![]() It’s a system that lends itself to some tactical thinking certain enemies have patterns they follow, so exploiting those if often the key to victory when there are multiple enemies coming after you. Taking any action, like walking, attacking, casting a spell, or using an item is one turn, and whenever you take a turn, the enemies on the screen take their turn as well. In practice, it has its fun points but one or two flaws to go with them. Touhou Genso Wanderer Reloaded is a roguelike, turn-based, action-RPG, which is a pretty intriguing combination in theory. I just never felt I was fully immersed in the game or its world because of references being made to things I didn’t know anything about. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the story there are lots of funny moments in the game that don’t rely on your knowledge of Touhou lore. Navigating the sheer number of characters, their roles, and their relationships is a huge barrier to entry in the game. The characters and their relationships are only barely explained in the game, and, given the history involved in such a long-running series, I don’t really know if there’s an easy way to mitigate the issue. One of the game’s biggest flaws is that it just throws things at you with little to no explanation I had to stop playing every few minutes to check a wiki to make sure I was following everything going on. ![]() So… did everyone follow all that? OK, because that’s like the first ten minutes of the game. So, with Futo in tow as part of her training, Reimu sets off for the tower that had sprung up overnight where Kourindo used to be. After making it back to the shrine, Reimu goes to sleep for the night, but in the morning the shrine’s resident sage Kasen reminds Reimu that resolving things like incidents involving haunted magic orbs possessing antique dealers is kind of her job. In the cave, Reimu and Futo are beset by yokai, which we later discover are copies of other residents of Gensokyo created by Rinnosuke and his new orb powers. She makes it out of the shrine after meeting Futo, a sage-in-training who asks Reimu to introduce her to a master sage. Once in the cave, Reimu decides to make for the Hakurei Shrine, her home. He goes nuts and attacks Reimu, and she uses a spell to escape to a nearby cave. When Reimu touches the orb, a dark energy gets released that Rinnosuke absorbs. She wants to touch it but Rinnosuke thinks that’s a bad idea eventually she gets her way, but knocks the orb out of Rin’s hand in the process. Rinnosuke has just gotten a new artifact in his shop, a mysterious golden orb that entrances Reimu. I’ve worked retail long enough to not appreciate that myself, so I feel you, Rin. Their relationship seems a bit rocky – apparently Reimu likes to spend time in the shop but never buys anything. She runs to a nearby building, an antique shop called Kourindo owned by her friend Rinnosuke. The game begins with Reimu slacking off and getting caught in the rain. She is the protagonist of most of the series, save for a few spinoffs, and she is the player’s character in Reloaded. Reimu Hakurei is a shrine maiden at the Hakurei Shrine charged with protecting the peace and keeping the yokai in line. Not really in harmony, but not not in harmony, I guess. The series takes place in a magical realm called Gensokyo where humans and yokai (demons, if you’re not up on your anime tropes) live together. ![]() It’s a ton of value stuffed into one package. Reloaded features the entire original game, plus all the original DLC, and even some brand new missions all in one new package. Touhou Genso Wanderer Reloaded is a remake of a fan-made game which was first released for the PS4 and PSVita. Having a history that deep is pretty darn cool, but it’s also kind of daunting to try and get into at the very least I know I had a tough time getting up to speed. There are dozens of characters and it has one of the most passionate fanbases in the Japanese gaming world because of them. There are 16 entries in the main series, as well as dozens of light novels, a spinoff fighting game series, side-story shooters, manga, fan-made anime, and some fan-made games. The main series is created by one man, ZUN, through his studio Team Shanghai Alice. The Touhou Project is a long series of bullet hell shooters that never really left Japan’s shores that turned into an otaku phenomenon. Well, I guess it doesn’t require it all the way, but it doesn’t hurt to have some background. And man, does it require a lot of explaining before you even open the game. NIS America’s mission to bring as many aspects of Otaku gaming culture to the US as possible continues with Touhou Genso Wanderer Reloaded for the Nintendo Switch.
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