How to Beat Furi on Furier Difficulty: A Boss-by-Boss Guide

Last Updated on 29 October, 2025

Forget endless corridors, forget leveling up, and forget weak minions. This game is a pure, concentrated test of skill. Furi is a boss rush, a gauntlet of ten (or more) guardians, each a unique and complex puzzle that you must solve with a sword and a gun. The game tests your reflexes, your patience, and your ability to learn. You will fail, you will retry, and you will eventually overcome. The journey to freedom is long, and every step is a duel.

This guide will walk you through the core mechanics you must master and provide the strategies to defeat every single jailer. We will break down each fight, phase by phase, to help you parry, dodge, and strike your way to victory.

Quick Fact: The game’s unique style is a collaboration. The character designs were created by Takashi Okazaki, the artist best known for Afro Samurai, while the high-energy synthwave soundtrack features well-known artists like Carpenter Brut, Danger, and The Toxic Avenger.

Table of Contents

• Mastering the Basics: Your Keys to Freedom
• The Walkthrough: Defeating the Jailers
  • Jailer 1: The Chain
  • Jailer 2: The Strap
  • Jailer 3: The Line
  • Jailer 4: The Scale
  • Jailer 5: The Hand
  • Jailer 6: The Song (and the Secret Ending)
  • Jailer 7: The Burst
  • Jailer 8: The Edge
  • Jailer 9: The Beat
  • Jailer 10: The Star
• The DLC Boss: The Flame
• After Freedom: Furier Difficulty
• Conclusion: The Fight is Everything

Mastering the Basics: Your Keys to Freedom

You have four core abilities. You must master each one to survive.

1. The Parry

This is your most important defensive and offensive tool. When an enemy’s attack is about to hit, you will see a bright pink flash and hear a sharp audio cue. Tapping the parry button at this moment will deflect the blow.

1. Benefits: A successful parry stuns the enemy, opens them up for a counter-attack, and restores a small amount of your health.
2. Mastery: You can parry most attacks in the game, including melee strikes and many projectiles. Stringing together multiple parries in a combo is essential.

2. The Dodge

Your dodge is a short, quick dash that grants you invincibility frames. You use this to avoid unparryable attacks, laser beams, and “bullet hell” projectile patterns.

1. Charged Dodge: You can hold the dodge button to charge a longer-range dash. You use this to cross large distances quickly.
2. Mastery: You can parry and dodge to “boost” yourself. Parrying and immediately dodging lets you move very fast.

3. The Strike (Melee)

This is your sword attack. Your basic strike is a three-hit combo.

1. Charged Strike: You can hold the strike button to charge a powerful blow. This charged strike breaks an enemy’s guard and stuns them. Use this when a boss glows white and blocks your standard attacks.
2. Melee Duels: When you get close to a boss, the camera zooms in, and a small arena appears. This is a melee duel. You must use parries and strikes to win.

4. The Shoot (Ranged)

You fire energy blasts from your gun. This is your primary tool in the large-arena phases.

1. Charged Shot: You can hold the shoot button to charge a more powerful blast. This charged shot can stagger bosses, destroy certain projectiles, and deal heavy damage.
2. Bullet Hell: Many bosses fill the screen with projectiles. You must dodge these patterns while shooting back.

Boss Phases Explained

Every boss has multiple life bars (small squares or diamonds). To win, you must deplete all of them.

1. Ranged Phases: These take place in a large, open arena. You primarily use your gun and dodge. You must break down the boss’s blue shield bar to force them into a melee duel.
2. Melee Phases: These take place in a small circle. You must use your parry and strike to deplete one of the boss’s “life” squares.
3. Downed State: After you deplete a life square, the boss falls. You must run up and perform a melee strike to trigger the next phase. If you are too slow, the boss regenerates that life bar, and you must repeat the melee phase.

Heads-Up: Not all attacks can be parried. Attacks that glow red or orange, like The Scale’s grab, must be dodged. Many bullet hell patterns and large area-of-effect beams also lack a parry flash and must be avoided.

The Walkthrough: Defeating the Jailers

Here is the breakdown for every guardian on your path to freedom.

Jailer 1: The Chain

• The Walk: The mysterious man in the rabbit mask, “The Voice,” frees you. He guides you on a short walk across a bridge to your first jailer, a cruel sadist.
• The Fight: The Chain is your tutorial. He teaches you every core mechanic. He is slow, and his patterns are simple.
  1. Ranged Phase: He fires slow-moving purple orbs and a straight laser. Dodge the patterns and shoot him. He will eventually charge his laser; a charged shot from your gun will stop him.
  2. Melee Phase: He has a simple, slow three-hit combo. Every swing flashes pink. Practice your parry timing here. Parry all three, then counter-attack. If he glows white, use your charged strike.
  3. Later Phases: He will electrify the floor, forcing you to stand on small, safe platforms. He also has a “prison” attack where he traps you in a circle of orbs. You can parry the orbs or find the gap to escape. This fight trains you for everything to come.

