TL;DR - A genuine 10/10 from someone who's not into Touhou or Metroidvanias

I've never had any interest in Touhou, it's just not my kind of thing. I don't particularly like anime, vertical shooters aren't engaging enough for me, and my brain is too feeble to comprehend the number of projectiles in a bullet hell game.

I've never had any interest in Metroidvanias, either. I don't particularly like Metroid or Castlevania, backtracking isn't engaging enough for me, and my brain is too feeble to remember the locations of previously unobtainable items.

So with seemingly all odds against it, what got me to buy this game? The auto-play trailer - seriously, whoever made it deserves a raise. You tease me with a bangin' soundtrack, epic looking boss fights, and time control? Alright then, sign me up.

---

Touhou Luna Nights is first and foremost an action platformer. It has RPG elements, but won't bore or inundate you with skill point assignment or inventory management, as it's focus remains firmly on fluid movement and combat. Leveling up is automatic and interestingly enough your stats are based on how much money you're carrying. Buying items can be helpful, but you're effectively selling your strength. But other than that, in classic Metroidvania fashion your movement and combat will constantly improve by collecting new items and upgrades, as each serves a unique purpose. Combat does feel shallow early on as your default attacks lack combos or variety, but abilities once obtained solve that. Both consume mana except for during stop-time, in which they consume stop-time instead.

Controlling time is often seen as a defensive maneuver, an opportunity to dodge, reposition, or retreat. Now it can be used much more offensively as it allows you to attack without expending mana, including your most expensive, powerful attacks. From a game design perspective, this is brilliant; it encourages players to experiment, try different abilities, use them more often, and learn how they work risk-free. You also can slow-time (or "Snail Time" in-game), which doesn't consume any resources but your attacks will continue to use mana. It's used most for solving puzzles, dodging, and grazing.

Both mana and stop-time refill slowly, but health doesn't. If you're in desperate need of any you'll have to learn how to graze, which is done by narrowly dodging enemy attacks. The more risks you take, the more you'll be rewarded. Slow-time makes grazing easier, but stop-time changes it dramatically - enemies and projectiles will now have a finite amount of graze points to give, and they almost exclusively refill stop-time. Again from a game design perspective, this is brilliant; it teaches players to not be afraid of combat, makes stop-time last longer around danger, provides safer movement practice, then rewards you during real-time or slow-time. It gives you a reason to improve your movement, secretly gives you practice, then rewards you for doing so.

And the more you improve your movement, the more you'll want to be moving. Backtracking never feels like a chore because rooms feel like playgrounds more than obstructions. Enemies and obstacles often feel precisely placed to reward players for skilled movement and time management. By late game, you'll find yourself running room to room without even having to exit stop-time. Weaving in out and around combat, gracefully dodging enemies and their attacks, bypassing almost all danger while constantly refilling your resources. Your acrobatics are only enhanced by the soundtrack that's keeping you moving, keeping you progressing - just to reach the boss and hear the next song.

The boss fights are extremely well done, and try to incorporate some of the bullet hell action Touhou is known for. The environments look great, characters are well animated, attacks are clearly telegraphed so you can learn the patterns, lots of opportunities to graze - they can still be difficult, they're just not punishing. Mistakes are forgiven and skill is rewarded. Before every boss your resources are refilled, your game saves, and their introductory dialogue is only shown the first time around, making successive attempts far more bearable. Not that you'd want to see the dialogue more than once, because... it sucks.

The story, writing, and translation aren't great. Other than that, there's not a lot of negatives, certainly nothing game ruining. Some attacks are difficult to see, some don't give graze points for some reason, and 100% completion on my first playthrough only took 6 hours.

All in all, Touhou Luna Nights provided me with an exciting experience that was thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish and left me wanting more. It feels expertly crafted, has brilliant game design that subconsciously pushes you to improve your skills, and a bangin' soundtrack. It's biggest flaw is its length, but the additional stage coming in an update will probably round the game up to a much more respectable 7-8 hours.

At that point, from the perspective of someone who had no interest in Touhou or Metroidvanias, I'd honestly give this game a 10/10. It ain't perfect, but nothing ever is. Why reserve 10/10 for something that will never exist?

