I’ve explained the basic flow of levels and combat, but any platformer lives or dies by its platforming. At first I thought Furwind was doing well in that regard, but that belief didn’t last long. For example, I liked how you start out with a double jump in the game, but quickly realized its early inclusion meant that it felt less necessary. You’ll find lots of things just out of reach, even with your double jump. Instead they often require you to get to a higher vantage point and then dash over to them. Also bad is that after your second jump, your landing feels a bit slippery. I’ve fallen off blocks right after landing on them, which is problematic. It was also frustrating that most all of your abilities cannot be used while in midair, with the exception of the aerial dash. This hurts the flow of the exploration badly, and made the game feel clunky and awkward. Platformers need tight controls, and Furwind was spongy at best.
Despite those problems, the exploration does have its bright spots. The Ruin levels have lots of fiery mayhem I enjoyed, and a sort of ancient version of Simon you need to beat to unlock the Totems. I also found the dark Cavern levels compelling, since you needed to keep a bunch of glowing fireflies around you otherwise you’d get devoured by the red-eyed creatures hiding in the darkness. There were legitimate cool ideas here, which again makes me wish for more level variety. Give me some underwater levels or ones set in the clouds. Introduce new mechanics that require your abilities. Instead, things just don’t really grow that much, especially since only one of the abilities you obtain provides a new way to explore. The others are just a healing skill and the aforementioned Will of the Wisp.
What really brings the game down was the aggressive enemy AI and uninspired combat. Whenever a foe finds you, they’ll rush your way, even if they’re a screen away. This is problematic for the tiny flying enemies that can pass through terrain, such as teeny bats, red floating eyeballs and wasps. They will wander at you out of nowhere and will often interrupt you, knocking you out of a jump. It’s especially bad when there’s a swarm of them. And keep in mind, that stamina meter and the limited range of your tail attack only exacerbates things. Not to mention, often when you break a box in your path, a foe will spawn from it and charge you. And while I do find all the main boss fights interesting and different, none of them let you directly attack the monsters. Instead you attack things around them, which is far less satisfying.
Before we move onto the last part, let’s touch on the art and music design. I still love the pixel art in Furwind. It’s colorful, complex and charming. While I wanted more enemy variety, the ones here all look different and have distinct behaviors. My favorites were the ornery shamans, luminescent giant grubs and the shambling purple goblins. Likewise, the bosses all looked sinister yet cartoony, which is a tough trick to accomplish. Musically, the game is equally great, with tunes well suited for such a quaint fantasy. I liked the grunts of goblins as they chased you and the sound of lighting and rain falling in the forest. Furwind is at its best in the aesthetics department.
Now we have to touch upon the weakest parts of the game. I mentioned the narrated intro earlier, and while it sounds great, it also in no way accurately matches the text. The game has lots of grammatical errors and misspellings, and they become annoying quickly. And while I liked the sound effects in general, there are some places they’re beyond stupid. One is how Guardians mutter the same random words over and over, like how the snail-rider keeps muttering “snail!” loudly. Another large complaint is the use of HD Rumble. It’s incredibly aggressive and I couldn’t figure out how to turn it off, like in most games. And while I did enjoy some of the platforming, Furwind desperately needed a mini map. I got lost plenty of times in the large levels, and that’s never something I enjoy. But perhaps worst of all is that you get nothing for 100% beating the game. I finished every rescue and challenge stage, and got zip for it. I’m a strong proponent of everything serving a purpose in games, and thanks to this design these optional stages just felt like filler.
I honestly feel that Furwind had all the elements it needed to be a great game, it just put them together in the wrong configuration. Had this been a metroidvania like I thought, one with well translated text and more diversity of challenges, it would have been fantastic. Instead, we get a throwback to games of the past that felt awkward and disappointing. While it’s pretty affordable at $9.99, and I did get about 6 hours of gameplay out of it, it’s really hard to justify buying it at full price. I respect what I think JanduSoft was trying to do here, but it missed the mark. Here’s hoping they take this constructive criticism in the spirit it’s intended and make their next game a masterpiece.
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Review Copy Provided by Developer
