[@novikovPrinciple]

*sees bullet patterns and Boss' multiple health bars* I've played enough _Touhou_ to know where this is going.

[@LMNtaLXicon]

Liked for Furi-S.

[@Arkanthrall]

3h55mn to beat normal mode? It took me 10h52mn...

[@danielfraiz74]

It took me 4:45 how could you need 11 hours lol, that means that you needed 1 hour per boss holy jesus

[@Heisen_Bergensen]

@@danielfraiz74 holy jesus? are you twelve or what? What is the problem with taking your time to finish a game?

[@danielfraiz74]

@@Heisen_Bergensen that it's not that hard lol

[@Heisen_Bergensen]

@@danielfraiz74 it may be hard for casual gamer

[@83rdgec17]

@@Heisen_Bergensen I beat ds3, ds2 and sekiro and my first playthroughs of this game took me like 10 hours. It is a very hard game

[@KeithBallardA]

Promenade is almost shockingly poorly executed. It makes fights easy to the point of being condescending. Entire fights can be over in 30 seconds with next to zero effort. That said, the boss phases are generally lifted directed from Furi difficulty. They just make them easy by making the damage stats completely absurd. The problem here is that a lot of the Furi difficulty boss phases are a part of a carefully established learning curve, meaning they're meant to exist within a context. When you're sleepwalking through Promenade mode and suddenly hit one of the only genuinely difficult parts you basically slam into a brick wall. The challenge is insurmountable because the game has never taught you how to handle the situation it's flinging you into. I know multiple people who beat the game on Furi. I know no one who started and finished the game on Promenade, despite it being "easy" mode. It doesn't feel like a genuine, designed difficulty mode. It feels like it was thrown together in an afternoon as an afterthought, perhaps after someone mandated that the game needed an easy mode. They refused to design easy mode boss phases, so playing it feels like listening to a record that skips rather than a new song mix.

[@scrums4748]

Yeah, the whole point of easy mode is that it's making fun of you for putting the game on easy made, it doesn't feel like a genuine difficulty because it isn't a a genuine difficulty. Think of this game as only having one mode to start, there is normal, and then there is ng+ I know this post was made a year ago but I just wanted to reply

[@branchuloid]

The devs wanted to make it obvious that the game wasn't meant to be played on Promenade.

[@Tayce_t]

Keith Ballard Why are you playing on Promenade anyways? That's your problem.

[@KaneYork]

@Double D If it's not meant to be played, why does it exist?

[@wolfgod6443]

It's good that it doesn't change any of the phases because then I'd want to play it to experience the new stuff, but easy mode wasn't meant to be played, so they shouldn't have changes.

[@forgiveness7959]

Furi quickly became one of my favorite games of all time, I felt like a total badass toward the end. And it was really all thanks to my teacher who I call, Master Edge.

[@Lumo95]

Seriously beginning to think Mattewmatosis and Joseph are the same person or long lost twin brothers.

[@JosephAndersonChannel]

I am secretly British so who can say for sure.

[@MrThaumaturgical]

ireland bruh

[@ADxTygon]

British, Irish, same thing

[@OLDCHANNELDONOTUSE]

ADxTygon America, ISIS, same thing.

[@Lumo95]

Dr. ViperKevin woah, nearly cut myself on that edge there

[@stalelemonproduction]

I think the reason the penultimate phase is usually harder than the final phase for the bosses isn't because they wanna avoid feeling like a sudden death would feel cheap or something, but more story related. The bosses are tired, exhausted, and are just throwing everything at you trying to do something before they go down

[@quadZ_z]

I'd say it's probably a mix of the two

[@elevedescience504]

This is especially visible with the Hand. During the parry chain on the last phase, he throws himself at you desperately and his attacks become slower and more sluggish as they progress in a way that made me pity him.

[@wicked5999]

I believe they consider you to be broken. They see your very being as corruption incarnate, and yet they managed to imprison you and torture you to submission. The jailers initially think you're weakened, a shell of your former self, and consider your rebellion futile. As you wittle them down they begin to realise your true power, and I think their change in fighting style reflects that. They've underestimated you. I also get the sense that phase two is often harder than phase three, which supports that idea. You're an alien to them, lacking empathy for the earth and their lives. But strangely, at certain points, they attempt to apply to your sense of morality. To consider right from wrong, and what you're really fighting for. You're cold and foreign, and although they think they're on the side of justice, in some ways they treat you as one of their own.

[@tristanseaver9054]

Can't blame the hunter for my death? I believe you underestimate my ability to deflect blame

[@Josh-es1zq]

Was just watching your Rise critique then you uploaded this. Love your video style

[@arthurdurham]

I had no clue you coukd deflect bullets until this video, made it through most of the game only dodging them haha

[@vsear5911]

The way you describe this game makes it sound a lot like Touhou

[@dmc1673]

Funny enough, this game has a lot of shoot em ups elements in it.

