Osyaberi! Horijyo! Gekihori: Anna Holinski saves the universe alright?! Review (Nintendo Switch OLED)

by Jim Smale · Published September 25, 2023 · Updated September 25, 2023

For this Osyaberi! Horijyo! Gekihori: Anna Holinski saves the universe alright?! Review, we play a cute Japanese Space-Shooter that you can enjoy at your very own pace: Play it with a friend, grind for upgrades, and clear each stage one by one, if you are a beginner. Or try to go for a one-try clear, get challenging achievements, and unlock secrets, if you are a skilled arcade expert!

Osyaberi! Horijyo! Gekihori: Anna Holinski saves the universe alright?! Review Pros:

Cutesy pixel art graphics.
341MB Download size
Shmup gameplay.
Side scroller shooter and you can freely move around.
You play as a treasure hunter.
Awesome menu system.
Very Japanese in its style and presentation.
Optional replayable tutorial.
Two games in one as they have their own name and menu system.
You can quit a game back to the main menu to select a game mode.
Japanese voice and English subtitles.
Each game/mode has its own set of settings, collections, and stories.
Cutscenes are a mix of in-game interactions and still-frame voiced segments.
You can skip cutscenes.
Aside from the traditional shooting, you get ore deposit fields appear and all you need to do is fly through it collecting ore.
Ore fills you up and once full you move slower and can’t pick any more up.
The Shooting button can be pressed each time or held down, you go slower when shooting.
Fuel goes down when getting hit and once it hits Zero it’s the end of your turn.
Can replay levels.
World map level select.
Excellent fun and very accessible.
Your shield is used to collect treasure drops from enemies and will slow down certain enemy bullets.
The closer you are to an enemy the stronger your shot.
Stage progress bar.
Clear easy to understand ui.
Drop in and out of local co-op.
Big boss battles and small mini-bosses.
Boss scores show a rank and time taken.
End of run breakdown.
Very addictive.
Pop-up text of ore collected like coal, iron, silver, or Gold.
A shop can appear during a level.
All collected ore turns into cash to spend.
Running playtime timer on the main menu.
Upgrades can be bought from the shop, it’s random as to what parts show.
Ore as said turns to cash at the end of a run except you can sell currently held ore into cash in the shops.
You don’t get hit by all enemies themselves so the ore fields are just a case of moving around and maximizing your route.
You keep everything you collected and upgraded so you never technically die and lose.
Power-ups appear and grant short bursts of lasers, bigger drills, or some fuel back. It’s a capsule that changes on a cycle so you choose when and what to collect.
Gets addictive in that the gunplay is good, and earning and progressing every run is satisfying.
When playing you just roll into the next level until you run out of fuel.

Osyaberi! Horijyo! Gekihori: Anna Holinski saves the universe alright?! Review Cons:

The tutorial is just about controls and not things like upgrades, the ore types, the general progression loop, and boss fights.
Cannot rebind controls.
No online leaderboards.
Takes a bit of getting used to.
The upgrades system is good but not being able to pick your own parts to upgrade is annoying.
Difficulty spikes with the boss fights especially.
It is a lot of grinding for ore and cash.
Can play a lot and never get what you want in the shop to upgrade.
No checkpoints or ways to respawn.
The small play area gives a claustrophobic feeling.
With no real death or consequences, it lacks any sense of danger.
I wish you could turn the shield off as the slowdown of bullets makes boss battles trickier than they need to be.