Gensokyo Odyssey

About

"Gensokyo Odyssey" is a humorous single-player sport game, based on the Touhou Project, where you must navigate a strange land and use an air hockey paddle as your weapon to join Reimu and Marisa in saving the world. The game features live-action elements, air hockey-based fighting, and multiple endings. With a good plot and music, players can also enjoy talking to various characters and engaging in laugh-out-loud shenanigans.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

95%

Audience ScoreBased on 418 reviews

humor106 positive mentions

stability8 negative mentions

The game features hilarious writing and a unique blend of air hockey and bullet hell mechanics, providing a fun and engaging experience.
The soundtrack is exceptional, with a variety of catchy and well-composed tracks that enhance the overall enjoyment of the game.
It's a chaotic and unhinged experience that serves as a love letter to the Touhou community, filled with memes and references that resonate with fans.

The air hockey gameplay can be frustrating due to control issues, including the paddle's movement being tied to the mouse position, which can lead to unresponsive actions.
There are significant quality of life issues, such as the lack of a traditional save system and the inability to skip previously seen dialogue, which can detract from the overall experience.
Some boss fights have a steep difficulty spike that may feel unfair, leading to frustration rather than enjoyment.

humor
108 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
98%
2%
The humor in this game is widely praised for its absurdity and clever writing, often resulting in players laughing out loud throughout their experience. While the comedic style varies, many find it to be a delightful mix of self-referential jokes, modern memes, and eccentric characterizations that resonate well with fans of the genre. Overall, the humor is described as both zany and engaging, making it a standout feature that enhances the gameplay.
- “This game will have you laughing the whole way through, and even though I hit the air hockey puck into my own goal more times than I can count, I kept playing - and I loved it.”
- “The writing is genuinely funny, to the point of me almost vomiting from laughing at multiple points.”
- “This absolute shitpost of a visual novel brings you in with self-referential humor and very well-designed casual bullet hell, and ends with the most cinematic call to the human spirit I've ever seen.”
- “The few screenshots I'd seen floating around made the game look like typical unfunny, irony-poisoned slop, and the only reason I ended up giving it a chance at all was the fact that I love air hockey more than anything.”
music
86 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
64%
3%
The music in the game has received overwhelmingly positive feedback, with many players praising the original soundtrack as "incredible" and "a banger." Described as a blend of aggressive jazz and meme-inspired tunes, the over three-hour-long soundtrack enhances the gameplay experience and is enjoyable enough to listen to outside of the game. Overall, the music is considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's charm and appeal.
- “The first thing I immediately noticed is that the music is incredible.”
- “Throughout playing the game, I had to keep pausing to just appreciate the music, which is pretty rare for me.”
- “In general, the soundtrack is great, it fits the game, and it's catchy; I especially like Kakkoi's themes, 'Kakkoi' and 'Cosa Nostra'.”
- “Charming music and art, but the writing is the meat of the game and it is extremely grating.”
- “It doesn't highlight the banger soundtrack that you get with it.”
- “Only thing I wish the developer did was make a version of the credit song that had more singing.”
gameplay
46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
48%
46%
7%
The gameplay combines air hockey with bullet hell mechanics, creating a unique and engaging experience that many players find enjoyable and reminiscent of classic Touhou games. Players appreciate the variety of challenges and special mechanics introduced throughout, although some have noted issues with implementation and the absence of standard visual novel features. Overall, the gameplay is praised for its fun, humor, and ability to evoke nostalgia, making it a standout aspect of the game.
- “The gameplay of air hockey combined with danmaku is really fun.”
- “The air hockey gameplay was surprisingly very fun, and as the game goes on, you're introduced to attacks that are more challenging to dodge while still being fair. It's a learning experience, and there's a trick or pattern to most of them, just like regular Touhou games.”
- “The fights themselves are varied, and as you progress, you gain more tools to use during these to spice up the gameplay.”
- “Gameplay made me want to kill myself.”
- “When I first saw the trailer, it did an amazing job at making me have absolutely no idea what the content of the game or its gameplay was or was going to be.”
