Touhou Genso Wanderer -FORESIGHT- Review (PlayStation 4)

by Jim Smale · Published October 11, 2024 · Updated October 10, 2024

Touhou Genso Wanderer -FORESIGHT- Review, In a corridor somewhere… Reimu Hakurei loses a battle and faints. She comes to and finds herself at Hakurei Shrine. She’s unable to remember anything… What had she even been doing in the first place? Having regained consciousness, Reimu sets out together with her friend Marisa Kirisame to solve incidents. Reimu must now save Gensokyo… From the various incidents, some of which she’d already solved before. —Reimu has no idea what she’s in for.

Touhou Genso Wanderer -FORESIGHT- Review Pros:

Decent anime-like graphics.
5.84GB download size.
Platinum trophy.
Own in-game achievements that pop up when earned.
Works on Playstation 5.
Two save slots.
2.5D fame world.
Action adventure gameplay.
The opening dungeon acts as a playable tutorial but you get further pop-ups as you play.
Game options – move, partner, and enemy speeds can be individually set to standard/fast, and fastest.
Character interactions can be skipped, paused, fast-forwarded, or auto-scrolled.
In-game cutscenes and character interactions.
The library menu houses – effects, traps, items, terrain, characters, and the bestiary.
A mini-map fills in with objectives as you play.
The game world is split into screens so going off one side will load the next screen.
Money can be found and earned from enemies.
Idash is where you can have your character automatically follow the path until you get to a room or a fork in the road.
You have a running text-based commentary of what is happening when in a fight.
The game actually plays out in a grid and you notice this when encountering enemies as they only move one square towards you when you move.
At any time you can bring up a grid that colors in safe squares and ones that will trigger an attack from an enemy.
Earn exp and level up to increase HP, attack power, and other stats.
When standing still you can actually change freely to which direction you are facing.
Dungeons take place over several floors and you are always looking for the next floor exit.
A radical menu structure helps break the many me us up.
Full inventory system and you can equip new weapons and gear for each party member.
Damage numbers pop up on the screen.
When in dungeons the mini-map fills in rooms as you explore.
Danmaku is special attacks using the right stick and when aiming them you get the grid view and red squares to show where your attack will go.
You collect Danmaku points from the game world and can only carry X amount.
With a party member you give them one of four commands – explore, attack, follow, and wait.
You heal slowly as you move around but staying still and pressing two buttons together can speed this up.
Traps are everywhere in the dungeons.
Pick up and use powerful spell cards.
A hunger bar is used and will go down with movement but also when healing.
Food can be found and bought.
Big boss encounters.
Fighting multiple enemies is more like a puzzle.
End of dungeon breakdown of performance and loot.
The Hakurei restoration plan is where you give money for new buildings that give bonuses and possible upgrades.
You have a main hub with your shrine that can be upgraded.
In the hub, you have a main storage box.
When setting out in Adventures you can choose who to bring with you.

Touhou Genso Wanderer -FORESIGHT- Review Cons:

The opening of the game is cold and not helpful.
A lot of the story is at the beginning.
It’s always tricky to remember which Danmaku does what.
Signposting is not the best.
It’s very easy to accidentally put all items in your storage box, the pain being this includes anything you have equipped.
The gameplay loop feels familiar and one I have played many times.
Menus take some getting used to.
The gameplay does get repetitive and predictable.