Developer: AQUASTYLE, ankaa studio
Publisher: Phoenixx Inc.
Platform: PC, PS4, Switch
Tested on: PC
Touho Genso Wanderer -FORESIGHT- – Review
Back in May, we looked at Touhou Mystia’s Izakaya, a fan-made spinoff game based on the long-running Touhou Project franchise. Now, we’re returning to that same franchise, albeit through another fan-made spinoff. Or spinoff series, we should say, because Touhou Genso Wanderer – FORESIGHT- isn’t the first Touhou Genso Wanderer game. In fact, we’ve reviewed several entries in the past, although for yours truly, -FORESIGHT- was the first taste of the series. Did it leave us wanting more or was once enough?
Story
There is a vast library of Touhou characters, and although each of them has its own dedicated fanbase, they don’t always get to shine equally in the mainline series. Fortunately for the fans, the plethora of Touhou spinoff games gives lesser-known Touhou girls their chance in the spotlight. Case in point in -FORESIGHT- is Reimu Hakurei, a shrine maiden with magical powers. Or at least, she used to have magical powers, because both these and her memories are taken away. In order to restore Reimu to her former self, she’ll need to battle her way through a series of dungeons, with the aid of Gensokyo’s residents. Reimu can’t shake off a feeling of déjà vu, but she also doesn’t really have a choice. Now, we should note that because this is a fan-made project, the developers assume that you’re already familiar with this universe and its inhabitants. This does mean that if you’re new to Gensokyo, it’s difficult to get into the story, and we had to consult different websites to understand certain character motivations and plot points.
Graphics
A significant chunk of -FORESIGHT-’s visuals simply consists of static portraits or full CG art, because the story is delivered as a visual novel. The anime art looks great, owing to the strong art direction and character designs that permeate the Touhou series. Character movement in the dialogue scenes looks stilted and awkward because you’re basically looking at a static image hopping or swaying, which is a bit of a shame given how beautifully drawn everything is. Things fare better in the actual gameplay, where the cast is chibi-fied, and where there is enough going on at once to distract you from the very basic individual animations. Still, we would’ve liked more enemy variety here, rather than just recolored enemies.
Sound
Audio is one aspect that -FORESIGHT- absolutely excels in. The soundtrack is stellar and quickly found its way into our regular music library. From what we gather, these are remixes of familiar Touhou tunes rather than entirely original compositions. This means that long-time fans of the series will likely get a sniff of familiarity while also being able to enjoy these tunes as something fresh. The Japanese voice acting is great too, even if the game isn’t fully voiced.
Gameplay
While the ‘mainline’ Touhou titles are bullet hell games, the Genso Wanderer sub-brand instead offers roguelike dungeon crawler titles, in the same vein as the Mystery Dungeon series. You’ll explore procedurally generated dungeons that are loaded with treasure to find and enemies to take on in turn-based combat. Along the way, you’ll recruit new characters into your party, all of whom are familiar faces for Touhou fans. There’s also the obligatory level-up system with a skill tree as well as equipment customization, so you can shape your party to your liking. What makes -FORESIGHT- stand out from other entries in the genre, is that Reimu’s skill tree is based on building friendships with other characters rather than simply grinding out experience points. This is as simple as keeping certain characters in your party, but it does incentivize you to swap out the cast regularly. -FORESIGHT- follows a familiar structure too, with Hakurei shrine acting as your home base that you return to in between story-based dungeon crawls, with bosses waiting for you at the end of each dungeon.
As far as dungeon crawling mechanics go, -FORESIGHT- treads on familiar ground. There is nothing particularly new or unique here, although that doesn’t mean that this is an easy title. There are plenty of difficulty spikes in the main story dungeons, especially when it comes to boss battles. Fortunately, there are also plenty of sidequest dungeons set across different locations, which add a teensy bit of visual variety when it comes to grinding out experience points. We’d go as far as to say that these side dungeons are mandatory to keep up with -FORESIGHT-’s difficulty curve. This does highlight a pitfall that is all too common for dungeon crawlers. No matter how you slice it, these games are repetitive grindfests by nature. Granted, -FORESIGHT- offers plenty of fast travel points for you to return to the hub area, and even if you “die”, you simply respawn at the shrine without even losing items you’ve picked up on your run. The only downside to dying is that you have to start the dungeon over from the beginning.
Now, none of the game’s repetitiveness would be an issue if the dungeon crawling would actually be fun. Don’t get us wrong, the game gets the foundation right, and the first few hours or so kept us interested, but the more time we spent with -FORESIGHT-, the more it was wearing out its welcome. The game suffers from drawn-out, 30+ floor dungeons and a severe lack of enemy variety. Bosses were seemingly designed to simply overpower you, rather than challenge you to strategize. You run into a boss, get your ass kicked and then grind until your own level is high enough to return and open a can of whoopass of your own. A run of -FORESIGHT-’s main story, including the quasi-mandatory side dungeons, takes several dozen hours. While this may give the perception of the game offering good value for the €34 RRP, it’s a matter of (poor) quality over quantity here. We’d much rather spend our time revisiting a much better dungeon crawler instead.
Conclusion
There is undoubtedly an audience for -FORESIGHT-, but that would be an existing audience that already lives and breathes Touhou. As an outsider, there is very little here that justifies picking up Project Touhou. Sure, the character designs are fantastic and the soundtrack absolutely slaps, but the story isn’t fleshed out enough to draw us in and the gameplay is too drawn-out and barebones to keep us motivated. If you’re a hardcore Touhou fan, picking this one up might have some merit, but otherwise, there are way better dungeon crawlers out there.
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