I know that Touhou Luna Nights is one of the weirdest sounding names you will ever hear. However, if you are a fan of 2D action and exploration Metroidvania type of games, Touhou Luna Nights is a game that has to be on your radar!
How to Download Touhou Luna Nights
You can download the game from Steam. If you like Metroidvania titles, you should also download and check out The Messenger, Iconoclasts or Hollow Knight.
The Game Review
Let me start by saying that Touhou Luna Nights is part of some kind of shared universe and that Touhou is actually very popular. I am sure if I was not ignorant of the series that I would have connected to the characters, know why they know each other and care about their motivations more than I did.
Still, any story that has vampires and a weird world is cool in my book. Just do not read the Steam description of the story as it makes things even more confusing. I would go as far as to say that this is one of those games where knowing the story is not actually all that vital for you to enjoy the game so do not worry.
Before I get to the gameplay I have to talk about the presentation. The people at Team Ladybug did a phenomenal job with Touhou Luna Nights. It is all done with sprites and they have gone for a really dark and moody anime style look and it is great. The characters are detailed very well and the backgrounds and all the little details are incredibly well done.
To go along with the great visuals is a really kick butt soundtrack. The music suits the game perfectly and it is not just the music that is well done. The sound effects are also fantastic. No matter what kind of attack you are doing the sound effects have some real punch behind them and that was something I really liked.
The core gameplay is on the surface very simple. It feels like a 2D hack and slash style game and the combat is very satisfying. However, it does have some neat tricks up its sleeve such as the ability to “Graze”. If you get close enough to an enemy to graze them you can get some MP and HP and it is something you have to learn fast.
MP is especially important as if you have no MP…. You cannot attack! This is very interesting and makes for some strategic gameplay. Touhou Luna Nights feels like a game that you need to go balls to the wall in. However, if you do this you will run out of MP and not be able to attack so you do have to think. This is especially true for boss battles.
Another fun gameplay mechanic is the ability to use Time Stop. This is exactly what it sounds like. You can stop time for a short period of time, this is not just used in combat, but in exploration and puzzle solving as well. It is a really fun feature and something the game uses very cleverly.
Touhou Luna Nights is best described as a Metroiddania style of game and there is a nice amount of exploration here, but not a ton of backtracking. It is actually a far shorter game than you would think and I would bet that most people will beat this in a few hours. Still, that is not a bad thing as the game is short, but it is fun the whole time you play it.
Touhou Luna Nights may be from a series I am not familiar with, but this is a really fun 2D game. It is one of the most surprising games of the year for me so far and one that is very easy to recommend. If you like 2D action/exploration style games you are in for a real treat here. Also, the fact it is a little on the short side actually works to its benefit. The developers have promised more content will be added so that is cool.
