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Hong Meiling is head gatekeeper of Scarlet Devil Mansion, the secluded home of a pair of vampire sisters and their staff. She is tired of being mistreated by everyone in Gensokyo, and especially dislikes the nickname “China” that she has been given. One day, a mysterious youkai appears, interrupting her daily routine. Guided by a new master with unknown intent, Meiling begins training to prove her competence in front of the others.
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Version Reviewed:
PC
As with professionally created works, the quality of fan-made games can vary greatly. Some are masterpieces, and others aren’t worth a second glance. Touhou Rekkaden lands slightly abreast of the centerline, presenting a quaint throwback to old school gameplay that ends up being mostly forgettable.
Based on the setting of Touhou, a popular series of shooting games in Japan, this latest contribution by fan-circle LION HEART stars Hong Meiling and several other characters borrowed right from the source material. While far from epic, the story mode has thankfully been expanded from the initial 5 stages available when the game was first released at Comiket 68. However, it remains short and relatively easy to breeze through. Little character development is evident even though the developer took many liberties with canon, having based the cast’s personalities upon the personalities and memes established by the Japanese Touhou fanbase. Nonetheless, this is banked upon to add some much needed humor to an otherwise inane plot.
A game of this caliber relies on a solid engine for replayability. Rekkaden doesn’t disappoint too much in this department. Though rather simplistic in design, the top-down action gameplay is actually quite challenging when battling human opponents (though the same can't be said about the weak AI). Several different types of attacks are available, and each character has a number of powerful spellcards at her disposal - limited use moves with devastating effects. The stages exhibit some variety, representing various locales in Gensokyo (mostly in and around the Scarlet Devil Mansion), but in terms of functionality they are essentially identical.
With respect to the audio-visual experience, Rekkadan proves adequate. The graphics are actually quite well done overall, with a crisp, appealing 2D style both in-game and during conversation sequences. The music can’t be faulted too much, as the melodies have been derived directly from the original works. Suffice to say that the remixes sound nice enough that they manage to evoke a pinch of the emotional impact afforded by the originals. While utilitarian, the sound effects get the point across.
It is rather disappointing that there is no online play option; such a feature would have best facilitated this game’s popularity, especially considering its niche appeal. I would recommend Rekkaden if you know people to play it with, or perhaps to break out at parties (it does support 4 players), but otherwise, it’s probably not worth your time.
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