Jailer 2: The Strap

• The Walk: A long, automated journey through a complex, high-tech structure. The Voice gives you more details about the world and your purpose.
• The Fight: The Strap is a tactical, ranged-focused fight that tests your spatial awareness.
  1. Ranged Phase: She fires tracking orbs that you must shoot down. Her main attack creates a green laser grid on the floor. You must find the safe path through the grid. Later, she fires a massive circular beam that rotates around the arena. You must run from it while shooting her.
  2. Melee Phase: She is incredibly fast. She has a quick dash-and-strike attack. Her parry timing is much quicker than The Chain’s. Stay calm, and do not button mash.
  3. Final Phase: She creates a series of blue rings that close in on you. You must dodge through the gaps.

Quick Reminder: During the long story walks between bosses, you can press X on PlayStation, A on Xbox to “auto-walk.” This lets you focus on the dialog from The Voice without having to hold the analog stick.

Jailer 3: The Line

• The Walk: A tense, quiet walk through a desolate, sandy ruin. The Voice warns you that this jailer is a patient, deadly sniper.
• The Fight: This fight is a test of patience.
  1. Ranged Phase: The Line is a sniper. He will vanish and a huge red line will appear, tracking you. You must hide behind the stone pillars to avoid his shot. After he fires, he appears and is vulnerable. This is your chance to shoot him.
  2. Melee Phase: This is his main trick. He has a very slow, delayed attack. He will raise his sword, hold it for a full second, and then swing. You must learn this new, strange timing. Parrying too early means you get hit.
  3. Later Phases: He will start to break the pillars, leaving you with less cover. He also has a spinning blade attack. You must dodge this, as you cannot parry it.

Jailer 4: The Scale

• The Walk: You ride a lift down into a murky, green-lit swamp. This guardian is a diver and a brawler, consumed by rage.
• The Fight: This is a fast, aggressive melee duel.
  1. Ranged Phase: He swims in the green goo and fires projectiles at you. He will also fire a large laser. He periodically jumps onto your platform to start a melee duel.
  2. Melee Phase: He is a pure brawler. He has fast combos and a green grab attack that you cannot parry (it glows red/orange). You must dodge the grab. He will also dive into the platform, leaving a goo puddle. He then bursts out. You must dodge the emergence attack.
  3. Later Phases: He will try to heal by diving into the goo. You must shoot him to interrupt this.

Practical Tip: Trust your ears more than your eyes for parrying. Every parryable attack has a distinct “ding” audio cue exactly 0.5 seconds before it hits. Focusing on this sound is often more reliable than trying to react to the visual flash.

Jailer 5: The Hand

• The Walk: A long, solemn walk up a mountain path lined with statues. You arrive at a beautiful, sacred temple, guarded by a noble warrior.
• The Fight: This boss tests your parrying skill and your ability to break defenses.
  1. Ranged Phase: He hides behind a large, rotating shield. You must shoot the glowing blue nodes on the shield to destroy it. He attacks with a “clap” wave that travels along the ground. You must dodge this.
  2. Melee Phase: He is a master swordsman. He has long, fast, multi-hit combos. You must parry every hit in the sequence. If you miss one, you get punished. This is a pure rhythm test.
  3. Later Phases: His shield regenerates faster. He also gains a “shield charge” attack that you must dodge.

Jailer 6: The Song

• The Walk: A beautiful, serene walk through a garden paradise. The Voice explains this jailer created this beauty but uses it to hide her deadly nature.
• The Fight: This is a “bullet hell” endurance test.
  1. Ranged Phase: She fills the entire arena with complex, beautiful patterns of projectiles. You must weave through them. She has a sniper phase where she traps you and fires cross-shaped beams. Dodge the beams, then shoot her.
  2. Melee Phase: She creates “wings” of light projectiles that you must parry. She will also trap you in a box of lasers. Parry the walls of the box to break out.
• The Secret Ending: During the walk before this fight, The Voice will open the final gate and tell you to “go right” to fight The Song. If you instead go left and wait on the small bridge, you can choose to “accept her offer.” This triggers the secret “Freedom” ending.

Quest Tip: After beating the game, you unlock Practice Mode. This allows you to fight any boss you have already defeated, which is essential for learning their patterns on Furier difficulty or improving your rank.