[@WFoong98]

This game does not have as much pattern and pressure of Bullet Hell though.

[@0ctopusComp1etely]

When Joseph starting talking about how the game teaches you mechanics in a relatively "safe" form before increasing the difficulty, I was already beginning to form a comment in my head comparing it to Touhou. Both games do a fantastic job of providing initial "waves" of attacks or challenges, then amping up the difficulty of what those challenges can represent as fights go on. In Furi, initial boss health bars have slow or singularly focused showcases of an attack before introducing as regular, integrated parts of a bosses' arsenal. Things start "slow" and manageable and progress in execution at a healthy, steady pace that players can keep up with naturally. Touhou introduces boss "themes" or patterns that you will see in most of their attacks early in their fights, in particular when talking about non-spellcard sequences. A boss will start a spell by shooting or spawning bullets at the top of the screen, which the player will already have learned is inherently the most dangerous place to stay at risk of losing a life, then slowly bring the action to the bottom of the screen. Since most bosses have some sort of pattern or style, from that point on you will have a vague idea of how you'll need to approach and what to expect for the rest of the fight. There are exceptions for both, particularly with some difficulty spikes, but I think both games do fantastic jobs of teaching players dangerous concepts in safe ways.

[@Parris360XP]

I'd love to see you and Mattewmatosis give some sort of dual commentary or collaboration event as you guys both like giving deep analysis on games, which is a really untouched area in the KZbin spectrum. Other than that, excellent reviews from both of you.

[@PatFagan]

Another upload already... I'm impressed.

[@Ten_Thousand_Locusts]

Hey I just wanna thank you for making this review. I platinumed Furi yesterday, because of you! I played this game when it went free for PS Plus 2 years ago and I didn't really care for it, I got stuck at The Hand and stopped playing. Then a couple of days ago while farming for gems in Bloodborne I watched/listened to this video and you convinced me to try this game again. I loved it! So much that I went out of my way to get every single trophy in a matter of days. Thank you for making me appreciate a game I would've never given a second try if it wasn't for this video.

[@jeremiahbaugh8195]

I got really confused thinking I already watched this but I just matthew's video lol

[@mattmorehouse9685]

When you were talking about the variety of options to deal with different attacks and ways to combine your abilities I began thinking of, surprisingly, immersive sims such as Dishonored. While these games are very different in scope and aesthetics, I think that you pointed out a very important similarity; giving the player multiple tools to solve a problem and allowing them to combine their tools to have greater effect. Dishonored does differ in that it doesn't require as high precision and execution, but, from what you said Furi has more systemic gameplay than other shoot em ups. Speaking of Dishonored and difficult games, I just read a review that really chewed the game out for being too easy. Even on the hardest mode the author felt little to no challenge and said the game showered him in loot that he didn't need. Hell, when looking at the options, many of which can make the game much harder, he said that the easier choices shouldn't even be there. Not that they should be set to the harder choice, but that the option shouldn't even exist. Personally I felt like he was requiring a level of fine tuning that would be near impossible and probably really limit the game's audience. I wonder what your views on games being too easy is, especially when it comes to games with dozens of options. How far should developers go to make sure their game is challenging, and how legitimate are self imposed challenges? For my part, I think that Dishonored is somewhat easy, but there are so many ways to play the game that self imposed challenges could make up a majority of it. I think options for how to play can act as a counter to the idea that the game is too easy, because there are so many ways to make it harder. That, and the options part sounds rather entitled; what you can't take fifteen seconds to set the options to what you want? Thank you here's the article critpoints.net/2015/04/13/dishonored-review/

[@savvazotov4196]

Honestly, I feel like the walks towards the bosses are a nice addition to the game, letting you enjoy the soundtrack, giving you time to prepare yourself for the bossfight and letting the narrator build up the story.

[@docien7342]

I just gotta say that your videos are *incredible*. I've only recently found your channel and I'm quickly falling in love with how you make your videos. I have never expected myself to be interested in 30 minute long videos, hour long videos, or even your 3-hour long video on Naughty Dog games, yet you're one of, if not, the ONLY channel that's kept my interest for this long. Your critiques are borderline *perfectly* balanced, all of your jokes are humorous despite your voice being a tad on the monotonous side, and you ALWAYS bring valid points to the table, backing a majority of them up with examples and evidence. As I watch your videos, I understand what you're saying, you explain the pros and cons of a mechanic or design choice very well, and I feel like I'm always learning how to think about game design. How to balance a game. How to make it *fun*. As of now, you're the best content creator I've come across in my opinion, and I'm excited to see your future content. You're making great stuff dude, keep it up

[@jordyn.w4129]

I got to the Furi-S pun. I put my phone down and walked out the door. I took a nice slow walk around the block. I came back home; I picked up the phone. I subscribed.

