From the very first battle it becomes obvious if this is a game you'll enjoy. Furi does very little traditional story telling because it is purposely left vague with most of the narrative just setting up the backstory of the next jailer that stands in the way of the stranger. With the entire game consisting of boss battles that means that the gameplay is the most important part.
So it is a good thing that it feels like they put a lot of time into it. The player character has access to two weapons a sword and a blaster. They are both set up in a similar way with them both having a charge attack or multiple weak ones. With each boss having unique moves and attacks it’ll take a bit more than the basic moves to win the day. You will also have access to a dodge and a deflect. Both require the player to see the attack coming and time the move correctly. A mistimed dodge can be quite deadly the deeper the stranger makes it through the sky jail.
Knowing all the moves is only half the battle with each boss getting harder each time you knock off one of their life bars. I should bring up that both the player and the boss have multiple life bars. With the player getting 3 chances to win and if any of them are lost they can be replaced by knocking the boss down once. Which can take two life bars sometimes since most bosses have a close and far ranged mode. When fighting up close the game becomes more about timing parries and reading what the boss will do. While far away can be about timing attacks correctly or dodging a bunch of bullets that almost turn the game into a bullet hell shooter. Learning all the attacks the bosses do and then succeed in beating them after many tries is how this game is set up.
The closer I got to the end the more satisfying it was to overcome all the the challenges that were laid before me. By the time the credits rolled I was really enjoying my time playing through each fight till I succeeded. With the very distinct visual style the game is pretty to look at. The visuals are usually quite bizarre looking with each area having a different style. The electronic music fits the look of the game well with it kicking in at the right time to give each area a different vibe.
Overall this game succeeds at making a game only about boss fights work. Still it entirely depends on if you are willing to keep trying after failing a fight that can take 10 or more minutes to finish. Every loss means you will have to redo the entire fight. Yet that is the key that makes this game work since the sections leading up to where you failed should now be a piece of cake. Once you do get past the tough part it is very satisfying and since the past parts were easy it should show how good you’ve gotten during each battle. If that sounds like a fun time to you then check this game out since I think it is worth playing.