Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity
Fans of the Touhou Universe might be interested in how well Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity captures the look and feel of the franchise along with how the title fits in with established lore.
Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity is a game that is definitely made for fans that already know what to expect from Touhou doujin games. With that said, the game allows Western fans to spend some quality time with two of the more popular characters, but offers little beyond that in terms of story. I ended up enjoying the game more after the first few hours and I hope that players new to the series stick through the simplistic beginning and discover what this game has to offer.
Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity grabbed me and never let go. It’s a fun game with great characters and combat, and it all comes together in a package that kept me glued to my PS4. It’s a shame that mainline Touhou games haven’t seen English localisations, but the series’ unique charm has been wonderfully captured by this game. Newcomers to the series will have a great time dipping their toes into the universe with this title, and existing fans have absolutely nothing to lose with it either.
There really isn't anything positive I can say about this game, outside of a few choice spots of interesting art direction. The level design is dull, the platforming is simplistic, the graphics look a few generations old, the RPG elements are basic, the music is forgettable, the enemies are pushovers, the difficulty is turned all the way to easy – I'm honestly at a loss for words. I would like to think I have this amazing vocabulary to intelligently convey just how abominable Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity is, but the best I can come up with is just calling it bad. This is a bad, bad game.
Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity is an entertaining blend of genres that breathes a palpable life into bullet hell games, taking them from a niche variety to one more accessible for casual players. The narrative and characters fall into decidedly JRPG stereotypes, but the plot does evolve into a more coherent and intriguing mystery than it first lets on.
While Scarlet Curiosity is certainly geared towards fans that already know a little bit about the Touhou lineage, those looking for a fun little diversion until Ys VIII reaches North America won’t be disappointed.
If you are already a fan of the Touhou series, this might certainly be the game for you. However, fans of the bullet hell genre may want to skip on this title and players wanting to get into this franchise may want to look elsewhere as this is not a good starting point for newcomers.
This is it Touhou fans, this is where it begins, with a pretty middle of the road action adventure game. It may not be the bullet-hell salvation we were all looking for, but it's a good start, and hopefully paves the way for more Touhou games in the future.