[@unkindfairyman]

These reviews are so insightful. People often times ask me why I didn't or did like games, but I just cant put it into words. These videos always seem to articulate my jumble of feelings towards a game in a wonderfully put together way. Keep it up...please...I need this...don't take it away from me.

[@0why]

Hooray he played Furi! Thanks as always for the reviews dude, they're always great to watch.

[@Graysett]

Holy crap, i was just thinking i'd like to see your thoughts on this and then this came up. Niiiice. Also i saw the comment you left in response to a wall of text i wrote on your DS3 video. Highly appreciated it, thanks a lot.

[@BoukenJima]

Hey nice, I did a review on this as well and pretty much arrived at the same conclusions. That despite how punishing the game may be, the basic mechanics are easy to understand and manageable enough that ultimately all you need to do is learn how to avoid attacks and optimize your own damage in every phase. Plus the life system is super rewarding and immediately reflects when you're getting better. Great to see that this game is getting more exposure from bigger KZbinrs like you and Matthew now.

[@andrewmoldovan717]

Furi was free on PS4 a while ago, and it is one of the best games they've ever given us. I love this game so much. Everything about it is masterful in its execution, but I believe that this video covered that pretty thoroughly. I would like to point out that the $4 dlc adds two bosses to the game. The first is a totally unique and challenging boss with a very cool arena. It didn't take me too much effort to beat him because I had a mastery of the game by that time, but it was enjoyable regardless. The second boss uses all of the core bosses attacks. He has a phase for each boss, not including the after credits boss. When you finally beat the last bosses moveset only one phase remains. During this phase the boss uses every single attack in rapid succession. It feels amazing to dodge and parry your way through everything that the game has to offer, and then land the killing blow. I would recommend this game to anyone, and I would highly recommend the dlc to anyone who is confident in their skills. This game is truly a masterpiece, and I appreciate the attention to detail that this review provides.

[@neland]

this is a great review. i got this game for free on ps+, then ended up buying it on switch. it's crazy hard, but it is fair... unlike that fkn 8 year old from illinois who keeps yelling racial slurs at me and knifing me repeatedly in CoD.

[@damienmichiels4119]

Neland Duncan haha I can relate. I played it first for free on my little brother's ps4. Recently stubled upon the soundtrack again and it made me want to replay the game, but my brother had deleted it. No regrets buying it on steam, that way the developers still get something in return for giving me such a good time playing their game :D

[@HoopleBogart]

Furi-S mode. That made me laugh way too much man. I love these videos.

[@edgarcordova2441]

I know this is an old video but I've been watching every video while I wait for the witcher 3 critique to drop and man, you've convinced me to buy furi, dark souls, little nightmares, subnautica and to give bloodborne another try since the first time I played it I didn't finish it. Loving you channel, seriously. ❤

[@SJNaka101]

So I just finished the game for the 2nd time, and I gotta say you hit the nail on the head so hard in this review. You captured so many idiosyncrasies that brought me tons of joy to learn. I have a friend who has a pretty fast furier speedrun (about 5min off WR). He came over after I told him I beat it, and he did a quick playthrough. I learned a ton of what you were talking about from watching him. Nice job!

[@Dakilladj01]

Hey Joseph, opinions on the extra boss being included in the Xbox version of the game?

[@JosephAndersonChannel]

Really shitty. In retrospect I should have made a bigger deal about it in the video. Terrible practice.

[@MrGutoloko1]

its kinda of sad when a company do this, because you if you don't own a xbox one you don't really get to play more of the game you enjoy

[@xBINARYGODx]

Yes, let's all (on the internet) continue to give a pass when it favors some other box and (sometimes) make a big deal about it when it favors the xbox in some way. Either it's always bad or it's never bad.

[@Kalhiki]

I wouldn't worry too much. From the posts on The Game Bakers' twitter, it sounds like it'll eventually come to PC and PS4. They tweeted basically saying that they haven't forgotten about other consoles, which followed a retweet of someone saying it's probably a timed exclusive. Now if we had to pay for the extra boss then... That would be dumb.

[@inafridge8573]

I bought the "Definitive Edition" recently on PS4, which comes with the One More Fight DLC. Is that it?

[@vadeasnether3939]

Your videos and you in general have been recommended to me for months now and i see them every video i'm on this is the first time i'm tuning in, KZbin don't let me down.

[@vadeasnether3939]

Overall, Excellent video! Thank you recommended videos, Very Cool!

