Gurei

Gurei, from developer Lobo Sagaz Studio, is an incredibly challenging and unforgiving boss-rush game that takes pride in its gameplay simplicity while also offering complex strategy and a hefty amount of difficulty. It will properly rage-bait players, but in the nicest of ways.

Lobo Sagaz Studios made a game that knows exactly what it wants to be: a boss-rush game with immense replay value, featuring a dynamic difficulty system where your decisions determine how strong the bosses are.

Gurei is a wonderfully challenging boss rush that allows players to forge their own path. The ten bosses are all unique and feel great to fight, while the art style and music pull you into the world. The powers you get from the fights are a bit hit and miss, which can feel a bit disappointing. But not enough to ruin the fun.

Gurei is tough to recommend to a wide audience but the specific folks who can appreciate its brutal challenge and unique structure will definitely love it a lot. Throw in striking visuals and some secrets scattered about and you have one memorable action-packed game.

Gurei is a challenging adventure that forces you to carefully consider your route through increasingly difficult and imposing boss battles. Working out your path and creating a build that supports your run is refreshing, but the lack of support and steep skill curve may deter players who struggle with tough encounters. For those willing to embrace its demanding design, it’s a rewarding experience where victory is earned but never guaranteed. However, its rigid combat and lack of progression prevent it from reaching the heights of its inspirations.

Gurei is a joy to play, as long as it lasts. The game’s design, focused entirely on its challenging and varied boss fights and dynamic difficulty, has a good amount of depth. Through mixing up the fight order and experimenting with its signature dynamic difficulty mode, there is a lot of fun you can have by exploring all that the game’s tough-but-fair Kami fights have to offer. However, for those who want a more story-rich experience, or which offers gameplay outside of only those boss fights, you may want to look elsewhere.

I enjoyed this games combat, I enjoyed the side characters and I enjoyed the Kami and their personalities. As a whole package though I just can’t bring myself to recommend Gurei. The bosses never get hard enough to justify the early bosses being so easy and the game is just too short for the 20 dollar price tag. I do think there are people out there who would love this game and I can’t fault them. It was fun and engaging, the story is ok and the freedom of choosing bosses is a good idea. It just is not a game for me and that sucks because as I mentioned I love sidescrollers and I was really looking forward to this game.