Thanksgiving 2018 is now in the books. For most people that meant turkey and football, but for some of us that meant playing through our backlog of games that peaked our interest. Furwind is one such title that caught my attention with its pixelated style and classic platforming feel. This little furry adventure from the folk at Boomfire Games has a lot going for it, but does it have enough to become a classic?

Right away from looking at screenshots of the game you’ll notice the level of detail involved in bringing the world of Furwind to life. Thankfully, the game is a gorgeous looking in motion as it is in those pretty still shots. Characters, enemies and backgrounds all look painstakingly detailed with animations being just as nice. There’s no doubt that this is one striking looking game to see and play.

Developer: Boomfire Games

Publisher: Boomfire Games

Genre: Indie, Platformer

Release: Oct 25, 2018

Furwind flows beautifully and there will be moments where you stop to take everything in. This is a retro-inspired platformer, but not one that could ever work on the classic consoles and computers of old. The game simply uses that style as a vehicle to build this really beautiful game world. Everything feels a little bit alive because of the level of detail that the team put into this one. There’s something going on at all times and it really helps to build a living, breathing world.

Furwind is the name of the game but also the name of the title character. This cute little fox dude is a lot of fun to play as and comes with a number of abilities to make taking out baddies a fun, yet challenging experience. All the basics are here and if you’re used to 2D platformers you can probably figure out how everything works without even looking at the game.

You can run, jump, and attack, but it’s how these skills develop that keeps things challenging. You have a butt stomp maneuver like Mario, a tail-whip attack that reminds me of Conker, and and air-dash that calls to mind Mega Man. Furwind is pulling from a lot of games, but it’s doing so in such a nice and effective way that it feels natural to the experience and not simply lifted and pasted onto it.

The challenge come from the enemies and level design that is reminiscent of games from the Amiga. Look, this is going to be a point of some contention for many readers, but Euro-platformers where pretty damn terrible. This was thanks to the design choices that they employed that didn’t always make a lot of sense. This is probably why so many European games never left their respective lands.

These games were designed around the idea that touching anything will lead to your death. Touch the side of a spike: dead, a drop of water hits you on the head: dead, and on and on. Then there’s the level design that incorporates a confusing layout with no clues on where the hell you are supposed to go. Think of something like Castlevania Symphony of the Night, only really bad and uninteresting.

So, it’s good that Furwind doesn’t totally fall totally into these euro-game tropes, but it does so just enough to lead to some unneeded frustration. Clearly the team was going for the Metroidvania thing, and they mostly nail it. Unfortunately, the game isn’t as clear on where you need to go next in many of the large stages, especially since so many feature multiple paths. You will find your self circling back to where you’ve been quite a bit here, and without a map that isn’t very fun.

One of the biggest issues I have with Furwind has is that it doesn’t really convey what it wants the player to do. You get some signs that give you the basics and then it’s off to the races. Not having a map isn’t usually a deal-breaker for a platformer, but for one with huge levels that require lots of backtracking it sometimes becomes an exercise in frustration.

What’s worse is that you have to pay to unlock the multiple checkpoints in each level. This money is also used in the shop which mean you have to be smart with your money; something nobody wants to do in a video game. What’s worse is that each time you activate a new checkpoint in a stage it’ll cost you move money than the one before it. There were several times I didn’t have enough coins to save at a later checkpoint leading to my eventual death.

This often makes the player feel they are fighting against the game instead of simply playing it. I have never understood the idea of paying for what amount to saves in certain video games. It’s a cheap way to inflate the difficulty without actually making the game more challenging. But wait, there’s more! The boss battles that should make Furwind soar above the competition.

These boss battles are all pretty great, but because there are usually multiple boss battles in any given stage, that checkpoint  feature above really becomes annoying. Once you learn how the game lays out stages you’ll have to weigh activating an early checkpoint, or wait and activate one after the boss as you probably wont have money for both. Sure, this is a risk reward thing, but it’s imposed by the game’s design and not anything you’re actually fighting.

Furwind throws a lot of challenge your way but so much of it feels cheap. Enemies often pop out of boxes that also drop treasure and health which is a big “CHEAP” in my book. And because your basic attack has no range you’ll almost always take a hit when they appear leading you to curse the game. I know that this is like it was in the days of the Amiga, but fun fact for you: this isn’t the age of the Amiga.I really want to love Furwind, I truly do. But what really holds all of this back for me are the controls that never quite make you feel like you are in full control of the character. They feel far too loose for a game that demands precision. You’ll take hits and make slightly off jump and feel like it was the games fault instead of some mistake you made.

And then there’s the two things that I feel work totally against the game right from the outset of the adventure: the health and your attack. You start with a  couple of hearts but the bar itself is huge and mostly empty. At first I thought the game was broken because when I’d pick up a heart one the health slot would not fill up. Imagine if Zelda showed all the heart slots you could unlock right from the start of the game but wouldn’t let you fill them unless you still unlocked those heart containers.

But it is your basic attack that really kills Furwind in my opinion. Again, this isn’t something presented to you clearly when you get playing right off the bat. You can tail-whip with the press of a button and it works well, but after a few hits you’ll run out of energy and won’t be able to attack enemies until it recharges. Make three or four attacks and you’ll feel like you’re stun-locked and wonder if your controller is broken. So many times you’ll be taking out enemies only to die because your attack stopped working.

Look, Furwind is a challenging game that is sure to please a lot of people, but so much of this challenge isn’t because the game is hard, rather, it’s because the developers are seemingly making the player fight against the game’s mechanics and design. You never feel truly in control while playing, and that at any second something is going to end your good time without warning. Euro-platforming at its finest.

And that’s a shame because the game is a joy to behold. It’s a world that you can’t help but want to jump into. You get some 15 levels to play through over 20 challenge stages that will test the skills you’ve learned along the way. And each of these are really fun with various types of stages that mix things up. Some have you focus on exploring, others forcing your to run and the screen scrolls, and others with puzzles and so on.

It feels like there are multiple parts of Furwind that are fighting to dominance, with none ever really coming out on top to shine. It’s a battle of ideas that is really let down by by inconsistent controls you fight with. This is one of those games that you really, really want to love, but one that you can’t help feel holds itself back.

Furwind isn’t for everyone, but if you are looking for a retro-inspired platformer with a modern look, and can overlook some classic problems, I’d say give this one a look. If you are on the fence then you’d be better off waiting for it to feature in one of those Steam sales that pop up a few times a year.

“Furwind is a gorgeous pixelated platformer that you can’t help but think is held back thanks to some wonky controls and weird design choices.”

Final Score:

3/5

 

About Author

J. Luis

J. Luis is the current Editor-In-Chief here at GAMbIT. With a background in investigative journalism his work encompasses the pop-culture spectrum here, but he also works in the political spectrum for other organizations.

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