Touhou Luna Nights (2019)

After finishing Lodoss I figured I'd go back and play this earlier game made by the same people. Bad idea. I put in several hours but couldn't get past all of its flaws. Attacking takes MP. Run out of MP, you can't attack. Several hours in and my weapons still do just 7 dmg. Stand right next to enemies to gain MP/HP - this is just a stupid mechanic. I'm trying to kill enemies, not stand next to them. The main theme of this game is its time mechanic, but it's like they just added really stupidly difficult parts in the game just to make the time mechanic seem important. Oh, and all of those difficult parts...yea you'll have to back track through them several times. And a lot of the backtracking either deals with the time mechanic or it deals with some sort of auto-scroller mechanic so that getting through the insanely difficult and insanely long area just to get to a save point is slow and arduous. And you'll probably die and have to restart from your last save only to go through that painstakingly slow & difficult area again. It's more frustrating than fun. And while you're doing these crazy backtracking time mechanic things you'll fight enemies that steal your time so that you can't use the time mechanic - oh joy!

I was able to fight 2 bosses which I thought were pretty well done, but the in-between is just not fun. If you're up for a mega-challenge and don't mind tedious and slow gameplay, this game might be for you. If you want a real metroidvania style game that's challenging but fun at the same time, pick up Record of Lodoss War - Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth instead. It's a definite improvement over this game.

This was a blast!

Touhou Luna Nights is a Touhou Project fangame in the metroidvania style, and everything about it is tight and well-executed. As a touhou fan, it's always fun to see the touhou characters interact and the banter they have with one another, and to hear the classic themes.

You play as Sakuya Izayoi, the maid at the Scarlet Devil Mansion. As the story often goes, Remilia Scarlet, the mistress at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, gets bored one day, and so she decides to create a little magical world and send Sakuya there, where she will need to fight her way through the various challenges. After Remilia's had her fun playing with Sakuya, she'll close the magical world and everything will be back to normal. Or, at least, that's the plan. But sometimes, even the best laid plans go awry...!

In keeping with the lore, Sakuya has two main abilities: she can throw knives and she can manipulate time (both very handy skills for any maid to have). The time manipulation is used both in the platforming sections as well as in combat, with some boss attacks being designed around its use. This adds a unique flavor to the game, with some portions requiring you to figure out how to properly utilize time mechanics to get past them, and it's very satisfying when you get it down.

Her knife throwing is her main attack, and unlike in many Metroidvania games, it requires MP. So, if you run out of MP... you can't attack. Fortunately, by grazing (allowing an enemy or attack to get near you without hitting you), you regain some HP and MP. Thus, in some boss battles, you will need to learn to properly manage your resources and get some good grazing in order to keep your attacks going.

Just a great time overall. I only gave it 4 stars since I feel like some of its appeal may be missed by someone who isn't a touhou fan, though its gameplay is loads of fun even so.