- “I really love the gameplay tweaks in the air hockey section, but the implementation is terrible, so I used Cheat Engine a few times to cheat my HP.”
story
40 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
53%
8%
The game's story is described as light-hearted and engaging, with a mix of humor and emotional depth that resonates with players. While not overly complex, it effectively hits its intended points and maintains a brisk pace, making the 5-10 hour experience enjoyable without feeling tedious. The characters are well-developed, with memorable dialogue and interactions that enhance the overall narrative, making it a compelling aspect of the game.
- “The gripping story and deep character development in this game brought me to tears!”
- “I'm struggling to keep this review spoiler free, because honestly, anyone that wants to play this game or has any point of interest in it at all deserves to have everything completely thrown at them to their surprise and smile as the events continue to unfold and you are left laughing out loud, as well as feeling for the characters as the plot moves at a perfect pace, in both its short and long term sense.”
- “Great dialogue and challenging gameplay on top of a well-written storyline.”
- “The best way to put it is that Gensokyo Odyssey is unhinged: the characters act much like you'd expect from the fanon side of things, Touhou references and memes are everywhere and the story is generally light-hearted.”
- “The story itself is easy to follow: your main character ends up in Gensokyo and their only way to deal with attackers is through air hockey.”
- “This has very little bearing on the story and occurs right before the climax.”
graphics
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
42%
25%
The game's graphics feature a diverse array of character art styles, ranging from MMD and real-life footage to visual novel aesthetics, which adds a humorous and charming element to the overall experience. This eclectic mix not only enhances the game's playful tone but also aligns well with its meta-narrative, making each sprite, particularly Youmu's, stand out in a fun and engaging way.
- “From MMD to real-life footage, to its visual novel content, to its gameplay, and various art styles displayed that perfectly charm the player, this game breaks its own grounds and levels of meta within not just as the media it is, but in line with its own story, which is something that could be an essay in itself.”
- “Different art styles work well with a fun project like this, and every last sprite is great (especially Youmu's).”
- “I find that every character is in a different art style, which I find very humorous.”
- “Character art styles are all over the place, which detracts from the overall visual coherence of the game.”
- “The inconsistent art styles for each character make it difficult to immerse myself in the game.”
- “The graphics feel disjointed, as if different artists worked on each character without any unifying vision.”
stability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
80%
The game is reported to have several bugs and glitches, which can affect gameplay, particularly with some bosses feeling overly difficult. However, players have noted that the developers are actively addressing these issues, having released multiple patches during the review period, suggesting improvements may be forthcoming. Overall, while stability is currently a concern, there is optimism for future fixes.
- “A lot of stuff seems generally buggy.”
- “However, I would like to point out some glitches and nitpick some things.”
- “It's still kind of buggy, but during my playtime, they patched the game 3 times, so it's probable the problem will soon be gone.”
emotional
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is described as both humorous and surprisingly emotional, though it doesn't aim for a serious tone. While some players found it fun and engaging, others felt it failed to deliver a significant emotional impact, leaving them confused about the narrative. Overall, it strikes a balance between entertainment and emotional moments, with potential for future titles from the developer.
- “Funny as hell yet also very emotional.”
- “A lot of fun and surprisingly emotional, can only hope this developer releases more games in the future.”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express a strong desire for a farming minigame, indicating that grinding is a significant aspect of the gameplay. However, some find the necessity to repeat fights and skip dialogue for different endings to be tedious, suggesting that while the grind can be enjoyable, it may also become monotonous.
- “Having to skip dialogue (with the new button, X, which I appreciate) and repeat fights to get another ending is a bit tedious.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Players praise the game for its compelling narrative and profound character development, often highlighting the emotional impact it has on them. The depth of the characters contributes significantly to the overall storytelling experience, resonating strongly with the audience.
- “The gripping story and deep character development in this game brought me to tears!”