Furwind – Switch review

Review by Peter Richardson

Furwind is the new game for the switch from developers BoomFireGames and publishers JanduSoft s.l and it is undeniably a beautiful game. Combining bright, bold colours with the 16-bit style brings back memories of sonic. The music is also beautifully done, with the accompaniment to each level feeling like a perfect fit for the scenery. The highlight though has to be the character design, they are bright and unique, with this being seen in the interesting, unique enemies and little details like how Furwind smiles every time he jumps.

You will be playing as the character Furwind who is a little fox who has been chosen to restore balance to the world, he will need to learn new powers as he progresses and learn new skills if he is going to complete his quest.

Gameplay and controls fit along this same classic feel; with the jump and short attack, this game controls in a way not too dissimilar to classic Megaman. An idea that I’m sure has many of you excited.

The levels are beautiful and great to admire. You can tell just from looking at it that this was a game the developers cared about and wanted to make as visually appealing as possible. However, despite this care for appearance, there are several moments where stages felt poorly designed, with sections of the map feeling so cluttered that it makes movement near impossible, with spots where you can’t avoid enemy attacks or can’t make through that critical jump.

At this point I have to stress; this is not a game designed for me. With an emphasis on precise actions, knowledge of enemies’ hitboxes, areas of attacks and the speed and physics of projectiles; the game aims itself squarely at those with a real love of classics in the genre that don’t hold your hand all the way. For myself, brought up on a PlayStation I found this very unusual.

I walked away from every time I played game frustrated, mainly due to my lack of ability and poor coordination, but also from the lack of support Furwind gave me when I was struggling. When unable to do a level, you’re never shown or told what you do wrong, you have to work it out through trial and error (or cheating and looking it up). For some this is exactly what you want. For me however, I felt that after doing the same minute long platforming sequence (that I could not avoid) for the 100^th time exasperating and unsatisfying.

Ultimately, Furwind is a game that many will love, but just as many will find impossible to get into and unrewarding, which is a shame because the beauty and thought that has gone into it makes it an ideal choice for those who love the genre.

Overall, I give the game a score of 7/10 as it is a great little platformer and providing you like that style of game you will enjoy it.

Also something else to take not of is this is now available as a physical release on both PS4 and Vita so even if your not a fan of digital games you wont be left out!