Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity

76%
Game Brain Score Based on 423 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • music
Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity Game Cover
Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity is a magnificent game that has taken me completely by surprise with its quality. A mix of 2D and 3D platforming, RPG, and adventure gaming blends with a gorgeous art style to form this hidden gem just waiting to be uncovered. All the while familiar and unique, Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity is a game that all should give a chance, enjoyable by the most hardened veteran gamer down the most green of newcomers.
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In "Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity," players explore a mysteriously expanded Scarlet Devil Mansion and battle strange creatures as Remilia Scarlet or Sakuya Izayoi. The game features side-scrolling action with RPG elements, including experience points, leveling up, and acquiring new abilities. The story revolves around Remilia's insatiable curiosity, which leads her to a surprising discovery that changes everything in the Touhou universe.

  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Play​station 5
  • Steam Deck
  • Windows
  • Play​Station
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

76%
Audience ScoreBased on 423 reviews
story30 positive mentions
grinding18 negative mentions
  • Fun and engaging gameplay with a mix of RPG and bullet hell elements.
  • Great music and charming graphics that enhance the overall experience.
  • Offers two playable characters, Remilia and Sakuya, each with unique abilities and playstyles.
  • Repetitive gameplay and level design, leading to a lack of variety in encounters.
  • Performance issues such as stuttering and unoptimized graphics, especially on lower-end PCs.
  • The story is considered weak and uninteresting, lacking depth compared to other Touhou titles.
  • story101 mentions

    The game's story is generally considered simple and somewhat typical of the Touhou universe, revolving around an invisible monster causing chaos at the Scarlet Devil Mansion. While some players appreciate the lighthearted narrative and character interactions, others find it lacking depth and originality, with minor differences between the two playable characters' storylines. Overall, the story is seen as a fun addition to the gameplay, but not a standout feature.

    • “The game is about an invisible monster who strikes the Scarlet Devil Mansion, leading Remilia or Sakuya on a mission to uncover the creature's identity, all while Remilia seeks a challenge to relieve her boredom.”
    • “I totally recommend this game to any new Touhou players or people who want to experience a really good Touhou story.”
    • “This is a pretty cool fanmade Touhou game, great storyline, decent-good graphics, and a little introduction to Touhou (or at least Remilia in general).”
    • “The story, in particular, is kind of a bare bones 'an incident occurred' sort of Touhou story and doesn't do anything particularly new or interesting with the characters or setting.”
    • “The game is really mediocre, nothing extraordinary about this game, the gameplay and map design is very repetitive, the story is pretty Touhou standard, and have some really weird camera placement all over the place.”
    • “The story is almost non-existent.”
  • gameplay100 mentions

    The gameplay of the game is characterized by a blend of simplistic mechanics and RPG elements, offering a mix of action, platforming, and bullet hell challenges, though it often falls into repetitive patterns. Players appreciate the variety of skills and character choices, but many note that the level design can feel uninspired and the overall experience lacks depth, leading to a sense of monotony. While some enjoy the casual nature and smooth controls, others criticize the gameplay for being too easy and lacking the intensity expected from a Touhou title.

    • “The technical elements of the gameplay are pretty much that this is a platformer where you fight stuff, you level up, you equip weapons and armor and other equipment to boost the stats of Remilia Scarlet or Sakuya Izayoi, and you just get through the story and meet your favorite Touhou characters along the way, fighting them in some boss battles that can be pretty intense, especially if you have the bullet hell mode enabled.”
    • “Beautiful visual representations of environments and characters we all know and love are coupled with amazing leitmotifs of said characters, and when this excellent mastery of the artistic side of an excellent game meets challenging (but generally fair) gameplay, it creates a memorable experience.”
    • “Fun levels, amazing soundtrack, good protagonists, decent story, fun bosses, fun mechanics.”
    • “Gameplay is bland, janky, and boring.”
    • “The gameplay is very repetitive, the maps are essentially the same.”
    • “Initially I enjoyed playing for a while, mainly due to the simplicity of the gameplay, but it quickly became horribly repetitive as it felt like every stage was just a rehash of every other stage I played (aside from the ending bosses).”
  • music87 mentions

    The music in the game is widely praised, with many reviewers highlighting its quality and the impressive remixes of original Touhou compositions. While some found the soundtrack to be repetitive or reminiscent of elevator music, the overall consensus is that it enhances the gameplay experience, making it a standout feature for fans of the franchise. The atmospheric and beautiful soundtrack is often described as breathtaking, contributing significantly to the game's charm.

