Review: Touhou Genso Wanderer (PlayStation 4)

One day, Reimu Hakurei is visiting Rinnosuke Morichika at his shop, Kourindo. He shows her one of his prized possessions, the golden sphere. However, when she touches it, it unleashes a mysterious beam of light. Rinnosuke starts acting strange, and a giant tower now stands where Kourindo used to be. The population of Gensokyo has also been replicated by clones who attack people on sight. As the Hakurei Shrine Maiden, it is Reimu’s duty to resolve this latest incident and bring peace back to Gensokyo.

Pros:

• Cutesy Chibi anime graphics.
• 7.13GB download size.
• Platinum trophy.
• Opening tutorial with a bit of pop up help later on.
• Earn EXP for you, Your follower, Weapons and armour and level them up and unlock better attributes or stronger attacks and stats.
• Dungeon crawler gameplay.
• Autosaves between dungeon floors.
• Two dashes to use- Dash will speed you along to the next junction of a dungeon whilst iDash, Will speed you along to the nearest item or exit.
• Dungeons uncover as you discover them.
• Map always on screen with handy markers for enemies and loot.
• Dungeons will randomize everytime you enter them.
• Speel cards- Powerful attacks/abilities/buffs that you collect and earn.
• You can dual wield.
• Dan Manku is basically a gun, You collect P icons to charge it and it can fire in multiple ways from one shot to multi shot or an AoE attack.
• Japanese voicework with English subtitles.
• You can skip, Pause, Slow down or fast forward conversations.
• You have a straight forward health bar but you also have a tummy bar. If the tummy bar depletes you slowly die and attacks are weaker.
• You can self heal by moving or pressing X and O together that is faster but depletes the tummy bar faster.
• Main hub/shrine where you can buy/sell items, Craft and put things in storage.
• Easy to play.
• Dungeon themes do change as you progress and are very cool locations.
• Game settings-Map location on screen, Mini or full HUD, Game speed, L stick usage and if you want O to be an accept button or cancel button.
• Enemies movement is clever, They move towards you everytime you move or attack. Enemies will always see you when encountering them and fighting is done in real time.
• Game log at the bottom is a running commentary on what is happening in game.
• Can import saves through the PSN.
• Partner- You can take people with you dungeon crawling. Set their behaviour (attack,follow,support etc) and give them items and weapons. All EXP earned is shared regardless who earns it.
• Dungeons have traps and ambushes everywhere.
• There is a lot of depth in the game with a lot going on but it kind of simplifies it.
• Collect items like food, Potions and cards to help with your adventure.
• Holding triangle then pressing a direction on your d-pad is your shortcut for menu selection.
• Some dungeons are timed on each floor and penalties occur when/if you dont find the exit.
• You dont have to exit the floor as soon as you find it, You are free to explore as you wish and as long as you have the time to do so.
• Deep crafting system where you can create new items and weapons but also combine weapons to create either a new one or a more powerful version.

Cons:

• Tutorial has a patronising part where it teaches you how to move diagonally.
• So much to take in thanks in part to the early bombardment of tutorial pop ups.
• Map is very dominant on the screen.
• Music feels like its the same tracks on repeat.
• A lot of menu management for you but also for your partner.
• Performance is not smooth with screen tearing and slow down happening randomly.
• First few hours feel a bit mindless as you are near invincible just hacking your way through without really knowing whats what.