I bought this game for 2 dolars on summer sale like a cheap bastard and i can say for sure this is the most 5/10 game i've ever played
[h3] lots of spoilers of the game btw lol [/h3]
If i had to name the biggest flaw of this game is that is undercooked, i could see that there was more planned through my playthrough most of the time but it just didn't happen
[spoiler] there seemed to be some kind of story with sakuya being a nameless hunter who has never felt at home in her life
[/spoiler] , and i do really like that because it gives her a back-story, but given that the game doesn't last an hour and a half, it just isn't as explored as it should, it feels like a story that could be build upon for a longer game but nope, only some text over a wallpaper and that's it.
The dialogue was, something???????????
i think what makes sakuya a funny character in the original touhou series is she being rude for no reason to the point you just have to laugh at how unfriendly she gets against at random-ass people, which i assume is what they were going for in this game but it just looks like she's trying too hard to sound cool, which could be intentional as this is a younger sakuya that the one we see in touhou 6 fowards but i just didn't find any of her dialogue endearing.
The rest just get some basic dialogue that could be said by anyone so i don't have much to say in that regard.
[spoiler] flandre gave me a chuckle though so she gets a pass.
[/spoiler]
But the part about this game that's supposed to be the most attractive is gameplay, as it is a doom mod after all, but it's not that great if im being honest.
The enemies were, fine?????, rumia was just annoying and the green fairies were an actual challenge but besides from that everyone else are just dummies for you to 1 shot with the revolver
[spoiler] (and i just find it weird that some enemies are other touhou characters like rumia, suika or wriggle, they just fell extremely out of place and like the creator ran out of imagination, that's just me being picky though)
[/spoiler] .
And about the weapons: the cirno doll is completely useless as you can get a good fire rate and better damage with the revolver if you just click fast enough, the knifes were a buggy but interesting idea, the revolver is busted, and the shotgun is absolutely ridiculous, like one of the most overpowered guns i've ever used in a game this thing tears through hordes of enemies like if they were nothing and the bosses become absolute jokes (i'll go deeper into this later).
The clock is actually the best implementation in the game, it's not a power house like the shotgun, but it let's us use sakuya's abilities to make strategies and i think the game should of have been centered around this mechanic.
And the bosses, oh boy the bosses:
all of them have 2 simple attacks that are somehow a problem because sakuya just moves 10 cities if you dare to tap one of the direction keys for some reasons, but they were still a joke, how you may ask?, 2 reasons
1- if you stop time and shotgun them a few times you get their health bar to half and have practically winned
and
2-
[spoiler] everything in this game is dodgable by crouching, you just crouch and nothing can get you know, isn't that lovely?
[/spoiler] .
So the conclusion is: this game has all the potential of the world, but it all was kept on concept and then the final game doesn't build on it, i would be lying if i said i didn't have some mindless fun being a beast that can demolish everything with the shotgun, but behind the crust of it there's a game that could of been much, much more.
It ranges from being potential man, to being mid, to being a mindless shotgun simulator, to being mid again, to me getting stuck on a level because sakuya jumps lower than the guys at my local gym who skip leg day, to being potential man again.
The developer later on made a sequel and a dlc, but i've heard horror stories about them so i don't think the fundamental issues of this game were solved, but i hope these concepts can be more explored and let them flourish.
I give this game 5 drunk looking sakuya sprites from eosd out of 10.
