(1/17) Furwind from @ BoomfireGames and @ JanduSoft is a retro-inspired 2D action platformer featuring variety of level types, unlockable and upgradeable abilities, a great risk/reward balance, challenges, boss fights and a brave little fox.

(2/17) The old war is long over, but one of the evil ancestors, Darhûn, has woken up and threatens all the inhabitants of the jungle. Can Furwind defeat Darhûn and his cult, rescue his village and bring peace back to his jungle?

(3/17) At the start Furwind can jump, double jump, stomp and tail whip. There are 15 levels across divided into 3 chapters but there are also optional challenge and rescue missions.

(4/17) Those 15 levels don’t play all the same though, one type you will have you exploring a non-linear jungle level full of enemies, in another you will be trying to find your way in the dark and then there is also runner and boss levels.

(5/17) In exploration levels you need to find 2 guardians, each one of them carrying half of a talisman, and make your way to the exit. I say find because there is no indication about where you need to go, this is where the main challenge comes from.

(6/17) There is no map either, this forces you to explore and inevitably make mistakes. There are usually a couple of checkpoints in each level but they cost you coins and the more you use them the more expensive they get. Which brings me to my next point: risk and reward

(7/17) I always argued that you need a good risk/reward balance for a good platformer and Furwind is successful in hitting that balance. You can explore more, find challenges to unlock, collect more coins or alternatively you can use checkpoints multiple times or rush to the exit

(8/17) The coins you collected can then be used at Korvo’s mystic shop. Here you can increase your health, stamina or upgrade your abilities. I knew there was a shop in the game but I completely missed it until end of the game. It’s located next to your village and easy to miss.

(9/17) Also, yes, I said stamina. You can’t just abuse the attack button, you’ll need to keep an eye on your stamina, which can be frustrating at first but I really appreciated the challenge it adds as I progressed further.

(10/17)Another level type adds a timer aspect to the game. It’s pretty similar to the exploration levels but with a twist: you’ll run around in the dark with fairies providing you light. But they leave you over time and you need to find fairy homes or get consumed by the darkness

(11/17) There are also vertical levels where you solve small colour sequence puzzles (a bit like Hasbro’s Simon toy) instead of fighting guardians or runner type levels where you need to run away from a dark power.

(12/17) Upon completing these runner type levels you are rewarded with an ability such as dash, health generation or ranged attack. Oh, I forgot to mention, you also have a bomb attack with a limited use, but it feels hard to use it accurately even after completing the game.

(13/17) And finally there are optional rescue and challenge levels (unlocked by discovering books). In rescue levels you need to defeat a great amount of same enemy while challenge levels will test your exploration and combat skills together.

(14/17) Furwind offers a refreshing variety with well-balanced and challenging platforming. It’s my favourite platformer so far this year and I’m even considering chipping away at that platinum as I find time. But there is one thing that keeps it from being a true gem: slowdowns.

(15/17) Unfortunately the framerate isn’t constant and it dips very often, not unplayable but just makes you wish it played smoother. Experienced 2-3 crashes during my playthrough as well but for me that’s a minor issue compared to the performance.

(16/17) Watch PS Vita gameplay here:

(17/17) Overall:

+ Beautiful pixel art, animation and parallax scrolling

+ Ambient FX and OST

+ Level variety

+ Great risk/reward balance

+ Right amount of difficulty and length

+ Challenges and upgrades

– Slowdowns

Furwind is out on June 27

Original Twitter Post:

https://twitter.com/TweetVitaReview/status/1138524993770405891