Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lost is a fun rhythm game

It’s surprising how many there are Touhou Project the game is eventually localized or released worldwide. We can easily access main entries, side projects and even independent films inspired by the series. One of the most recent notables is Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lostis a rhythm game that features traditional levels and is inspired by shooting. It’s definitely worth a try, but certain elements may leave those unfamiliar with the series feeling left out.

First I’m talking about the story. IN Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Missing, You go through a campaign to find out what happened in the setting of Gensokyo this time and unlock new rhythm stages. The entire area resembled a wasteland, ruined and desolate. Reimu HakureiOur current recurring heroine, there to hope things turn out okay. However, she completely lost her memories. So in addition to restoring her surroundings, she needs to find her own identity. This means finding the Mitama memory card fragment and performing the Reigen Kaisei prayer.

This is the only part of Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lost that doesn’t seem “right”. The execution of the story isn’t great. The localization is good enough, but you can tell that the original script might not have things presented perfectly. It makes assumptions about a player’s level of familiarity with the series. The pacing is very bad. It’s just not done well. And since it’s forced on you, it’s a bit disappointing.

The story is nothing special in the least. the Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lost The gameplay is fantastic and doesn’t get hindered by it. You experience incredible songs from all over Touhou Project series. Overcoming them means advancement, success and unlocking more tracks and cards. The song library is vast! They are amazing even if you are completely new to them! It’s amazing. Optional additional tasks, which may involve achieving a certain combo length, are manageable. I also like how having stage gimmicks can make running more interesting during the campaign.

The game is also great because the execution of the levels is really super sonic. Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lost is a rhythm game with both a traditional approach and a shooting approach. Kagura stages are the more typical stages. There are six lanes, each tied to a different node. The notes are dropped and you press the keys in time with the standard or held notes. But what really gets interesting is when the Danmaku stage appears. When this appears, there are two to four lanes, depending on difficulty, with two lanes on either side of the main screen. Then you also move back and forth to avoid bullets from enemies and “fight” by shooting, sometimes also moving back and forth on the screen when an arrow indicator appears to help you dodge. It’s really creative and fresh! The downside is that the movement is quite slow when going back and forth, which can be a problem on some songs and on certain difficulties.

The only thing I really recommend you do is customize your controls. The initial inputs were a bit disappointing. It’s not because they’re bad! They rely on face buttons and are both comfortable and responsive. Just depending on how familiar you are with other rhythm games, you may feel more comfortable assigning those lanes to six different buttons. This is really easy to do because custom key binding is an option here. It’s especially useful when danmaku battles take place, so you immediately know what inputs you need.

I really appreciate those opportunities Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lost in terms of gameplay, because this is a solid rhythm game! The song list is amazing. It’s made up of all sorts of wonderful things Touhou Project music we love. I just wish the story was handled better or made more accessible to those unfamiliar with the series, as that would be a pretty big hurdle for most people if they gave it a chance. Knowing that you need to go through that to unlock your songs is a lot.

Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lost available on Nintendo Switch And PC via Steam.