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Wonderful Waking World

Wonderful Waking World Game Cover
98%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:music, graphics
Most mentioned negative aspects:grinding, atmosphere
98% User Score Based on 207 reviews

Platforms

PCWindows
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Wonderful Waking World Game Cover

About Wonderful Waking World

Wonderful Waking World is a single player arcade shooter game with fantasy, comedy and anime themes. It was developed by Oligarchomp and was released on June 15, 2022. It received overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

A simplistic, dynamic Touhou fangame bullet hell shmup with a pixel art esthetic. Shoot down your enemies and dodge your way through an incessant barrage of projectiles!

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Wonderful Waking World screenshot
Wonderful Waking World screenshot
Wonderful Waking World screenshot
Wonderful Waking World screenshot
Wonderful Waking World screenshot
Wonderful Waking World screenshot
Wonderful Waking World screenshot
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Reviews

98%Audience ScoreBased on 207 reviews
music39 positive mentions
grinding4 negative mentions
  • The game offers well-balanced and enjoyable difficulty, making it accessible to both beginners and veterans of Touhou games.
  • Exceptional soundtrack featuring multiple talented composers, including Toby Fox, complements the gameplay perfectly.
  • Charming pixel art style, engaging character designs, and witty, humorous dialogue that enhance the unique Touhou fangame experience.
  • Difficulty curve can be unbalanced with some early stages feeling disproportionately hard compared to bosses and later stages.
  • Some bullet patterns and mechanics may feel unfair or overwhelming on first encounters, especially during blind runs.
  • The lack of a power system and certain quality of life features such as focus mode and customizable controls may affect gameplay depth and convenience.

  • music

    74 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    53% positive mentions, 43% neutral mentions, 4% negative mentions

    The music is consistently praised as excellent, memorable, and faithfully capturing the Touhou style while featuring contributions from various talented artists, including Toby Fox. It is well-coordinated with gameplay, enhancing the experience with standout stage and boss themes that fans find highly engaging and addictive. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a major highlight and a key aspect that elevates this fan-made game.

    • “The music is great, just about every stage theme is amazing with the standouts being stage 2 and 4 in particular and the boss themes are just as good with the stage 6 and especially stage 5 boss theme being a complete banger.”
    • “The creator really gets what makes Touhou so successful as a shmup - this game has engaging and recognizable stages and spell cards, fun character designs and dialogue, and a memorable soundtrack that actually outdoes the main series in syncing up with climatic moments in stages.”
    • “The music and games are very well coordinated (especially in stage 4 when encountering Iku; the change of background music, that was epic).”
    • “Most of the music feels like you are controlling your character through honey, and the music, patterns, and characters all feel kind of odd.”
    • “This first level's song is called "Magical Hop Along Cassidy Station." This part of the song is just to remind you that it takes place in Japan in case you forgot.”
    • “Now it's coming to this sort of break in music while you're talking to the boss.”

  • graphics

    32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    56% positive mentions, 35% neutral mentions, 9% negative mentions

    The game's graphics are widely praised for their charming, clean, and distinctive art style that stays true to the original Touhou aesthetic while adding fresh, appealing visuals and well-designed bullet patterns. Although some note a simplistic or pixel-art style, it is generally regarded as fitting and engaging, complementing the gameplay and music effectively. A few critiques mention the graphics as basic or out of place stylistically, but overall the visuals are a strong highlight that enhances the fangame experience.

    • “This fangame captures the charm of the original games perfectly, the visuals are great, as charming as the official games, gorgeous bullet patterns, solid soundtrack, and a very engaging cast of characters.”
    • “Visuals are charming and clean, and the danmaku uses the same design language as the official games (which means essentially no unexpected or wonky bullet shapes to throw you off).”
    • “Some fangames have too complicated mechanics players can take up on their very first run, yet www's artstyle, music, and bullet patterns are all so beautiful which makes me want to play this game repeatedly.”
    • “Another basic anime arcade bullet-hell with underwhelming visuals and mechanics.”
    • “This features really godawful pixelcrap "art" instead of real graphics.”
    • “It's hard to say if this was because the developer didn't have the skill to do the job of creating 3D visuals, or couldn't afford to hire someone who does, but it also doesn't matter.”

