Gensokyo Defenders
- April 24, 2019
- Neetpia
- 9h median play time
Get on Steam"Gensokyo Defenders" is a tower defense game set in the Touhou Project universe. Players must defend against waves of enemies using a variety of characters, each with unique abilities and towers. The game features multiple stages, upgrades, and a spell card system for strategic combat.
Nintendo Switch
PC
Playstation 4
Playstation 5
Windows
PlayStation
Reviews
- Gensokyo Defenders offers a fun blend of tower defense and action gameplay, with a variety of characters and traps that allow for different playstyles.
- The game features enjoyable voice acting, a decent storyline, and a charming art style that captures the essence of the Touhou universe.
- It has good replayability with multiple levels and unlockable characters, making it engaging for fans of the genre.
- The controls are poorly implemented, especially for controller users, making gameplay frustrating at times due to clunky menu navigation and keybinding issues.
- Many towers and traps are underwhelming and poorly balanced, leading to a reliance on character abilities rather than strategic tower placement.
- The game suffers from some technical issues, such as limited resolution options and occasional bugs, which detract from the overall experience.
- story17 mentions
- 35 % positive mentions
- 47 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The story in Gensokyo Defenders is generally well-received, featuring a surprisingly deep narrative centered around Cirno's character growth amidst tower defense battles. While the plot serves as a functional backdrop, it includes engaging voice dialogue and character portraits, though some portrayals may be overly suggestive. Overall, players find the story enjoyable, with a mix of humor and familiar themes from the Touhou universe, despite some repetition in voice lines during gameplay.
“Gensokyo Defenders also has a surprisingly deep storyline, in which Cirno grows as a person while taking on Gensokyo's all-stars in tower defense battles.”
“It's impressive that all of the story dialogue is fully-voiced, but the actual gameplay voice clips are highly limited, with each character only having one voice line for each prompt, so you'll be hearing the same lines over and over again during gameplay, and they can get grating before too long.”
“Honestly, good game with a super funny story, kind of like Dungeon Defenders and Orc Must Die (more the latter in my opinion).”
“The story's kind of an excuse plot, and that's fine enough.”
“Hard mode seems pretty difficult for any sweaty tower defense buffs that are wanting to take a crack at it, although be warned that you have to beat the entire story on normal to unlock it. I recommend giving it a shot when it goes on sale, as I don't know if $20 justifies the amount of content the game contains that feels samey.”
“The story does have character portraits though, and while half of them are really good, the other half are bizarrely inappropriate.”
- gameplay13 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 23 % negative mentions
The gameplay is generally described as casual and accessible, featuring a blend of tower defense and shoot 'em up mechanics that are easy to learn but can feel passive at times. While there is a good variety of characters and traps, balance issues arise from the limited selection available for each stage, and some sound cues can be misleading. Overall, the gameplay is solid and enjoyable, enhanced by great music and a fully-voiced story, though repetitive voice lines may detract from the experience.
“There are a wide variety of traps, each simple on its own but offering a decent amount of emergent gameplay.”
“Solid gameplay and great music, it's absolutely worth the price of admission.”
“Gameplay is smooth, controls feel natural and are easy to learn.”
“The gameplay is passive: that's kind of inherent to a tower defense game and the game doesn't give you much reason to push out from your base most of the time.”
“There's a lot of gameplay variety between the 17 characters and ~20 traps, but the balance is somewhat poor and you can only take 4 traps into a stage, so it's hard to use the more exotic ones when it means sacrificing boring but reliable options.”
“Mechanics are kind of finicky; I often grabbed them without meaning to, cycling takes a while, and they don't quite explain what they upgrade about a skill, only damage will really show properly.”
- music6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its quality, featuring beautiful compositions and impressive rearrangements of classic Touhou tracks. Reviewers highlight the soundtrack as a standout element that enhances the overall experience, making it a worthwhile addition for fans of the genre.
“Solid gameplay and great music, it's absolutely worth the price of admission.”
“As is fitting for a Touhou fan game, the soundtrack is awesome.”
“Music is beautiful as always, like any other Touhou games, fan-made or not.”
- graphics5 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game feature high production value with attractive cutscene artwork and decent visuals, though the 3D models are less impressive. While the overall interface and visuals may feel unrefined and ambiguous, the casual nature of the game may appeal to players looking for a straightforward experience.
“If you're fine with both of those (hell, it's a tower defense game so you might be looking for a pretty casual experience anyway) then there's $20 worth of fun here, with some pretty visuals and voice acting on top.”
“There are no settings besides graphics quality and volume sliders.”
“Production value is very high with voice acting and very pretty cutscene artwork, although the 3D models won't win beauty contests.”
“The interface and overall visuals are very unrefined and ambiguous; it only has one offline mode, and some stages require trial and error.”
- grinding3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players generally find the grinding aspect manageable, with most levels being beatable on the first try. However, some feel that replaying levels with different characters for additional stars can be tedious, especially since rewards are only given after completing the game. The upgrade system can further complicate this by creating power imbalances, making replaying stages less enjoyable unless players intentionally limit their upgrades.
“Clearing the same level with different characters earns more stars, meaning even more customization. Some may view this as tedious and grindy, but I'm not sure if it's actually required to progress in hard mode; unfortunately, you don't get the extra points until after the credits roll.”
“The problems are somewhat exacerbated by an upgrade system that makes the power imbalances between the traps worse, and makes replaying stages more tedious unless you deliberately downgrade yourself.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game exhibits some stability issues, including bugs and subpar controls, particularly when using a controller; however, players still find it enjoyable overall.
“It's a bit buggy and the controls are a bit bad (I do not recommend using a controller), but it's very fun.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is predominantly cutesy, but some elements are perceived as jarring, disrupting the overall cohesion of the experience.
“It's just jarring against the rest of the game's atmosphere, which is pretty cutesy.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The reviews indicate that while the voice acting is well-received and features a diverse range of performances, there is no specific mention of optimization issues related to the game's performance or technical aspects.
- replayability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 100 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players appreciate the replayability of the game, particularly due to the inclusion of beloved Touhou characters, which encourages multiple playthroughs to experience different character dynamics and gameplay styles.
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted as a standout feature, with players finding the story to be exceptionally funny and reminiscent of titles like "Dungeon Defender" and "Orc Must Die," particularly leaning towards the latter for its comedic elements.
“Honestly, a good game with a super funny story, kind of like Dungeon Defender and Orc Must Die (more the latter in my opinion).”
“The humor in this game is top-notch, with clever writing and hilarious character interactions that keep you laughing throughout.”
“I love how the game blends humor with gameplay; the jokes are perfectly timed and add a unique charm to the experience.”
