Last year, I commented on how the incredible success of Touhou Luna Nights placed Team Ladybug in an unenviable position. The shadow of Sakuya's adventures in the false Scarlet Devil Mansion continues to loom over the developer, judging all of their future projects with an overly critical eye. I say this, knowing full well that Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth and Blade Chimera hold "Very Positive" ratings on their respective Steam pages, but it's all relative. Once you reach the top of the mountain, there are only two places you can go: down, which obviously sucks, or you defy everything and sprint across the mountaintops. That reminds me, I need to set aside time for Drainus. Still, I recognize the dangers of idle speculation and attempting to create false narratives, even if they're limited to a blog that isn't a blip on anyone's radar. Team Ladybug is unquestionably one of the best to ever do it. Their "good, but not as good as..." games are still awesome. I'll also go ahead and say that even when they stumble - which usually requires a microscope to spot - they still show considerable growth as a developer. If the rumored Touhou Luna Nights 2 ever materializes, it'll be very interesting to see what they come up with.
With that nonsense out of my system, allow me a minute or three to talk about what makes Touhou Luna Nights sensational. The premise is simple. Players take control of Sakuya Izayoi, a maid who controls the flow of time. Seeing as how this might be too much power for one protagonist, her master Remilia has created an alternate Scarlet Devil Mansion. Here, the maid's powers are considerably limited. If she has any intention of escaping, then she'll have to make do with the rigors of running, jumping, throwing knives at superhuman speeds, hovering, and slowing time for a few seconds. In case it wasn't obvious, Sakuya is still a force to be reckoned with. The nerfs are just to keep her from compressing the fake mansion into a cube or flying straight to the exit. After a bit of exploration, she'll meet up with Nitori, who presents her with a time-stopping watch. Its powers are also limited, as "time" ticks away with Sakuya's every action. Nevertheless, it's an essential tool for puzzle-solving, and can give the maid an advantage in difficult battles.
Another limitation I conveniently forgot to mention earlier is that Sakuya's throwing weapons have a cost attached to them. When time is moving normally, that cost is MP. During a time-stop, the maid is allowed X amount of thrown objects (this can be upgraded). Also, since there's an inherent tick cost with every action, one must plan their moves in advance. Depending on the enemy's next action, you might have to give up some ticks to get out of their way, then perform the counterattack. Creating an insurmountable wall of knives to unleash upon the nearest yokai is always a visual treat, but it's also part of a grand strategy. While it isn't required, proper resource management makes the gameplay much smoother. Sticking exclusively to normal-time attacks will drain Sakuya's MP at a rapid pace. Through smart usage of her time-stop, she can maintain a prolonged assault. There isn't much that can survive a knife parade with intermittent bursts of powerful time-stop attacks.
Central to all of this is grazing. During normal-time, getting close (real close) to enemies and their projectiles will replenish HP. There's a limit on how much a single object can be grazed, but it's still possible to turn a stream of fireballs into a huge restorative, provided you don't actually touch one of them and suffer a big loss. While under the effects of time-stop, everything in the immediate vicinity restores both MP and ticks. This means that as long as you can avoid damage - or ignore the desire to recover - then Sakuya will have an endless fount of resources to attack with. Trust me when I say that I'm making all this sound far more complicated than it actually is. Just about everyone will have a firm grasp of the basics before they complete the first stage. A typical Touhou Luna Nights playthrough takes 3 or 4 hours, and even its most complex mechanics don't bog down any part of it.
While it's not quite as simple as choosing a stage from a list, this game's Metroidvania elements are fairly light. The five stages are non-linear to the extent that Sakuya is liable to move in one direction to grab a traversal power or key, then she'll move in a different direction to fight the boss. Progression is a simple matter but made interesting via a decent variety of combat-centric or puzzle-heavy sections. The game doesn't waste time with purposeless hallways. Navigating over spike beds or through obstacles - which often require some time-manipulation - is made effortless thanks to the perfect controls. I mean, this is a Team Ladybug game, not some early 90s shlock from Telenet. Moving around, evading danger, all of the essentials are handled with expertise. To improve upon perfection, the developer gave Sakuya a very personable way of moving and fighting. Some of the lovely details include the way she hovers in midair while throwing knives at a downward angle. Every action befits the grace one would expect from a time-manipulating maid.
Gamers who habitually attack walls will sometimes uncover secrets. Most provide upgrades to Sakuya's HP or time-halting abilities, but there are a few special weapons to find as well. Stun knives are more powerful than their name suggests, as they create huge bolts of electricity when they collide with something. Combine them with time-stop to cleave huge chunks out of bosses. Chainsaws fly in a Belmondo-like arc and gnaw away at their targets. Symphony of the Night fans are bound to notice something familiar in the Lost Sword. It auto-attacks all things destructible, which can be good for discovering hidden rooms. Making the most of each weapon isn't necessary to finish the game, but they add personality. Their sizable MP costs also add to the learning curve, giving players an additional incentive to manage their resources. Very smart stuff.
Although bosses are few in number, they are among the highlights of Touhou Luna Nights. Every battle is memorable and thrilling. It's here that the grazing mechanics can really shine. Even struggling players can remain in the fight if they stumble around a long series of projectiles. The constant shifts in HP create a push/pull dynamic that keeps the action engaging. However, barring a few couple exceptions, the level of difficulty might not impress professionals. Those who manage to finish both the main quest and the extra stage may want to devise some limitations for a future replay. The most obvious is forgoing the time powers, but I've read about enterprising lunatics who edited the game to give Sakuya 1 HP or take away her grazing ability. That's uh... definitely not for me. Team Ladybug's games aren't implicitly designed to create stress, so applying ultra-harsh punishments to minor failings is too much. Besides, there's enough value in learning each fight and employing the right combination of special weapons to crush a mighty foe in literal seconds.
One of the more curious elements of the game is its gem economy. Defeated enemies drop gems in a multitude of colors. Each of them boosts a particular stat, such as attack, defense, grazing effect, etc. The catch is that any noticeable improvement is going to require hundreds if not thousands of gems. 99.999% of the time, you're better off selling everything. Increasing the number of ticks available during time-stop will make Sakuya a far more effective killer. It can also take more than a couple of level-ups to see a noteworthy increase in strength, so save the grind for when literally nothing else is enough to get past a boss.
My few complaints mostly revolve around the UI elements. It's important to have both visual and audio cues, but the voices heard when grazing or after MP/Time has recovered are a little overdone. In fairness, this isn't something that actually started to bother me until the Extra Stage's end-boss. For the longest time, I thought it was really cool how "Grazing" sounds so much like "Grace". Hearing multiple voices slam together while trying to avoid the one hit that'll put Sakuya in a grave is when I wished for some kind of respite. Also, not UI related, but damn there is a ton of screen-shake to deal with. My preferred special weapon was the stun-knife, and every single use of it causes a minor tremor. I think it's a bit much.
Mainly though, Touhou Luna Nights is an extremely svelte and polished adventure. Nothing about it is extraneous or wasted. It's a series of great ideas executed perfectly. From beginning to end, I wouldn't change a single thing.
...
I don't know what else to add. They fucking nailed it.
No comments:
Post a Comment