[@Steasyyyy]

I really liked the way you talked about the different utilties the player has to approach a fight.On my first Playtrough I never used the charged Dash/Shot and only learned about them in this Video.

[@TheMarrt]

Your reviews are always flawless man, i subscribed after the first one i saw (i think it was darkest dungeon or smth.) I liked Furi too, the only thing that bugs me a bit is that dash is triggered by KeyUp (needed in order to make it chargeable). For Slash it is not that much of a problem, since Slash never needs to be timed very finely. They could have done without the charged dash, but the game would be lesser without it because some bosses really fall for double-charge (chargedDash + chargedSlash on shield boss). A good solution would be to make only the trigger dash chargeable, the face-button dash should be KeyDown but also trigger the charged Dash from the shoulder-buttons, hell, i will write them an email for that.

[@fuckfunnyvids]

Dude I've been watching your videos for the last three hours and these are just awesome. I truly appreciate the time and effort you put into making these videos. I'm looking forward to your future content. Thanks so much.

[@crypticcorvus2879]

I adored this game, right up until the last boss. It's exactly my kind of game, the soundtrack even includes one of my favourite artists, it's like it was made for me. I personally didn't find it too difficult - I beat almost all of the bosses on my first try, at least, on the normal difficulty. I had pretty bad framerate issues on a couple of the bosses that were initially pretty frustrating, however, especially during the zoomed-in close quarters sections, but that was *nothing* compared to the last boss after the credits. I have tried this last boss enough times now that I can get to the last phase without being hit once, but none of that matters, because for reasons I don't understand, my fps just *tanks* on the last phase, to the point that there's a noticeable delay, over a second of lag between my pressing a button and performing the action. It borders on unplayable for me, and it's genuinely upsetting that I simply can't finish a game I otherwise loved. I think the last boss is kind of slow and boring in general, but otherwise, Furi was going to be one of my favourite games. I have a pretty great PC and it just shouldn't happen. I can't find a way to fix it, either. I realise that my personal technical issues aren't a reflection on the game's quality as a whole, but I really needed to vent this somewhere. Great video, as always!

[@nguyen-vuluu3150]

the thing is that they can't actually kill him. the Chain said "no regen for you", which implies they do try to kill him but he just gets back up like wolverine anyways. this is also reflected in game mechanic where you get back up multiple times to redo a fight/phase

[@darrenshan36]

You are exactly what I have been looking for in a channel dude. A comprehensive, analytical breakdown of video games with some real insights, dictated by a smooth voice in a logical manner. Ever since Satchbags Goods kind of stopped posting content I've searched for some lengthy videos about games that are rewarding and not just a torrent of lets plays with no real thought or commentary added to it. I just wanted to say thank you and keep doing what you are doing! :)

[@captainspice1239]

Promenade is made for story, they say you didn't play furi right at the end, it was made for humiliation to an extent, like the chicken hat.

[@AuraSight]

I just finished my first run of this game, and it's interesting coming back to some of the comments made in this video. In reference to the blue wave attack the Song uses, while there is no immediate telegraph animation, I still found them incredibly predictable and consistent. After a main attack she pauses for a second and then sends out the wave as she re-positions. I could always use that pause as an indicator that the wave was coming, and I can't recall any time in which this pattern was inconsistent. While I agree that some sort of animated telegraph would be nice, the predictability of the attack doesn't make it necessary in my opinion. I also think that the Star, while challenging and satisfying to defeat, was such a drastic change in gameplay style that I question its implementation. Furi's fundamental strength is it's controls and combat system that skillfully combine Fighting Game and Bullet Hell elements, and while it could be argued that the Star does for the Bullet Hell portion of gameplay what the Edge does for the Fighting Game portion, the Edge's fight still adheres to the games standard control scheme. The most the fight differs from the standard gameplay-wise is the absence of any "open" phases, and then restricting movement to a single axis in the final phases, both of which still use the familiar control system used for every previous boss, albeit somewhat stripped down mechanics-wise. The Star fight, however, changes the gameplay significantly from all previous fights. The mech that you pilot controls noticeably different: It moves slower, the parry timing changes slightly, and the charge-shot functions completely differently. This kind of gameplay shift in the final act is one that I greatly dislike in any game, and while it doesn't ruin the game for me and I certainly believe I could enjoy the fight in a vacuum, removed from the rest of the game, it is a blemish on an otherwise wonderful experience for me. Though I completely understand and expect others disagreeing with me on this point.

