Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lost from UnknownX and by Alliance Arts is a rhythm game bullet hell on PlayStation 4. Learn more in our Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lost review!
Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lost from UnknownX and by Alliance Arts is a rhythm game bullet hell on PlayStation 4. Your mission for this new adventure is a very important one. You must play the Kagura in order to rebuild Gensokyo before it’s too late! You’ll be taking on the role of heroine Reimu Hakurei, the shrine maiden of Hakurei, and will be working alongside other Touhou heroines to find out what has happened to Gensokyo, how you can put a stop to the onslaught, and what can be done to fix things.
You can play the game in one of two different options: Kagura Mode and Danmaku Mode. Kagura Mode is the main draw for Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lost, and it’s the one in which you’ll be paying attention to the notes highway as you use the corresponding buttons for each lane to hit the notes as they move to the bottom of the screen. Hit notes in quick succession without making any mistakes so that you can build up your combo, which will, in turn, allow you to boost your overall score at a steady pace. The better your overall score, the better the final grade you’ll get for that song once the battle is over.
To mix things up from the rhythm game segments, Danmaku Mode will have you moving your character at the bottom of the screen as you collect Dream Drops and avoid incoming attacks. Since Danmaku Mode is basically the bullet hell shoot ’em up side of the equation, you’ll be using the left analog stick to move as you automatically shoot at enemies and the boss. You can also activate a huge bomb by pressing the X button, which will dispel surrounding enemy fire when things get a bit too crazy for you.
Whenever a bullet hits you, your HP will decrease. Lose all HP, and you’ll lose a life! And since these are shoot ’em up levels, you’ll be able to collect items as you defeat some enemies, which will aid you. These include boosts to your attack power, your character’s speed, or additional bombs to clear the screen of attacks. If your bomb stock is full, you might as well use one before grabbing a new one, right? Oh, and did I mention you’ll STILL need to pay attention to the song as you hit notes on the left and right sides of the screen by pressing the L1, L2, R1, and R2 buttons? Good luck with that!
For the Kagura Mode levels, you’ll be using – from left to right – the left, up, and right directions on the D-Pad and the Square, Triangle, and Circle buttons to hit the notes as they reach the bottom of the screen. Do this right to get a higher score bonus from each of the notes. Getting any Great or higher grades for a note will fill up the Groove Gauge at the bottom of the screen. Any notes that are rated at Bad or lower will make you lose some of the Groove Gauge. If you manage to have it reach the Border or higher mark when a song is over, then you’ll be able to complete that level. There are regular single notes that you only need to tap on once to make them disappear, but there are also hold notes for which you’ll have to hold the corresponding button until the note ends.
The game features a huge trophy list for you to work on, including a shiny Platinum trophy. The list is split into 50 Bronze trophies, 4 Silver trophies, and 2 Gold trophies for you to work on. What will you need to do for that Platinum trophy? You’ll need to obtain 50, 100, and 300 Mitama Cards, collect 10, 30, and 60 Danmaky Mitama Cards, raise 10 Mitama Cards to the max level, recruit 5 Touhou heroines, complete 50 Kagura Mode levels, complete 50 Danmaku Mode levels, unlock and restore each of the areas in the game, score an SS rank on 10 beat maps, get a full combo clear on 10 beat maps, collect a total of 500,000 Dream Drops, and complete the Story Mode, to name some examples.
Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lost is a rhythm game bullet hell on PlayStation 4. Your mission for this new adventure is a very important one. You must play the Kagura in order to rebuild Gensokyo before it’s too late! You’ll be taking on the role of heroine Reimu Hakurei, the shrine maiden of Hakurei, and will be working alongside other Touhou heroines to find out what has happened to Gensokyo, how you can put a stop to the onslaught, and what can be done to fix things.
Unfortunately, something that Guitar Hero and Rock Band did so well is missing from Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lost: colored notes. While notes are indeed color-coded for this musical release, there are only two available colors for each of the different skins you can choose from, and not six colors in total, as one would expect from a rhythm game. This can lead to several moments of confusion while trying to hit all notes as they move through the screen. On top of that, the button layout feels off since you’ll almost be asked to rub your belly and pat your head at the same time while trying to hold double notes while then being required to hit other notes moving through the screen in quick succession. That was also the case for Guitar Hero and Rock Band, but the plastic instruments made it a whole lot easier to make the most of your fingers/arms and their movement.
Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lost is out on PlayStation 4 with a $29.99 price tag. Another option is the Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lost: Digital Deluxe Edition for $64.99, which includes the base game as well as Extra Song Packs 1-4. Next up is the Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lost – Gensokyo: Memorial Digital Archive for $119.99, which includes the base game, Extra Song Pack 1-4, a digital art book based around the behind-the-scenes of DanKagu’s creation, and a Sound Archive. The last one is the Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lost – Gensokyo: Memorial Digital Archive PLUS, which includes everything already mentioned, as well as Extra Song Packs 5-8.
Disclaimer
This Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lost review is based on a PlayStation 4 copy provided by Alliance Arts.
