Imagine this, you are just minding your own business, possibly farming seasonal mushrooms when out of nowhere, an ice fairy comes stomping by and challenges you to a battle. The frosty fae may look adorable, but she is a cold-blooded chick who won’t take no for an answer. You have no choice but to fight her in the Fairy War Games, a competition to determine who is the strongest in the land. Will it be you? Or will admit defeat in Gensokyo Defenders!?
Developed by Neeptia and published by Sony Music Entertainment, Gensokyo Defenders comes from a long line of Japanese anime games from the Touhou Project. With both old and new characters to explore and utilize, this game will test your ability to strategize your way to the top. With a tower defense gameplay, you will also need to focus your attention leveling up your traps such as in-ground bamboo spears, launch pads, or even exploding bombs to take out your enemies.
Remember that feisty frostbite from earlier? That’s actually the character you play the most as Cirno, the ice fairy, desires to be the strongest in the land. Even if it meant harassing each citizen she encounters. As the story continues, you will also be able to choose different characters to fight with in the Fairy War Games. Each with their own abilities that you can use to your advantage and compliment your favorite strategy style. You can even have a friend join you in the game’s multi-player version as you tag-team your battles to victory.
Gensokyo Defenders is an entertaining game, however there are some aspects of the gameplay and dialogue that make it feel rough and still in developmental stages. Perhaps there is an issue with translation as there are a few areas of dialogue that don’t make sense, like a part of the story was missed or skipped. Text also has an issue of extending past dialogue boxes, especially when returning to the menu or when trying to upgrade traps in a different menu.
Cirno, the ice fairy, is honestly not a likable character either. She resembles more like a childish brat who is attacking harmless civilians than a fighter with something to prove. Many of the other characters she encounters similarly view her the same way as they are more annoyed and frustrated that she is causing mayhem with little to no provocation. With little character development or likability, it makes following the storyline irksome and somehow tedious. Maybe it’s because you need to understand the characters from a previous game, or maybe there really is a translation issue, but the different characters also appear with little to no background, causing a blurred line between friend and foe.
The biggest redeeming quality of Gensokyo Defenders is the tower defense gameplay. The controls at times seem a bit odd with how they it is set up, but it’s easy to adjust and learn. The unique abilities of each characters give the player varying challenges as each battle vastly differs depending on who you select. This strategy game has potential and is not so much as a diamond in the rough, but more of a lump of carbon deep in the earth that still needs time and work to become a jewel.
PROS: Fun strategy and tower defense gameplay.
CONS: Dialogue is clunky (possibly due to translation error), main character is easily unlikable, other characters feel random, and text bleeds out of dialogue boxes.
Check Out the Gensokyo Defenders Trailer:
Gensokyo Defenders is available for Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam.
Video games have always been a huge influence in my life and have definitely shaped me to who I am today . Some of my best memories growing up were the many adventures and stories I was able to experience and become immersed in. If my hands aren't either covered in clay, typing, editing, creating, or helping shoving food in my mouth, they would either be gripped to a controller, tapping away at the screen of my phone, or clicking away on my PC. I am always up for trying something new because why live just one life when you can live many.
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