Developed By: hinyari9

Published By: hinyari9

Platforms: PlayStation 4 & 5 / Xbox One & Xbox Series / PC / Switch

Reviewed On: PlayStation 5

As a new soldier guarding the city’s outer gate, our main hero, Marfusha, only had one job – that is to kill everything trying to destroy the city’s gate in this fun and simple 2D shoot em up game set in a dystopian world featuring waifus and guns. For every day that she succeeds, she is paid a measly wage after deducting taxes and gate repair costs if the gate gets damaged beyond 50%. Completing the story requires the player to survive for 100 days. To get the platinum trophy, several playthroughs may be needed but it won’t take too long. I got my plat trophy after playing for just 5-6 hours. The game costs RM 39 on the PSN (R3 region).

On day one at her job, Marfusha starts with a handgun that is only sufficient for the first few days before she’ll need a bigger and deadlier ‘waifu-worthy’ arsenal of weapons. To ensure Marfusha’s continued success against the increasingly tough wave of enemies, the player gets to decide before the new day starts what new weapons, upgrades, tools, or even which companion to hire with whatever little money Marfusha managed to earn and saved up from the rounds before.

This sounds simple but it won’t be easy to execute because just like it is in the real world for most of us, Marfusha is getting paid peanuts on top of being choked with a stupid amount of government taxes that would swallow most of her wage! So a good part of the game other than just getting good at shooting at stuff coming from one direction involves planning ahead and saving up enough funds for the right upgrades to save her country from the bullshit that her government caused.

For her to last the full 100 days in the story mode, the player has to upgrade Marfusha’s stats like Attack, Firing Rates, Bullet Speed, Accuracy, Magazine Size, and Reload Speed. It won’t take long before she feels like one of the bullet hell shoot-’em-up Touhou Project characters as long as the player gets the right upgrades every chance they get between days. To make things more interesting, players will only get up to 3 choices for upgrades to choose from after the day ends. If the upgrade that the player wants is not available, they can then spend 5 dollars in-game money to reset the deck.

Weapons like Assault Rifles, Sniper Rifles, SMGs, LMGs, and Shotguns are also up for grab for the right price and there is also the Advanced version of each weapon that costs higher. And as if the taxing system in the game isn’t enough of a challenge, each weapon other than the Handgun has a durability lifespan that expires after 10 days or so, forcing the player to get a new one before it does. There are also special tools and skills like barricades, spikes, anti-air turrets, and more that players can get every round. Some of them can last for several days, while most are one-use.

Despite the game sounding tough and troublesome, it is actually balanced and fun to play in reality. Each round would see the enemy spawning in greater numbers and moving faster, presenting an intense gameplay experience that kept me thoroughly entertained and hooked. Like any arcade-style shoot-em-up game, it took me several restarts to understand how things work but the routine wasn’t demotivating. The designers of the game did a good job in making a game where the players can quickly get involved with the game’s addictive fast-paced action rather than forcing them to sit through a classroom of boring lessons and details.

The game can be solo-ed with just Marfusha till the end but there’s also the option to make things easier like hiring a waifu to help you out if you want. A waifu helper comes with their own weapon and is usually a great help, especially towards the end of the game. Like the weapon types, they too come in two variants – the normal and advanced versions. Completing the main story with a different waifu unlocks a different kind of ending specific to that companion. And since the game is so simple to play and doesn’t take long to complete, it quickly became a regime for me to replay it gunning for a new ending. To game is also a good sport when it comes to platinum trophy requirements – it doesn’t force the player to replay with all the different waifus to unlock the plat.

It has 2 modes – Main Story, and the Challenge Mode. As the names suggested, the main story mode comes with a simple narrative that gives the game a background story to lean on. To see the ending, the player needs to survive 100 days in the Main Story either solo or with a waifu to unlock one of the endings.

The art style, effects, and music in this game are basic but well done and suit the story the game creators want to tell perfectly. There’s also a concept art gallery included for those who want a better visualisation of the game’s intriguing world. As for the story of the game itself, it is just mildly told in the game and it raised more questions than answers, lending more to the mysterious vibe surrounding the game’s beginning. I won’t go into this and spoil the story for you but I’ll give you a hint – Eighty-Six (Anime).

Some people may find the game’s storytelling too basic or even lazy, but I didn’t think so. I thought it was well-planned and I’ve always been a fan of stories with a little mystery left unexplained, provided they are well executed and not because the writers forgot about explaining them, or created a gap in the story that they couldn’t explain afterward.

It’s a shame in my opinion that this game can only be enjoyed solo. It would have been great if the game included options for couch co-op or even better, online co-ops. But here’s hoping there’s a Marfusha 2 and the next game can explore this option.

What I really liked about Marfusha:

• The art style and music
• Fast-paced, addictive, and intense action
• Good replay value
• Just a fun game to play overall

What I wished was better:

• I wish it had co-op modes.

Verdict

At the end of my time with this game (After the platinum trophy 5 hours later), I looked back and found it unbelievable that this game just cost me RM 39. Some may say the game is a little bit too basic but I’d quickly disagree. The makers of Marfusha obviously knew what kind of game they wanted to make and went on to make it. The game came with all the right elements a good game should have and more importantly, the potential of what it could have been in the next game provided they gain a sufficient level of support for this one. They should be proud. And if you are reading this, you should give it a try (if you haven’t already).

Final Score 8.5/10