Touhou Luna Nights Review (Wandering Cavalry)
7.5/10
Hirohiko Araki's "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" has created a cast of immensely charismatic characters, notably Dio Brando and his time-controlling Stand, The World. This unique ability and character design have significantly influenced various anime and game creations, including Izayoi Sakuya from the Touhou Project. "Touhou Luna Nights," a game that appeals to both JoJo and Touhou Project fans, offers an irresistible proposition: experience the thrill of Dio-like time manipulation in a 2D Metroidvania-style game, while immersing in the enchanting world of Gensokyo.
The game's straightforward storyline ensures an enjoyable experience regardless of the player's familiarity with the Touhou Project. Its exquisite pixel art style, fluid character animations, Metroidvania gameplay, bullet hell shooting, unique Touhou 'grazing' mechanic, and atmospheric music all contribute to a highly satisfying gaming experience. The clever integration of unique mechanics like time-stop and time-slow, perfectly aligned with the level design, In combat, this harmonious blend of Touhou-style bullet hell shooting and 2D side-scrolling action game features further enriches the player's experience. This easy-to-learn, combat-fluid, and nostalgically styled game impresses most players in the initial hours but struggles to maintain its allure over time.
However, the game's interface is overly simplistic, and the inability to adjust settings like graphics and language except at game launch is user-unfriendly. The game is plagued with tedious, forced multiple playthroughs for collection purposes, and the map design lacks refinement. Low replayability, coupled with a sudden increase in environmental trap difficulty in the latter half, detracts from the gaming experience. For players new to this genre, the game can be confusing and passion-dimming. The storyline is either refreshingly simple or disappointingly shallow, resembling a mere list of events. The game's short duration, unbalanced weapon strengths, and the dominance of the powerful and reliable Thousand Daggers makes the seemingly diverse weapon choices actually being quite monotonous and uninteresting in reality.
In summary, "Touhou Luna Nights" is a moderately challenging, accessible game that provides initial enjoyment for most players and added intrigue for enthusiasts. However, its gameplay issues make it less suitable for those new to 2D side-scrolling action games. The game's short length, limited depth, and lack of extended playability quickly diminish the initial novelty, making it challenging for some players to even complete the game, let alone engage in multiple playthroughs.