#header art by griffinvr on steamgriddb

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I beat furi (Onnamusha)

I really appreciate the restraint in making a game with this name and not making it a rage game

so, I beat this game a while ago. steam says I got the final boss achievement back in 2022. I got Onnamusha on sale a while back and put it in the "I'll get back around to it" pile, and honestly I think that was for the better.

so, if you're not familiar with how the default character (Rider) works, it might be kinda hard to follow along. just play Furi I guess? it's a killer game

anyway, Onnamusha is a stance change character. there's a dedicated button to switch between two modes: a very slow mode that does no damage, but heals you when you parry and has a short-range dodge (good for melee); and a very fast mode that does better-than-rider damage but goes down in like three hits, and also has the chain dash from hyper light drifter. there's also a meter you can build up to enter a sort of combo mode where you have the strengths of both stances for a limited time. also, if you spend long enough in one of your stances, you get a fire rate bonus for a little when you switch. kinda hard to follow when its spelled out, but its surprisingly intuitive once you get your hands around it

I think this is a wonderful way to design a stance character! it's pretty expected that each stance has upsides and downsides, but it's not often that I see a mechanic designed to encourage you to switch as much as possible without being spammable. like, in children of zodiarcs (stick around for the post) Xero can just chain his stance activation cards for a whole turn, which is fine for what that game is going for, but the gun charge meter is such a fun little bonus for an action game. it really encourages you to make the best of the mechanic, going defensive during attacks and instantly switching to offence when there's an opening, especially with the bullet hell phases. the non-dash dodge roll you have to do in defence mode detracts from this though, I kept forgetting that it doesn't let you dodge THROUGH attacks like the dash does just because it feels kinda counter intuitive. like, you actually have to stay in offence mode for bullet hell sections because it's the only real way to dodge through the patterns. other than that, this is fantastic. Furi is already such a fun and satisfying game, but the feeling of going into a melee brawl with with the boss and parrying every hit, switching the instant they let their guard down and hitting them with the combo is some of the most intrinsically rewarded I've felt in a video game. like, you don't get a score bonus or anything, the reward is pulling off something badass.

I should also mention I played on furier difficulty, for no other reason than there was an achievement for doing it that I didn't have yet. there was a point where I got stuck on someone (the blind yogi fella) and considered switching to rider, but when I tried, I HATED the old dash. in onnamushas offence mode, when you hit dash, you dash. this, and chaining together smaller dashes, encourages fast reflexes and quick dodge->retaliation maneuvers. rider has to charge his dash. I couldn't beat the first boss because I kept expecting the dash button to let me dash, but I just stood in the way charging and got hit. the weird thing is, I'm pretty sure I was fine with this when I first played! Onnamusha just spoiled me

this isn't a review for Furi, but if you're unfamiliar, I really recommend it. for the dlc, it's tough for me to say if I recommend it for a first playthrough. I definitely had a better time with her, and I think it was a big enough gap (plus the harder difficulty) rusted me enough that I may as well have been playing for the first time, but... I think it just feels weird to call an auxiliary dlc the best the game can be. especially considering itd be pretty hard on a player to learn all the newfangled character mechanics on top of playing the game itself for the first time. oh well, I'm just some girl on the internet. I say give it a shot, even if it's your first time. if you're not feeling it, that's what the default is for.