[@dysectorza]

Excellent review! PS4 players got this game as a PS Plus free game one month and like most of my PS Plus games, I sometimes don't get to play all of them, but decided to give Furi a go and see what it was all about. In essense, Furi was not the typical type of game that I usually play, and I did not think I would even get past the first boss. I died many many many times on that first boss and was going to give up, but I finally got the hang of it and finally beat the first boss. Then I thought, let me give the next boss a try and again, died lots of times, but pushed through. I eventually became obsessed with the game for weeks and was determined to beat it through to the end, which I finally did and felt really proud of myself. Furi was one game that really surprised me and I haven't had that much fun in a game in a long time. At some point, I'd like to try beat it on Furier mode, which I have yet to do. Surprised you never mentioned the soundtrack or music at all. I found the music to be one of the most amazing game soundtracks I've heard and I even bought the album from iTunes and often listen to it at work. I love it.

[@youngwhitemale1366]

Honestly one of my favorite games ever Everything was just great in this game, from the combat to the music, and even the story I remember when I first picked up the game I thought it was a wierd indie game and I got brick walled at the line boss fight After a week or two I tried to beat the boss and it took a lot of attempts but eventually I got through it After that I still Didn’t really enjoy the game, as I just willed my way though this boss, and the next boss, the scale, was just average but improved enough to beat him first time That leads to the boss fight that made me love this game, the hand I loved the story before the fight, and the fight it’s self was fantastic I was able to beat time in my second attempt only barely but it ended up being one of the most memorable boss fights I’ve ever played By the time I fought the song I was enthralled by the games combat and music and I proceeded to beat the game over the next couple days This game has some of my favorite boss fights ever One of the best sound tracks ever And one of the best combat systems I’ve ever played One of the few games I would literally call perfect as I can’t figure out a fault in the game, outside of one technical issue when caused a long delay after a knockdown. Besides that the game is perfect

[@JorgeMartinez-dp3im]

Hey Joseph. Wanted to let you know that your review is what convinced me to get Furi and I LOVED it. I freakin' suck though. I took over 11 hours to beat it. I'll keep playing to get better though.

[@Frans421421]

quite the timing with matthew's video; intentional or unintentional?

[@Ryham93]

Frans421421 check his twitter, completely unintentional he had been planning this review for weeks and Matt just beat him to the punch I believe

[@koishikomeiji400]

the only time in history matthewmatosis will beat anyone to the punch on anything

[@Ryham93]

StaySkeptic Really blew me away when I played it as well, happy it's getting the recognition it deserves at least

[@whatsup467]

@@koishikomeiji400 LMFAO

[@huzi990]

Your videos always impress! Thanks for the review Joseph!

[@N1tr1c4c1d]

This is by far the best game review channel I have ever seen. Matt Brown is close, and end credits has great analysis as well, but holy shit you analysis games so well. Keep up the great work.

[@Arkanthrall]

Thank you so much for recommending this game. I had a lot of fun playing. I feel that Furi combined with Volgarr the Viking turns into Dark Souls.

[@jamesjan381]

only discovered this game now and have played through it twice (both characters and checked out both endings). i think its a stunning game visually and the fights are really amazing, also the voice acting on the voice was great, i was blown away by the walking sections my first playthrough. the voice provides nice buildup and interesting story bits to tie together, and the shots and perspectives are gorgeous. my jaw dropped in the credits scene, the developers made the most out of simple, low budget tools and focused most their work on great gameplay. great decisions made here

[@suburiboy]

I like the concept of "the game wanting you to beat it". Something like Darkest Dungeon for example is not meant to be beat.

[@paula194]

"You will learn to parry, or you will die" Sums it up right there. Thankfully, while I like playing the mage in games, when a game has a fleshed out melee system, I can't help but be atracted to it Caves of qud is one that comes to mind, with espers being vastly more powerful than melee guys overtime, but with me still loving the simple monotony of hitting things with a stick (or axe as it may be) Warframe too, where even after obtaining great early game guns like the tonkor, I still compulsively use my melee weapon.

[@thrillhouse_vanhouten]

I think this was up for free on PS+ a couple months ago. I wasn't sold on it from the trailer, for some reason, but after listening to your thoughts on it, I'm 100% gonna pick it up at full price now. Great video as always, Joseph!

[@CDCaptainFalcon]

Everything you mentioned is exactly why I love Returnal. It feels like a brother to Furi, where pure skill, learning, and reflexes is the focus.

[@mauz791]

The parry was the easiest mechanic for me, and I was relieved to get to the Edge and Hand. I am still not used to intense bullet hell like the Star, Song and Line. Pretty cool how difficulty varies from player to player 👍

[@Pan_Z]

Furi's combat itself isn't really deep. Comparing it to something like DMC or Bayonetta, Furi has quite a way to go. The strength of Furi is how it constantly changes mechanics during each boss, with each boss having something unique about them on top of that. This prevents the player from getting into too much of a safe rhythm, while also preventing boredom

[@alphonseelric5722]

It has a great combat system for a bullethell game. Its not even trying to be like DMC or Bayo so the comparison is not fair.

