Touhou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet

 PlayStation 4
Metascore
55

Mixed or average reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 19
  3. Negative: 6 out of 19
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  1. Digitally Downloaded
    Sep 1, 2016
    90
    There’s never been a better time in history for those upset with conservative shooters to set aside all preconceived notions and just experiment. Touhou deserves to be praised equally as a bullet hell and a fighter, performing like almost nothing else on the market. This, ladies and gentlemen, is bullet heaven.
  2. Areajugones
    Aug 30, 2016
    75
    Touhou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet features the essence of the saga and its redesign makes it a wonderful videogame. If you like this genre, you will find an entertaining and challenging game.

User Reviews

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User Score
5.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 37 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 37
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 37
  3. Negative: 14 out of 37
  1. Kidhut1
    Sep 7, 2016
    0
    This game is boring after 5 minutes of playing. Its not worth $30 and it should be free. Touhou is a great series but this game is completeThis game is boring after 5 minutes of playing. Its not worth $30 and it should be free. Touhou is a great series but this game is complete garbage. Hopefully no one wasted their money on this crap.… Full Review »
  2. AzureSoul
    Sep 7, 2016
    9
    The first Touhou game in the west with a physical release and it's already getting unfairly review-bombed on Metacritic? Why am I notThe first Touhou game in the west with a physical release and it's already getting unfairly review-bombed on Metacritic? Why am I not surprised...?

    Anyway, this game is a good, fun multiplayer experience in the vein of Senko no Ronde starring the cast of the Touhou Franchise. The goal is to use danmaku to outmanuver and box in your opponent to whittle away their life bar. You can use Spellcards to act as a 'Boss Character' to force your opponent on the defensive. Every character has unique properties, like Reimu's smaller hitbox or Utsuho's shots covering more screen real estate.

    The game includes a story mode and an Arcade Survival Mode where you face random opponents, as well as a Boss Survival Mode where you have to survive against spellcards for single player content. Although singleplayer is bare-bones, where the game truly shines is multiplayer. While the servers had issues on day one, human opponents are smarter than the AI, and even then, a high level AI is brutal and fun to fight.

    As far as visuals go, they're what you'd expect from a doujin developer worth their salt. The visuals are beautiful for what the devs could pull off, and the artwork is very nice. While occasionally you will get lost when a melee attack is performed, characters rarely get lost in the hail of danmaku. There are only a handful of stages, but aside from the grid, they all look very nice and true to their locations in the canon games.

    Finally, and an important note, the dialogue in story mode is amusing, even if it leans a little too close to Touhou fanon for my tastes. Story Mode is very lighthearted and a good way to kill an evening. In all, this is what a fan game should be: A love letter to the fandom.

    The game has it's share of flaws, mostly being the servers on launch day being a little buggy in some cases. Also, you cannot just pick up and play this game. You will need the tutorial if you don't want your rear handed to you on a silver platter.

    This game gets a 9/10. I would have given it a more fair score, but considering my contemporaries, I felt that the game needed a kinder review to begin with. At worst, it's an 8/10, and worth your time if you want a good multiplayer experience and am a Touhou fan.    … Full Review »
  3. PotatoJ
    Sep 7, 2016
    0
    I actually thought this game was going to be good but it isn't that great. Its so lacking in content and I didn't really enjoy it for thatI actually thought this game was going to be good but it isn't that great. Its so lacking in content and I didn't really enjoy it for that long. I like how its unique to other Touhou games but other than that this game isn't that great at all.… Full Review »
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