Interview with Emeric Thoa, Creative Director of Furi

On the occasion of the release of Furi on Nintendo Switch we got to interview Emeric Thoa, Creative Director of the game, asking him five interesting questions. So are you ready to discover the background of this successful title with us? 

Which game or games inspired Furi?

Furi was inspired by books, films and my personal experience as a boxer. But as for the games, I think the ones with the best characterization inspired me. For example, Metal Gear Solid 3 has some great bossfights mostly because they go hand in hand with character design. The same goes for No More Heroes and God Hand. But one of the games that most influenced Furi's gameplay is probably the PunchOut series! by Nintendo. Sword battles in Furi are practically PunchOut! in 3D.

The soundtrack is fantastic: how did you choose the musicians?

We knew we wanted an electronic soundtrack that kept pace with fast-paced gameplay. We had Carpenter Brut in mind and when he agreed to join the project we were able to create a demo to show to a selection of musicians from our personal playlist or suggested by third parties. We chose them for the music, thinking about who could create the best soundtrack for each boss. In fact, each composer had been assigned one or two bosses. It was important that their style matched their character.

Are there any real places or people that inspired those in the game?

Well, the game is mostly fiction, but the overall plot is inspired by the story of Minos and the Minotaur of Greek mythology. Also, The Hand is somewhat inspired by the Hector character of the Trojan War. The Edge instead strongly follows Musashi Miyamoto, the legendary ronin. The Line is a sort of homage to The End, boss in Metal Gear Solid 3, but The Burst is also built on the same character (a sniper). And in reality there is much more ... it is as if the whole story were original and at the same time full of references, because our living strong emotions also poured into the game.

How was the project born? Why is it so different from your previous works?

After Combo Crew for mobile platforms, we wanted to create something truly extreme for consoles and PC. We wanted to create something unique, different, with strong gameplay but also with cutting-edge music and designs. We had thought of many options, but the one that stood out was Furi. It was something I had in mind for ten years, it was all pretty clear and defined in my mind, and the team was very enthusiastic too. At this point we started looking for a great character design, and when we got Takashi Okazaki involved in the project we knew we were off to a great start.

Will there be a sequel or a spinoff in the same universe?

Well, the game is a success, it has a well defined gameplay and an original world… but there won't be a sequel! Strange, right? It was decided from the start that the game would be unique. We strongly believe that players will have a better memory of the game if there is no sequel. I would also prefer to avoid a spinoff in the same universe. We could think of something with very few connections, like the common thread that binds the Drakengard series to that of Nier, or like Shin Megami Tensei and Persona, why not. But at the moment I'd rather focus on creating something new and surprising.