[@Avengedtenfold]

A combat system like Devil May Cry (DMC's combat is alright but nowhere near complex as it's father series) or Bayonetta wouldn't fit here. Beyond bogging down what could be a first timer's experience (asking them to learn bullet hell, basic melee action game and a deep combo system with animation cancels, multiple weapons/tools/forms and a lot, A LOT of jumping) doesn't fit with the fusion of bullet hell and action presented here. Case in point: A lock on would ruin this game, but imagine Devil May Cry without a lock on....Oh right, DMC exists and it's the origin of the jank in it's otherwise good combo system. The systems are different enough that the comparisons are not fair in the slightest. Both games fall under the broad genre of action games but they scratch different skill sets on different levels.

[@Pan_Z]

1 year late on this response, but I feel like you're missing the point. I'm not stating Furi needs to be more like DMC or Bayo. I'm contending Joe's statement "Furi has one of the greatest combat systems."

[@Gabe7Gal]

Pan Z You said that Furi's combat isn't that deep, and then proceeded to explain why it was deep. Maybe you equate combat depth with having a big combo system? If that's what you're thinking then you don't understand what depth means. It's not about having a lot of combos available, it's about having a variety of combat options, and more importantly, how the enemies challenge you to use those options. Furi executes this well, thus it has deep combat.

[@Pan_Z]

Defining depth is difficult to do without being verbose. I didn't explain why Furi's combat is deep, because it isn't. Stating what makes the combat work and what makes the combat deep are two different things my friend. Furi's combat is a basic dodge/parry then attack affair. There's a little more to it than that, but it doesn't hold a candle to many other games, having very limited options in comparison. What makes Furi unique is it's implementation of different forms of combat. Sometimes it's an isometric hack n's slash. Sometimes it's a bullet hell. It mixes styles up to prevent boredom from the lack of depth pertaining to its combat systems. Additionally, execution is not depth.

[@JimPanzeeEsq]

"Anyone could beat it on hard" ha ha!, you have no idea how slow my reflexes have become

[@porky1118]

16:15 In the German translation, the hart mode already is called "Furioser"

[@CascadeHush]

I couldn't get through the tutorial, so I guess it's not for me. At the part where you learn to dash through the expanding rings, after the cycle completes you have an opportunity to attack... which does nothing. The cycle then repeats. I don't know what the game wants me to do, but after three times through this I gave up due to boredom. Is the whole game like this? just doing the same thing over and over.

[@thehandsomearrow4516]

Odd how I've yet to ever hear about this until I found this review.

[@SergioSergio12345]

Joseph, my guess is that you already played the DLC boss. What did you think about it?

[@Antiformed]

game is called furi but there is no yiffing 0/10

[@TheTankbus]

Antiform wouldn't it be Furri?

[@-snek.]

*notices ur parries*

[@fireblazesmobileaccount2607]

PopNotes OWO

[@lZY8d70P-sTP]

yifing

[@royaloreo1275]

Antiform DO NOT yiff the Fox, old sport.

[@ozozo12345]

"- but I think like Furi would be dramatically improved if it had 2 or 3 more bosses" Well, the One More Fight DLC has your name written all over it.

[@peschionator7873]

Furi was fun but I will probably never touch it again. When I finished the last boss at around 6h in I realized that Furi has too many bullet hell sections to be enjoyable for me (especially at furious difficulty). I like having some projectiles being thrown at me in order to give me more reasons to dash, reposition or switch from melee to ranged, but most bosses have a ridiclious bullet hell phase at the end when I was having fun with the prior phases. Bullet hell sections make the distinction between my favourite fight (the blade) and my least favourite (the last boss).

[@epicyoung]

I think promenade is a good entry point for people brand new to boss rush games like this, or for people with disabilities that hamper their ability to play for extended periods of time. Aside from that, I think most of what you got at was spot on. Also I'm mad because your speedrun time is better than mine.

[@hendrikoosthuizen4002]

Great video, loving your videos and the more in-depth discussions. One of my (along with many others) games is Witcher 3, would you consider ever doing this game?

[@Pholymei]

I actually appreciated the walking sequences more because my opponents were humans as opposed to monsters or unholy entities. The juxtaposing of rabbit pimp's enthusiastic yet vague descriptions with manipulative intentions and the harsh reality that you're simply slaughtering people who are attempting to prevent you from assaulting their entire planet (some voluntarily doing so, others forced, and several fixated on some other motivation) is genuinely interesting to me. I suppose tension isn't what I experienced but the fights did become generally more compelling and intriguing to me because of the 2 minute boss-battle interruptions.