Jailer 7: The Burst

• The Walk: A high-speed ride on a hovercraft across a vast ocean. The Voice is frantic, telling you that this jailer is a cunning, invisible stalker.
• The Fight: This is a high-octane battle of cat and mouse.
  • Ranged Phase: The Burst cloaks and runs around the arena. She creates multiple copies of herself. Only the real one attacks you with a bright red sniper shot. You must find the real one and shoot her.
  • Melee Phase: She is extremely fast and has tricky, hard-to-read combos. Her attacks are a blur of kicks and slashes. You must focus hard on the pink parry flashes.
  • Later Phases: She will fill the arena with “tripwire” lasers and tracking projectiles, forcing you to dodge constantly while hunting her.

Jailer 8: The Edge

• The Walk: A walk across a desolate, snowy plain toward a single, waiting warrior. He wants a duel, not a prison. He wants to test your honor.
• The Fight: This is the ultimate melee test. After the first ranged phase, he destroys the arena and forces you into a “ring out” duel.
  • Ranged Phase: A simple phase. He dashes and strikes. Just shoot him until he gets close.
  • Melee Phase: This is the entire fight. He has no projectiles. It is just you and him, sword to sword. He has incredibly long, complex combos. You must learn his rhythm. Parrying him is the only way to win. A single missed parry can cost you the phase. He also has a charge attack that can knock you out of the small arena for an instant loss.

Survival Tip: Your health bar is divided into three lives. When you lose a life, you get knocked down, but the boss’s current phase restarts. When you successfully take one of the boss’s life bars, you regain one of your own lost lives, rewarding your success.

Jailer 9: The Beat

• The Walk: A chaotic, glitchy walk through a disorienting, digital landscape. The Voice explains this jailer is a child, a lonely girl with immense power.
• The Fight: This is another “bullet hell” fight, but with a unique capture mechanic.
  1. Ranged Phase: She fills the screen with waves of energy. Her main attack will capture you in a small box. You must shoot the nodes of the box to break free before she hits you with a massive blast.
  2. Melee Phase: She attacks with her floating drones. The parry timing is strange, as the drones swing at you from a distance.
  3. Final Phase: She creates a massive, tracking laser beam while also firing waves of projectiles. This final phase is a pure test of your dodging skills.

Jailer 10: The Star

• The Walk: You ascend into orbit. The Voice reveals the truth. The planet is your prison. The Star is the AI guardian of that prison. This is your final test.
• The Fight: The Star combines every mechanic you have learned. This is the final exam.
  1. Phase 1 (Drones): You fight several waves of drones, each using attacks from previous bosses (The Chain’s lasers, The Song’s bullet patterns).
  2. Phase 2 (The Face): You fight the AI’s “face.” This is a massive bullet hell. It fires colossal beams and screen-filling patterns.
  3. Phase 3 (The Core): You enter the Star’s core. This is a final, one-on-one melee duel. The AI uses a sword and has fast, brutal combos. You must parry, strike, and prove your mastery.
  4. The Credits: The fight continues during the credits. You must keep fighting the boss as the names roll, so do not put your controller down.

Pro Tip: In the open bullet hell phases, a perfect parry will stun the boss. Do not use your melee strike. Instead, shoot them with your gun while they are stunned. This deals significantly more damage than the single melee hit and helps you skip phases faster.

The DLC Boss: The Flame

The “One More Fight” DLC adds an optional, secret boss.

• Unlocking: You must first beat the main game. Then, you can find a new path during the walk to The Hand.
• The Fight: The Flame is arguably the hardest boss in the entire game. He is a relentless, two-phase battle.
  1. Phase 1 (Melee): He forces you into a melee duel in a tiny arena. His attacks are fast, powerful, and designed to break your rhythm.
  2. Phase 2 (Ranged/Melee Hybrid): He moves to a larger arena and attacks with massive fire pillars, homing projectiles, and devastating dash attacks. He constantly switches between ranged and melee, forcing you to adapt. This fight is a true test for Furi veterans.

Boss Tip: Do not stop playing during the final boss credits. The fight against The Star continues throughout the entire credit sequence, and you must keep dodging and attacking to win the final phase.

After Freedom: Furier Difficulty

When you beat the game, you unlock Furier difficulty. This is not just a simple hard mode.

1. Remixed Fights: Every single boss fight is remixed. Bosses get entirely new attacks, new patterns, and much faster timing.
2. A New Challenge: You must completely re-learn every fight. The strategies that worked on Normal difficulty will get you killed. This is the ultimate challenge for players who have mastered the game.

Combat Tip: Your standard four-hit melee combo will get you punished by most bosses. A safer, more effective combo is to use two quick strikes followed by a half-charged strike. This is fast enough to deal damage without leaving you open to a counter-attack.

Conclusion: The Fight is Everything

Furi is a journey of mastery. It strips away everything but the thrill of the duel. Each jailer is a teacher, and every death is a lesson. By mastering the core mechanics of parry and dodge, you can overcome any obstacle. You can overcome the frustration, learn the patterns, and finally claim your freedom. Now go, escape your prison. The fight awaits!