Bullet bloody hell.
Touhou Kobuto V: Burst Battle feels like it tries to be too many things and fails at most of them. Normally I would start this with a little soliloquy about fighting games or bullet hell games but I honestly feel that the effort would be lost on this game. What I played felt far more like a development version, something which should never have seen the light of day.
But no. This is the actual game.
What type of game this is confuses me. At first I thought fighting game from the title and while it maintains aspects of it the game fits more into the bullet hell genre. Each battle involves you swinging spells at your opponent from distance and dodging theirs, attacking your target when you get close. Now personally this system fails both as a fighting game and a bullet hell game. As a fighting game it is far too slow; everything has a lag before the animation begins and all the actions are too slow and require charging. As a bullet hell game your weaponry fires too slowly to make it that dangerous if you’re paying the slightest attention and your double jump puts you in low-earth orbit away from obstacles.
Poor gameplay is matched with poor polish. The graphics frankly look PS2 era, sharp angles and flat scenery everywhere. Battles themselves devolve into circling each other and firing wildly. The game does not involve the same behaviour as modern fighting games in the sense of learning tactics and fighting styles. It also lacks any of the skills and reflexes a bullet hell game requires as you can just jump out of danger.
The story itself is also passable. What plot there is revolves around Reimu, who is spending time a Hakurei Shrine until she overhears rumour of vampires teaming up with other unlikable creatures to attack humans. Reimu takes it upon herself to battle the threat, going to the Scarlet Devil Mansion to investigate the rumours. While focused on the story mode, it is really just battles stitched together with some cutscenes.
That really is it. The systems are so light that you’ll learn them quickly and there is no depth for fighters to stick their teeth into. I am kind of surprised there are 5 of these games out now considering there is no unique hook as in more traditional fighting games. So I must assume if you are reading this the odds are in the favour that you are a fan of the series.
If you like the previous 4 games I will have to trust your recommendation as I do not know how this game relates to the others. But this is not a game I will be recommending to anyone. This is not a series worth new investment. It is at best incomplete and at worst an embarrassment of a game in its current state. Tohou Kobuto V: Burst Battle is an unnecessary game, a game which is not worth getting.
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