[@Zamibia]

I have to say i've become quite the fan of ur thorough analysis videos where you break everything down to pieces and really analyze them :) If i have to give any kind of constructive critique its the sound, consider getting a better mic or make sure the sound level is the same in every video, its nitpicky but its all i got. Keep up the good work, i'll be sure to watch everything u release.

[@snardigan2026]

I honestly lost track of the amount of times i audibly said "What, you can fucking DO THAT?" during this video.

[@christianescobedo66]

*pulls down noose* *sees Furi* Not today old pal :)

[@ragenFOX]

thats a really good video about Furi's mechanics. its a really well done game mechanics wise that its limited by the size of its team and what they were able to do, its their first non-mobile game and i was surprised when i found out.

[@HaipaYazoo]

You should also link to his AskFM since that's where Chris is quite active there and it's where he gets his articles from before he posts them to CritPoints. He's a very good, albeit overlooked, critic. Also, good work on the review.

[@TheDJilly]

This seems like pretty much exactly the kind of game I would love. You just sold it to me. I'd like to see you do an analysis of Monster Hunter. It has basically the exact same appeal as Furi in that it's Boss Rush: the Game and it has a similar design philosophy regarding heavily telegraphed attacks and demanding that the player improve through learning how to approach each fight and learning the game mechanics. The only thing is that the latest games in the series have been 3DS exclusives... I don't know if that excludes then from your channel or not.

[@PencilManners]

I had a blast with furi, stylish and focused, and your review really helps nail down why its so good, but I did have a few problems with it that I haven't seen mentioned frequently. First was that the dash timing was always iffy for me and has lead to numerous hits I swear I should have avoided, I think this was caused by the inclusion of charging a dash which means that the input that triggers a dash has to be releasing the button instead of pressing it, that extra millisecond became such a huge hassle for me, especially when there was no situation a charged dash would excel at where a well timed normal dash would've worked just as well. That as well as how the camera would sometimes tilt too much in certain fights lead to the ranged phases being my least favorite half of the combat. While you are right that most attacks are designed so that they can be avoided without memorization, there are a couple exceptions aside from the song, I remember the scale having an attack in one of the cqc phases that was so fast that I only had enough time to react by dashing but not enough to dash in the right direction so it would be a 50/50 chance of if I would reach the safe zone, I basically had to memorize the placements of those attacks. The edge also had combos that would end in a feint but I think it's much more forgivable as they serve as a switch up for your parry timing (which started to get monotonous as most parries require the same reaction time) and because the damage output of both you and the edge has been tweaked to make it an incredibly quick fight. As for the walking sections, I actually don't mind them in concept, if you just use the auto walk function all the time, they do a good job of pacing the game between fights and they do a great job of exploiting the camera angles and the voice for looking slick, and once you've beaten the game the speed running mode removes them for your convenience. My issue comes when it allows me to control them and that there are one or two areas in the game in the beginning that offer a few extra lines of dialogue, which set me up with the false expectation that there is an element of exploration in these sequences, combine that with the extremely slow walking speed that can't be changed and these sections can take far too long to complete. This also led me to accidentally triggering a secret ending by simply staying in an area for too long, the ending doesn't even have any substance to be satisfying and I had to replay it all the way from the start, almost dropped the game at that point. (Jesus this comment was way longer than I thought it would've been)

[@JorgeMartinez-dp3im]

Awesome review Joseph Broseph. Wasn't even considering this game but it'll be a buy for me now.

[@PauLtus_B]

I'm happy to see someone else who respect the idea of changing the damage outputs to set the difficulty. There's a lot of people whining about this vague idea of "artificial difficulty" but really if you start changing the systems to make something easier you're starting to play a different game.

[@mauriceraat2781]

So what Furi did with the story kinda reminded me of a Just Write episode that looked at the difference between Plot vs Story. Basically the videos says that the climax of the plot is when the ring is destroyed (in the lord of the rings movie) but the scenes after it are necessary to reach the climax of the story and get a real satisfactory ending to the struggles and hardships that the characters have gone through. And in the same vein I think that The Edge is the climax gameplay in this game but the bosses afterwards are necessary to lead to a climax for the story (struggle of the character to either save the "Free World" or not). First you have The Beat which is there primarily to get you to doubt whether what you are doing is good or not (if you haven't started doing that already), and later you have the climax of the story where you have to make the choice to either fight for the "Free World" or assimilate it. And this is probably like more a semantic thing but you could also see the figth against The Edge as the pinultimate fight and the fight against Star as the ultimate fight. (since in most tv shows the pinultimate episode is a bigger deal then the ultimate/final episode of a season). p.s. So I think that the story and the way it is told are just as carefully crafted together as the different aspects of the combat ;)

[@black1blade74]

4 hours on your first playthrough lol, what about almost 10 hours. Well I've pretty much mastered the game now, got all the trophies and S ranks at least (apart from the star on furier, don't need to do her for any achievements so whatever).