  • gameplay

    27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    37% positive mentions, 52% neutral mentions, 11% negative mentions

    The gameplay is praised for its solid, fast-paced bullet-hell mechanics that are simple yet highly engaging, allowing players to focus purely on dodging and shooting without complex resource management. It offers a smooth, consistent experience with well-paced progression and addicting boss fights, complemented by charming character designs and a memorable soundtrack. Overall, it successfully captures the essence of classic Touhou games while remaining accessible and enjoyable for both newcomers and fans.

    • “You are always at full power, and resources are dished out in full increments only (no pieces), so you can focus purely on the gameplay, which the game itself excels at.”
    • “Some fangames have too complicated mechanics players can take up on their very first run, yet www's artstyle, music and bullet patterns are all so beautiful which makes me want to play this game repeatedly.”
    • “As a beginner, I found myself often intimidated by the official Touhou games' rules and mechanics, but the simplistic style of this game made it easy to pick up and play.”
    • “Outside of the extreme amount of bubble-based attacks, there are no real mechanical gimmicks in this game.”
    • “Another basic anime arcade bullet-hell with underwhelming visuals and mechanics.”
    • “In terms of gameplay, there are some things that need adjustments.”

  • humor

    16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The humor is generally praised for being fun, silly, and witty, with amusing dialogue and clever references to the Touhou series. Many appreciate the game's lighthearted tone and playful character interactions, though some note that the humor relies heavily on familiarity with Touhou lore. Overall, the humor contributes positively to the game's charm without taking itself too seriously.

    • “The humor is great and all of the callbacks to the main Touhou games were pretty fun to catch.”
    • “Humor is fun, silly, and doesn't take itself too seriously.”
    • “The conversations in this game are hilarious and super fun, and create a lore and context for the enemy characters that will also be reflected in the bullet patterns.”

  • story

    9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    56% positive mentions, 44% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The story is generally engaging and enjoyable, blending original content, humor, and interesting characters, though some find it somewhat mediocre or relying on prior knowledge for full appreciation. Overall, it complements the game's design and gameplay without detracting from the experience.

    • “Really enjoyed all of the original stuff that it puts on the plate with the story and characters.”
    • “While the game doesn't try to take itself too seriously, the story was engaging enough that it kept me interested.”
    • “The plot and dialogue are designed to be interesting, combined with memes, just awesome.”

  • grinding

    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    Grinding in this game is enjoyable and well-paced, making it feel less tedious compared to other titles. Players find the progression rewarding and are motivated to continue, though adding a controller button for quick restarts could improve the experience.

    • “If you're tired of grinding 1cc mof like me, go and pick this up (for free!) for a change of pace.”
    • “I really enjoy grinding for boss lines in this game, and I would definitely grind for lnb/lnn and will continue playing this game after achieving lnn.”
    • “The ability to map a controller button to restart would also be helpful, as pausing and hitting retry becomes tedious when practicing.”

  • character development

    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    75% positive mentions, 25% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game features well-crafted and recognizable character designs that resonate with fans, complemented by engaging bosses and charming dialogue. The characters contribute significantly to the game's appeal, enhanced by a memorable soundtrack that heightens key moments. Overall, character development is strong, adding depth and enjoyment to the gameplay experience.

    • “The creator really gets what makes Touhou so successful as a shmup - this game has engaging and recognizable stages and spell cards, fun character designs and dialogue, and a memorable soundtrack that actually outdoes the main series in syncing up with climatic moments in stages.”
    • “The bosses were fun, the character designs are great, and the gameplay is borderline addicting.”
    • “Recognizable and unique character designs.”

  • atmosphere

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 100% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is highly praised by users, who find it adds significant value and enhances the overall experience.

  • optimization

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game maintains a simple design while benefiting from the optimization improvements seen in recent titles, resulting in smoother performance.

    • “This inherits that simplicity, but with the optimizations of recent titles.”
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Wonderful Waking World is a arcade shooter game with fantasy, comedy and anime themes. Common tags for Wonderful Waking World include free to play, indie, 2d, linear, pixel graphics and others.

Wonderful Waking World is available on PC and Windows.

Wonderful Waking World was released on June 15, 2022.

Wonderful Waking World was developed by Oligarchomp.

Wonderful Waking World has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from players. Most players liked Wonderful Waking World for its music but disliked it for its grinding.

Wonderful Waking World is a single player game.

Similar games include Jigoku Kisetsukan: Sense of the Seasons, 東方実在相 ～ Dream Logical World, Touhou Makuka Sai: Fantastic Danmaku Festival Part II, Touhou Tenkuushou: Hidden Star in Four Seasons, Touhou Makuka Sai: Fantastic Danmaku Festival and others.