Written by Patrick Orquia
Title: Touhou Luna Nights
Developer: Team Ladybug
Publisher: Phoenixx
Genre: Metroidvania, Platformer
Number of Players: 1
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: December 17, 2020
Price: $17.99
I first heard about this game online when one of the members of a Metroidvania group on Facebook posted about it. I thought it looked really good and, since it is a metroidvania game, I needed to play it. Good thing that the awesome publisher provided a review copy of the game, and I got the chance to play Touhou Luna Nights.
The game is presented in very detailed pixel art style and partly reminds of games from the 32-bit era. The character and level design are top notch and are wonderfully animated. The game also has an excellent soundtrack that consists of catchy tunes and are tailor-made to match the visuals and gameplay.
As I mentioned earlier, this game is of the metroidvania genre, and upon first look, it seems to be just your typical run-of-the-mill kind, where in you explore interconnected areas and unlocking previously locked ones when you acquire the necessary ability or skill to do so, like double jump, dash, etc. But what this game does differently is the use of time manipulation to aid in platforming and combat. Sakuya has the ability to slow down and stop time altogether. A timer counts down to zero, and it moves when you move. When the counter reaches zero, time moves normally again, and you have to wait for the counter to go up the max number before you can use it again. This opens up different strategies that will allow you to kill enemies without getting hit back or pass through obstacles that will be near impossible when time is moving normally, such as rotating blades or gates that opens and closes very fast. If you don’t want to completely stop time, you can make it run slowly instead, but the effect of this fades much sooner. You will have to strategize when and where to use this ability so that it will be at its most advantageous to you.
The game has a wide variety of enemies to go against, mostly in the form of ghosts, but some are even in the form of animals, such as dogs, pandas, etc. There are also zombies and ghouls and even one that resembles Frankenstein’s monster. The enemies have distinct attack sets that can be easily figured out. Enemies drop gems of different denominations when they get defeated, and you can sell these gems and use the money to buy upgrades and healing potions and other consumables from an NPC. You also get experience points from fallen enemies, and you level up once you earn enough EXP. Leveling up increases your HP, MP, and attack power. Of course, you can also unlock or find additional skills and abilities as you progress into the game, which will allow you to unlock new areas and widen your attack capabilities.
The exploration in this game is very typical of any metroidvania game. The interconnected rooms are a blast to explore and once you end up unlocking a path that will lead you to the beginning, you feel that satisfying “aha!” moment. Once you encounter a dead end, you have to make a mental note of where it is in the map so that you can get back to it once you have obtained the necessary skill or ability to get past it. Although you cannot map the map to note these dead ends or any points of interests, the amp is very easy to follow, showing all the rooms that you have visited. It also marks the location of save points, warp points (teleports you to another discovered warp point), vendo machines (which replenishes your MP and HP), and stores (where you meet an NPC that buys your gems and sells you upgrades and consumables). The more you explore, the more paths you open and the easier it gets to backtrack to previously visited areas.
There is a boss fight at the end of every area, which you must beat to progress into the next. These boss fights are satisfying to beat, with the bosses themselves being much more challenging than the normal enemies, as video game bosses often are. They hit hard and have complex attack patterns, but they are well-telegraphed and within a few tries, you will be able to anticipate and counter them. After you beat them, you will have a short dialogue with them to get a bit of story exposition, and then off you go to the next new areas upon acquiring a new skill or ability. By the way, the game is not very long, but by the end of it, you will feel satisfied with the amount of content and challenges that you have experienced.
Overall, Touhou Luna Nights is one underrated gem. It looks, sounds, and plays excellently, and I thoroughly enjoyed playing it, despite my lack of understanding of this gaming franchise. I love metroidvania games, and for me, this game is one excellent metroidvania game to play. I don’t think it is a must play, as there are other much better games out there on the eShop, but it is a very solid one. The developers kind of played it safe by staying within the bounds of what a good metroidvania should be. There is a certain beauty with that move, as simple things tend to be better than some more complex ones sometimes. But I wish that they tried to put more stuff in it to make it stand out more. I really enjoyed it, but its lingering aura of blandness seeps in after just a few minutes of playing it, which kind of makes me not play it for extended periods of time compared to other much better games in the genre. That may be the case, but this game is still very enjoyable to play.
REPLAY VALUE: High
PROS
- Excellent visuals and music
- Classic metroidvania feel, at times, to a fault, but overall, it is very enjoyable to play
- Time manipulation mechanic is well-executed
- The grazing mechanic encourages you to get closer to the enemies to get MP and HP
- Wide variety of enemies
- Runs very well on the Nintendo Switch, with only very minimal and almost unnoticeable dips in frame rate when the screen gets filled with enemies
- Plays well in handheld mode
- Awesome boss fights
- Lots of skills and abilities to use
- Well-designed rooms
CONS
- The instant respawning of enemies when you return to previously visited rooms can make the gameplay quite very repetitive
- Although it looks polished, the overall gameplay does not offer much anything new to the genre
- Some enemies are positioned in such a way that it will be very hard to avoid them, especially on first encounter
RATING: 4.5/5 time-stopping daggers and chainsaws
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