http://aja-games.com/products_koumajo/index.htm^ Official site. Trailer in the first page.
Mini ReviewIn this game, you play as Reimu in her struggle to defeat Remilia after traversing through The Scarlet Devil Mansion. This time, however, it won't be a shooting game.
Koumajou Densetsu is a fan made Touhou in Castlevania style, that is, an action-platformer set in a "Dracula"-themed castle (which happens to be the SDM). But before I tell about Reimu's moves, let me say how this game is a blessing for fans of both Touhou and CV.
The first Castlevania games were very straight-forward in nature. You controled a Belmont (a member of a clan involved in a seemingly endless war against Dracula) who can swing the whip (the Vampire Killer), jump, and use one of subweapons you collected; and then you fought all the way in the castle to reach Dracula and beat him. But as time passed by, the concept changed a lot, and now the most known games involve a protagonist (Belmont or not) getting experience from killed monsters and gaining abilities to be able to reach different areas of the castle in a Metroid style of gameplay, which made the fans label these later games as Castleroids (and. But what looks like an improvement actually features a negative side: the latest game in this class was the only one to have balanced difficulty (that is, your enemies don't get old quickly), and it wasn't even "faithful" to the Castleroid typical formula; not to mention almost everyone is tired of this exploration deal.
So, the special thing about this game is that it follows the "classic" formula while still giving Reimu an impressive freedom of movement only seen (and sometimes not even that much) in the later CV games. It also gets points for turning the Scarlet Devil Mansion into Remilia's Demon Castle. But enough of talk, now have something more objective.
On to Reimu's skills, she can swing her gohei in a way analogue to how the belmonts use the Vampire Killer whip, so that's your main way of attacking. She can also jump and if you press the jump button in mid-air, she'll stop and float (in this mode, you can't turn to the other side). If you press or hold attack + up or attack while floating, Reimu will throw talismans straight ahead for an ok range; they consume one soul each (you get them for destroying enemies and candles). Other action that consumes souls is using a friends' special attack; and while you must be thinking "Wtf?!", the friends' special attacks act just like a common special attack from any other game, but in this one, Marisa or Cirno will show up and attack in their respective ways; you can switch between them buy pressing down + special attack button.
Despite the fact that Reimu can float around, the game still manages to have its difficulty balanced in a way that flying doesn't really become anything better than walking.
About the enemies, you'll be surprised by the amount of work that was put into it. Even the spinning things from the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil and a few other games (including Samidare) make a comeback to annoy you, and a lot of enemies are analogue to Castlevania ones: the fairy maids can do the jobs of the axe armors and spear armors. The only flaw that I can point out is that hit detection for some things can be a bit higher than their graphic representation may suggest.
About the presentation, this game is an instant winner for transferring what is Touhou to a Castlevania mood, and the responsible for the awesome artwork is Akira Banpai; I confess the dialogue scenes are fun even though I don't get what the "girls"* are saying. *The designs make the characters look mature, and with it I may add that Sakuya doesn't look quite like a maid anymore, which reflects the fact that she is much more than a maid in this game (and in most official games too).
The music is very interesting too, being close to what you listen in Castlevania games. You may even wonder what there is of Touhou in the majority of the soundtrack, and I say it's because this game isn't exactly set in an eastern motif.
Well, that's it. I probably forgot something, but I guess I can finish later.
Important notice:This review will be taken down and another, updated one, will be posted in order to keep track of the new features introduced.