    • “The music is great and the art is beautiful.”
    • “As one would expect of a Touhou-related game, the soundtrack is nothing short of beautiful and breathtaking.”
    • “Great OST of remixed songs we know and love, nice graphics for the most part and a story that's typical of the Touhou universe.”
    • “Music's a letdown though, it's filled mostly with the kind of remix that isn't bad but just makes you want to hear the original instead.”
    • “And surprisingly the music in the game is bad and forgettable too.”
    • “The music sounds like old elevator music from the late 70's or early 80's.”
  • graphics68 mentions

    The graphics of the game are generally described as charming and decent, with a creative art style that evokes nostalgia reminiscent of the GameCube era. While some players appreciate the unique visuals and enjoyable environments, others note that the graphics are not top-tier and can suffer from issues like excessive bloom effects and inconsistent character models. Overall, the visuals are considered a solid aspect of the game, contributing positively to the overall experience despite some shortcomings.

    • “The graphics and textures of the game, the character models, the whole presentation overall, they are all so beautiful and fascinating.”
    • “What a great action RPG with visuals far exceeding my expectations.”
    • “Very nice hack n slash 2hu game, nice graphics, nice arrangements, and lastly enjoyable.”
    • “The game is really mediocre, nothing extraordinary about this game, the gameplay and map design is very repetitive, the story is pretty standard, so many invisible walls, the graphics are pretty standard but okay, and have some really weird camera placement all over the place.”
    • “Graphically it's really pretty, but the characters are pretty plastic looking, and the intensity of the background combined with the small model sizes for the fairy foes can make some areas really hard to see.”
    • “It's not a graphically intense game, and the graphics remind me of something out of the GameCube era.”
  • grinding20 mentions

    The grinding aspect of the game is generally viewed as enjoyable and engaging, with some players noting it can feel repetitive at times. While grinding is not strictly necessary, a small amount is required for optimal progression, particularly for achieving high levels or completing challenges. Overall, the game balances RPG leveling with bullet hell mechanics, making the grind feel rewarding despite its occasional monotony.

    • “Great fun, though it can feel repetitive and grindy at times.”
    • “The game doesn't really require grinding but I had to do maybe 10 minutes of it for the final boss.”
    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
  • optimization8 mentions

    The game suffers from significant optimization issues, including frequent crashes approximately every 20 minutes and poor performance on mid-range hardware, with some users reporting only 30 fps on medium settings. Additionally, the game is locked to 60 fps, which limits performance potential, particularly in expansive levels with complex layouts. Despite these drawbacks, players still find the game enjoyable overall.

    • “Runs smoothly.”
    • “The game overall is fine, nice to play and stuff; however, the game is very unoptimized (also locked to 60fps).”
    • “The final story level (not counting the post-game labyrinth) is huge, with crisscrossing paths, which makes it very unoptimized.”
    • “Crashes every ~20 minutes, bad optimization (30 fps on medium on GTX 970m); the game is nice though.”
  • replayability4 mentions

    Players generally find that the initial playthrough offers the most enjoyment, particularly when using the easier character, Remilia. While switching between characters Sakuya and Remilia provides some replayability due to their differing play styles, overall, the game's replay value diminishes significantly after the first run.

    • “Switching between Sakuya and Remilia provides a fair share of replayability due to their differences in style.”
    • “The game offers a lot of replayability with its diverse character options and play styles.”
    • “Each character brings a unique experience, making you want to replay the game multiple times.”
    • “Your first playthrough will be the most fun you have (Remilia is the easier character); then after that, the game kind of just falls out in terms of replayability.”
    • “Switching between Sakuya and Remilia gives a fair share of replayability due to their differences in style.”
  • humor4 mentions

    The humor in the game is noted to be amusing, particularly with the inclusion of stock elevator music commonly found in memes and funny videos. However, some users feel that the humor alone does not justify spending money on the game.

    • “+ it has the stock elevator music used in memes and funny videos.”
  • atmosphere4 mentions

    The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its charming blend of cutesy fantasy and vampire themes, enhanced by superb atmospheric music that significantly contributes to the overall experience.

    • “Superb atmospheric music is a plus.”
    • “Ultimately, its strongest aspect is the style and atmosphere, which is that of a cutesy fantasy-cross-vampire flick.”
  • character development2 mentions

    The reviews highlight that while the character designs are appealing and the gameplay is engaging, there is little mention of significant character development, suggesting that the focus may be more on aesthetics and gameplay mechanics rather than deep narrative growth.

  • emotional2 mentions

    Players have expressed that the game evokes strong emotions, with multiple users noting that it brought them to tears of joy.

    • “Made me cry out of joy.”
    • “Made me cry out of joy.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

79% average critic score

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Play time

2hMedian play time
2hAverage play time
2-2hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs

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