Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity Reviews

Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity is ranked in the 17th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
2.5 / 10.0
Oct 19, 2016

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.

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8 / 10
Sep 30, 2016

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.

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90 / 100
Oct 11, 2016

Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity is a magnificent game that has taken me completely by surprise with its quality. A mix of 2D and 3D platforming, RPG, and adventure gaming blends with a gorgeous art style to form this hidden gem just waiting to be uncovered. All the while familiar and unique, Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity is a game that all should give a chance, enjoyable by the most hardened veteran gamer down the most green of newcomers.

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58 / 100
Aug 10, 2018

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.

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Wait
Sep 27, 2016

With Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity, I found a pleasant time-waster of an action game that provided not a lot of emotional or gameplay depth.

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Wccftech
Top Critic
7.5 / 10.0
Oct 8, 2016

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.

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7 / 10.0
Oct 7, 2016

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.

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8 / 10.0
Sep 27, 2016

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.

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Sep 28, 2016

Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity attempts to blend the action-RPG and bullet hell genres, sadly doing justice to neither in the process.

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7.5 / 10.0
Oct 3, 2016

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.

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3 / 5.0
Nov 2, 2016

Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity is the kind of low-budget title that’s light on bells and whistles but still carries a distinct appeal for fans of offbeat Japanese titles. Like Touhou Gensou: Bullet Ballet, this side adventure admittedly does not have the polish of a triple-A game or even the tight gameplay of the mainline bullet-hell titles of the Touhou franchise. As a fan-made game, however, it has heart as well as a certain whimsy to it that I find charming in its own right. It won’t be for everybody but fans of titles with an Akiba-flavor to them will likely enjoy this one.

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3 / 5.0
Oct 3, 2016

Overall, Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity is an extremely polished game that throws players directly into the world of Gensokyo, delivering a well-crafted translation from the series’ 2D-roots to a 3D-setting. While it definitely didn’t have the highest budget — a fact made apparent by the utter lack of voice acting or music during the pre-fight dialogue sequences — the music that is present during the dungeon exploration is actually quite fascinating even if it does get repetitive the more time you spend playing.

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4 / 10.0
Jul 25, 2018

Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity is a bland and repetitive experience, offering almost none of the quality found it the games that inspired it

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9 / 10.0
Jun 13, 2018

If you enjoy a good Action RPG with some good boss battles, and good BGM, you'll enjoy this game.

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2.5 / 5.0
Sep 28, 2016

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.

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7 / 10.0
Oct 5, 2016

Scarlet Curiosity is a good, if short, RPG-Brawler that makes decent use of the setting that ZUN has created for the Touhou series. However, repeated enemies, generic looking stages, and the inability to block attacks from the beginning are a bit grating and prevent the game from reaching its full potential.

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6.5 / 10.0
Feb 14, 2017

In the end, Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity isn't that bad. The campaign is a decent length, and despite the limited combat system, the fighting can be enjoyable if you play in short bursts. The enemy monotony does drag down the experience if you want to play for extended sessions, and the presentation could certainly be much better, fan-made game or not. While it's not the best action RPG on the system, it's worth a shot if you've already exhausted the others.

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Cubed3
Top Critic
3 / 10
Oct 1, 2016

Even being for those in the target audience, Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity is an annoying, frustrating, and even enraging experience.

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Digitally Downloaded
Clark A.
Top Critic
Oct 11, 2016

Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity doesn't merge its two genres as seamlessly as its recently localised sibling, but it’s still an exceptionally fresh curiosity buy. Though ultimately not quite as polished as either Ys or a main-series Touhou outing, the underlying gameplay is so clever it elevates the whole experience. The adoption of bullet-hell mechanics by classic genres continues to pay dividends.

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Oct 5, 2016

For a series that only has a niche following in the West, 'Touhou' really needs to put its best foot forward to win over a bigger audience. Unfortunately, this fan-game spinoff of the doujin series is not it. While not particularly terrible,'Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity' is about as middle of the road as you can get with an action RPG, and as such does not leave a good impression as one of the few English representations of the 'Touhou' series.

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