[u]TL;DR - A genuine 10/10 from someone who's not into Touhou or Metroidvanias[/u] I've never had any interest in Touhou, it's just not my kind of thing. I don't particularly [i]like[/i] anime, vertical shooters aren't engaging enough for me, and my brain is too feeble to comprehend the number of projectiles in a bullet hell game. I've never had any interest in Metroidvanias, either. I don't particularly [i]like[/i] Metroid or Castlevania, backtracking isn't engaging enough for me, and my brain is too feeble to remember the locations of previously unobtainable items. So with seemingly all odds against it, what got me to buy this game? The auto-play trailer - seriously, whoever made it deserves a raise. You tease me with a bangin' soundtrack, epic looking boss fights, and time control? Alright then, sign me up. --- Touhou Luna Nights is first and foremost an action platformer. It has RPG elements, but won't bore or inundate you with skill point assignment or inventory management, as it's focus remains firmly on fluid movement and combat. Leveling up is automatic and interestingly enough your stats are based on how much money you're carrying. Buying items can be helpful, but you're effectively selling your strength. But other than that, in classic Metroidvania fashion your movement and combat will constantly improve by collecting new items and upgrades, as each serves a unique purpose. Combat does feel shallow early on as your default attacks lack combos or variety, but abilities once obtained solve that. Both consume mana except for during stop-time, in which they consume stop-time instead. Controlling time is often seen as a defensive maneuver, an opportunity to dodge, reposition, or retreat. Now it can be used much more offensively as it allows you to attack without expending mana, including your most expensive, powerful attacks. From a game design perspective, this is brilliant; it encourages players to experiment, try different abilities, use them more often, and learn how they work risk-free. You also can slow-time (or "Snail Time" in-game), which doesn't consume any resources but your attacks will continue to use mana. It's used most for solving puzzles, dodging, and grazing. Both mana and stop-time refill slowly, but health doesn't. If you're in desperate need of any you'll have to learn how to graze, which is done by narrowly dodging enemy attacks. The more risks you take, the more you'll be rewarded. Slow-time makes grazing easier, but stop-time changes it dramatically - enemies and projectiles will now have a finite amount of graze points to give, and they almost exclusively refill stop-time. Again from a game design perspective, this is brilliant; it teaches players to not be afraid of combat, makes stop-time last longer around danger, provides safer movement practice, then rewards you during real-time or slow-time. It gives you a reason to improve your movement, secretly gives you practice, then rewards you for doing so. And the more you improve your movement, the more you'll want to be moving. Backtracking never feels like a chore because rooms feel like playgrounds more than obstructions. Enemies and obstacles often feel precisely placed to reward players for skilled movement and time management. By late game, you'll find yourself running room to room without even having to exit stop-time. Weaving in out and around combat, gracefully dodging enemies and their attacks, bypassing almost all danger while constantly refilling your resources. Your acrobatics are only enhanced by the soundtrack that's keeping you moving, keeping you progressing - just to reach the boss and hear the next song. The boss fights are extremely well done, and try to incorporate some of the bullet hell action Touhou is known for. The environments look great, characters are well animated, attacks are clearly telegraphed so you can learn the patterns, lots of opportunities to graze - they can still be difficult, they're just not punishing. Mistakes are forgiven and skill is rewarded. Before every boss your resources are refilled, your game saves, and their introductory dialogue is only shown the first time around, making successive attempts far more bearable. Not that you'd want to see the dialogue more than once, because... it sucks. The story, writing, and translation aren't great. Other than that, there's not a lot of negatives, certainly nothing game ruining. Some attacks are difficult to see, some don't give graze points for some reason, and 100% completion on my first playthrough only took 6 hours. All in all, Touhou Luna Nights provided me with an exciting experience that was thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish and left me wanting more. It feels expertly crafted, has brilliant game design that subconsciously pushes you to improve your skills, and a bangin' soundtrack. It's biggest flaw is its length, but the additional stage coming in an update will probably round the game up to a much more respectable 7-8 hours. At that point, from the perspective of someone who had no interest in Touhou or Metroidvanias, I'd honestly give this game a 10/10. It ain't perfect, but nothing ever is. Why reserve 10/10 for something that will never exist?