Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity
Overview -
The 'Touhou' series is well known among shoot-'em-up (or shmup) fans as a headrunner for the "bullet hell" subgenre—where enemy projectiles practically fill the screen and players must employ skillful twitch reactions and awareness to survive the onslaught.
Although the Japanese doujin series has been around for quite a while, few of the games have made it outside of its home country. 'Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity' for the PlayStation 4 is one of the few. Instead of getting a shump, though, 'Scarlet Curiosity' is a fast paced action RPG made with the series' roots in mind. How well does this title represent the Touhou series?
Video Review
By far, the weakest point of 'Scarlet Curiosity' are the graphics. The character and enemy models, when clearly seen, look incredibly outdated, and almost as if it's something from the late PlayStation 2 era. The levels are typically dark, which make both the enemies and the levels themselves hard to see. Thankfully, the bullets fired are bright and easy to see, but they only really look interesting during the boss battles. 'Scarlet Curiosity' as a PS4 title really doesn't look the part.
Audio Review
The 'Touhou' games tend to have good soundtracks, but unfortunately 'Scarlet Curiosity's audio is hit or miss. The soundtrack has a very eastern feel to it, though it mostly sticks to a more generic feel than trying to stand out. Overall the soundtrack has some decent music, but it's largely inert and ultimately forgettable.
Final Thoughts
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.
