Going rogue: Touhou Genso Wanderer review | Technobubble (2025)

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It’s not every day that an item based on a dirty joke serves as the basis for a grand adventure.

Yet that’s exactly what kicks off shrine maiden Reimu Hakurei’s quest in “TouhouGensoWanderer” as she squares off against a hidden evil lurking inside a golden ball. Well, “Golden Sphere,” according to the English translation of the text. If you understand Japanese like I do, however, character Rinnosuke Morichika’s fascination with his beloved “kin notama” is the kind of ballsy joke that would make 10-year-old boys in the Land of the Rising Sun giggle while their teachers shake their heads and sigh.

Unfortunately for Rinnosuke, however, this golden sphere literally has a mind of its own. It’s an evil one to boot and it doesn’t take long before his mind is taken over during a tussle with Reimu inside his Kourindou store over the item. After fleeing away from her possessed friend, Reimu resolves to make things right and free Rinnosuke from the Golden Sphere’s influence. Thusly, her adventures in roguelike fantasy begin.

As far as “fushigi” or mystery dungeon-style roguelike games go, the production values for “Touhou Genso Wanderer” are top notch. It’s an aspect I found quite surprising given how games in this genre are few and far between these days. Meanwhile, the remaining few such as “Pokemon Mystery Dungeon” and “Shiren the Wanderer” usually don’t splurge on the presentation.

In contrast, developer Aqua Style clearly pours in some extra “oomph” in Touhou Genso Wanderer. For starters, it serves up plenty of voice acting on a platter — a prized dish among the “otaku” or geeks that serve as the prime customer base for these type of games. The visuals, meanwhile, look nice for a Japanese-style roguelike. In addition to several 3D rendered cutscenes, Wanderer features wonderfully animated chibi characters, with some having no shortage of adorable expressions and gestures. If you’ve been reading my reviews over the years, then you know I’m a sucker for cute things. Ask my tattered and torn man card. Seeing Wanderer’s adorable, scrunched up cast actually made me think of Magic Knight Rayearth for the Saturn. That, by the way, is a good thing.

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The fan service does not stop there as the game lets you collect illustrations and cutscene movies for later viewing. It even saves storyline conversations you have seen in the course of playing the game for later viewing. Later on, you can also recruit several other Touhou misfits as partners to help you tackle Wanderer’s floors.

I also like how the game actually came up with reasons to explain some of the more nonsensical aspects of this genre, such as foes who look the same, for example. See, in his greedy attempt to increase his customer base, Dark Rinnosuke decided to clone the residents of the world of Gensokyo. This doubles as a great excuse to use representations of popular Touhou characters as enemies. Meanwhile, Rinnosuke’s misguided attempts at remodeling his store into a gaudy tower via magic is resulting in floors that keep changing, which explains the randomized layouts. I mean, it’s not high literature but the extra effort is appreciated.

Even if you’re unfamiliar with the Touhou franchise, fans of Japanese anime and manga will like the characters of this game. Granted, many follow familiar character tropes, which fans of Western RPGs likely will find shallow. Folks used to Japanese otaku culture, however, will feel right at home with the kooky cast. These include the overeager sage trainee Futo Mononobe and her unhealthy obsession with burning things down. Then you’ve got the incorrigible “kappa” yokai inventors who have no qualms of stealing other inventors’ brilliant ideas and copyrighting it themselves.

Of course, the proof for every mystery dungeon style roguelike is in its gameplay pudding. In that sense, Touhou Genso Wanderer delivers as well. As with other games in this genre, you start each run in the main 30-plus floor dungeon at Level 1 and steadily build your strength up as you clear floors. Along the way, you can pick up a slew of items and gear to help you out in your journey. Otherwise, you have the option to buy stuff at stores as well. The catch, of course, is that if you die, you will need to replay the floors once again from a lower level. Touhou Genso Wanderer is a roguelike game after all. Granted, you unlock the ability later to warp to higher floors like the Yokai village, for example. Skipping earlier floors, however, is not a good idea because you’re underleveled character will be quickly killed by stronger foes. You will want to keep an eye out for your AI partner, too, should you decide to bring one. It’s OK to let her wander out on her own and do what she wants at earlier levels because it speeds up dungeon exploration. Later on, however, you’ll want to keep her on a tighter leash as she can get herself killed by enemy mobs.

On the plus side, you get to keep your gear, which helps make clearing earlier levels more manageable. You’ll need to properly organize and pick which stuff you want to keep, too, as inventory space is limited and you’ll want to have a nice mix of weapons, armor and consumables, especially when you hit the tougher floors. Dimensional pockets that take up one slot but store multiple items can help immensely by expanding your inventory. In addition to healing items, you'll also want to have stuff like edible treats to manage your hunger meter, which is separate from your health and starts sapping your hit points once it reaches zero.

For folks who want to micromanage their stuff even more, Touhou Genso Wanderer lets you use the points you earn to do “Nito fusions,” for beefier gear. This being a Touhou game, it also adds “danmakus” or ranged attacks for shooting foes. These comprise a Yin-Yang shot that shoots in front of you, a Yokai Buster attack that shoots in three directions, a Double Barrier that hits enemies in the eight squares immediately surrounding you and a sealing needle that shoots a piercing forward shot. This can be helpful in a pinch as the game is certifiably hard. You really have to take advantage of things like enemy weaknesses, funneling foes into more manageable spots and zigzagging diagonally against a ranged enemy as it’s quite easy to die, especially if you’re unprepared. Don’t hesitate to use items, either — something I quickly learned despite my nature as an item hoarder.

The game’s unforgiving difficulty is a potential concern, especially for newcomers who likely will get shellacked midway through and maybe even driven to quit because of it. The final boss fight is especially a doozy, featuring swarming foes and powerful boss blasts that can eat up your HP in a jiffy. As with other games in this genre, Touhou Genso Wanderer can also feel grindy and repetitive after a while. This is especially true after restarting for the umpteenth time and having to go through the easier levels once again.

Then again, a tough challenge and grindy gameplay is exactly what hardcore fans of mystery dungeon games likely expect or even want. If that sounds like your idea of a fun time, then Touhou Genso Wanderer is just the game you’ve been searching for.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Touhou Genso Wanderer is a charming and challenging take on the classic Mystery Dungeon formula with lovably wacky Touhou characters. Presentation is great for this type of roguelike game and it also features lots of Japanese voice acting. Like many games in the genre, it can feel grindy and repetitive at times, and its difficulty also might scare newcomers away. If you like games like Shiren or Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, however, this is one title you’ll want to wander into.

• Rating: 8 out of 10​
• Cost: $49.99, PS4​
• http://nisamerica.com/games/touhou-genso-wanderer