Furi

Furi is one of the most impressive releases of 2016, raising the bar for several genres just a little bit higher. The gameplay is tight, the soundtrack is pumping, and every boss has such an amazingly unique flair. If you have Ps+ then you're going to be treated to one of the best 'straight to PS+' releases since Rocket League, and if you don't then the game is well worth every penny.

Furi is sure to make your adrenaline rise at least once, with formidable bosses and a fantastic story, each moment of the game -- whether it be narrative or combat -- drives you towards the ending of the game that you choose. You don't need to be a dueling master -- failing in Furi is part of the fun as each lost life means that you're one step closer to understanding the mechanics and therefore o...

A challenging mashup of bullet hell and swordplay, Furi is one of 2016’s biggest surprises.

I'll show you who's boss.

Furi is a surprisingly deep indie experience. Seeping from its pores with aesthetic and simple yet overwhelmingly brutal gameplay.

Still, it's hard to fault a developer too much for trying to create difficulties that appeal to both casual and hardcore gamers. It just feels as though Furi could have found a way to do it without creating two very different extremes and playing experiences. That, a few annoying and frustrating bosses, and the lack of keyboard and mouse support on the PC version of the game, prevents Furi from be...

Some of the boss designs feel uneven or underdeveloped, and the dialogue misses about as often as it lands, but when Furi is good, it’s real good. I am surprised by how well its fusion of action and shooting works. Just make sure you have the patience necessary see the game through to the end.

Furi isn’t exactly perfect, but with its unique visual and audio design, there’s plenty to like. Being July’s PS Plus game, it’s a damn fine addition to your collection, but at £18.99 I feel it might be a bit steep; there’s just not enough to offer good value for the player. That said, if you’re someone who enjoys boss battling in an impressively designed game than perhaps that seems a fair price ...

The Instant Game Collection has been filled with pleasant surprises during the PlayStation 4’s run so far. We’ve had flawed yet interesting titles like Contrast, and great multiplayer titles such as Dead Star and Rocket League. The latest game to launch on the service is The Game Bakers’ Furi, a twin stick shooter that throws in sword combat for an added oomph.

Furi has a lot of great things going for it. Intriguing character designs from famed Afro Samurai creator Takashi Okazaki, licensed electronic music from the likes of Carpenter Brut, and a super responsive, intense combat system combine to create something unique and sometimes brilliant – but as a whole, the game doesn't quite come together as well as it should.

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 ...

Furi is good. Its fighting may occasionally lean on luck over skill, but learning a boss’ attack patterns and finally defeating them is a sweet sensation to enjoy. It’s beautiful to look at, has a pulsing, driving score underlying all of its action, and incorporates ideas of mythology wonderfully into a neat package. It’s unfortunate there’s little more to its seemingly robust world than occasiona...