[@siegherz]

Excellence is a habit.

[@black1blade74]

Jaimy Nievelstein I mean the only really hard phase is the last, you just gotta practice again and again and again and you'll do it. I didn't really have it as a goal though, it just happened from me practicing her.

[@seph3910]

As you talk about the fights in furi and show them in the video, i kept comparing them to the fights in hyper light drifter, which, on new game+, have every boss kill you in one hit and its all about pattern memorization and excellent player skill. The eastern boss in particular was one of the best experiences I've had playing a game, while the northern boss gave me an awesome burst of satisfaction when i killed him. I dont know where im going with this. I just wanna relate the bosses from both games

[@Agenta-df3gb]

What do you think of Furi's DLC, One More Fight ,if you have played. Just wondering if you think it is a worthwhile DLC to purchase if you already like the game.

[@progfoxmusic]

I was so confused, I was wondering why Matthew reuploaded this for a second

[@c-ro311]

16:17 Fun fact, furier mode is called "furious" in italian

[@cloudropis]

Matthew didn't you already upload this

[@Jack_Wolfe]

These videos are very indepth, i like it.

[@e2rqey]

Did you raid during Wrath of the Lich King? And were you on the server Blackwater Raiders? Because you sound alot like my Guild Leader when I played.

[@FruggleFarkle123]

I believe that the Song's blue wave attack does indeed have a trigger. She only uses it when the player continues firing bullets at her once an attack has completed and she is setting up another one. That way, it acts as a punishment for those who are attacking too greedily. However, this really shouldn't be the case seeing as how she already moves around the arena at quick speeds making moments of hitting her with bullets between attacks rare.

[@Vladimir007smart]

Furi is quite fun, probably one of my favorite games from 2016.

[@MrRagnarxx]

Might be worth noting that Furi is now (and has been for a while) part of Origin Access, so you can play it for like $3, among other games.

[@LBSira]

Superb video ! You didn't mentioned that the music in this game is fantastic !

[@lankynis9431]

Speaking on your criticism of the walking segments, i can partially agree with what your saying, but i have to point out that the 2-3 minute walk works to make you think about the consequences of your character's actions during in the game. When you start, your idea of whats happening is pretty vague, and starts to make you think a little more. It plays with the whole idea about whether or not your actually doing the right thing, and if your actions are justified. For instance, the walk to The Hand fight has The Voice build up this revenge story for you, yet when you arrive you see a man who fights for his son, and seems to have no emotionally invested grudge against you, but rather a duty that he has been given to fulfill. After i won, the walk to the next fight made me question who was the real good guy in the story. Thats why the walk sequences are necessary. Instead of jumping right into the next battle and being focused on gameplay, the long walk in between fights gives time for you to process the story and question this morally ambiguous journey that you've been thrown into.

[@gga2344]

your my new favorite channel

[@thedaddy3541]

same

[@zugolf4980]

Flannel*

[@yonatanbeer3475]

*you're

[@gga2344]

Hey it’s me

[@Danke255]

On the lowering difficulty affecting the amount of phases a certain boss has, that probably is something taken from bullet hell games. Since I'm familiar with Touhou, i'll use it as an example : Lowering the difficulty from normal to easy will usually take 1 spell card from an early boss, and 2 (depending) on later bosses, as well as lowering the complexity of the patterns. Upping the dificulty does the reverse, and it makes even the earlier stage bosses and sometimes mid-bosses as hard as some of the later bosses on lower dificulties.

[@captainwedgie1783]

i absolutely love your reviews. I consider you an A+ reviewer just like TotalBiscuit and Downward Thrust along with a very few others. Great voice and overall quality with a lot of details delivered perfectly. The only negative critique i can give you is that your videos are for the most part meant to be a review to watch before we get the game and yet you only seem to keep spoiling it entirely which ironically makes it so i wouldnt watch it before i actually beat the game

[@MrSailing101]

One thing I noticed, and you can have your opinion either way here, your ranged shots have aim assist. if you make a shot that would have almost but not quite hit the boss, your shot will be corrected to be on target. Meanwhile, your charged shots also have a lock on feature. charged shots will be aimed where the boss is at the moment you fire, but the boss can dodge it. It's just an extra layer to the mechanics that I felt the video could have covered.

[@BrendonArt]

Here is an example of an awesome game I would have never known of if it wasn't for your reviews!!! Time for me to go find your donation link!

[@ordinaryperson4796]

That first big fight is still my favorite. She was truly monstrous.