Ah, yes. After almost 24 years on this earth, I have finally played a "Tou hou" video game. It's honestly hard to overstate the impact that this series has on the internet culture as a whole, and ZUN's choice of essentially putting his characters and IP into the true public domain has done wonders for the world. Honestly given my interest in older games and general weebshit, it's an honest to god wonder how it's taken me so long to actually play a game in this series.
It's a solid if not slightly frustrating time. I've heard this game be described as a breakout clone but it really doesn't play much like that all things considered. The main crux of the game comes from manipulating this yin-yang ball to either defeat enemies or overturn background tiles by either kicking or shooting it. The ball also has the potential to kill you if you touch it though, so make sure to time your inputs properly! The game is definitely simple to learn but hard to really master and get good at, which is something that I have a feeling will carry on to other games in the series. There are also a ton of secret techniques that can be done with certain key inputs when certain criteria are met, which honestly makes the game feel like it has a lot more depth than it initially lets on. That being said though I suck at the game so getting the ball to actually hit bosses was an absolute trial in frustration, ESPECIALLY with the makai final boss. Fighting that shit is like trying to play soccer while the entire US armed forces are on your ass. The fact that the game grades you upon completion and has the best endings locked behind 1CCs def gives me the impression that it's one of those games that is meant to be learned and mastered. I don't have that kind of time though, so bad endings and youtube it is!
Overall it def feels like an experimental one-man project, and I do mean that in a good way. The fact that this was all made by one dude as a doujin game is hella cool in its own right tbh. The mechanical complexity of something cool is here, even if the execution is a bit of a struggle to actually learn and overcome through. I'd imagine that ZUN would go on to hone his craft more with the sequels.
It's a solid if not slightly frustrating time. I've heard this game be described as a breakout clone but it really doesn't play much like that all things considered. The main crux of the game comes from manipulating this yin-yang ball to either defeat enemies or overturn background tiles by either kicking or shooting it. The ball also has the potential to kill you if you touch it though, so make sure to time your inputs properly! The game is definitely simple to learn but hard to really master and get good at, which is something that I have a feeling will carry on to other games in the series. There are also a ton of secret techniques that can be done with certain key inputs when certain criteria are met, which honestly makes the game feel like it has a lot more depth than it initially lets on. That being said though I suck at the game so getting the ball to actually hit bosses was an absolute trial in frustration, ESPECIALLY with the makai final boss. Fighting that shit is like trying to play soccer while the entire US armed forces are on your ass. The fact that the game grades you upon completion and has the best endings locked behind 1CCs def gives me the impression that it's one of those games that is meant to be learned and mastered. I don't have that kind of time though, so bad endings and youtube it is!
Overall it def feels like an experimental one-man project, and I do mean that in a good way. The fact that this was all made by one dude as a doujin game is hella cool in its own right tbh. The mechanical complexity of something cool is here, even if the execution is a bit of a struggle to actually learn and overcome through. I'd imagine that ZUN would go on to hone his craft more with the sequels.