Touhou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet

 PlayStation 4
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
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  1. Kimiake
    Sep 13, 2016
    8
    A decent choice for the first Touhou fangame to be released in the west, and a decent game for the money you pay for it. Is it the best Touhou fangame? No. However giving this game a 0 is an obviously wrong choice as it is clearly not even close to that bad. If you didn't like it than please rate it fairly, doing otherwise could hurt our chances of getting even better fangames releasedA decent choice for the first Touhou fangame to be released in the west, and a decent game for the money you pay for it. Is it the best Touhou fangame? No. However giving this game a 0 is an obviously wrong choice as it is clearly not even close to that bad. If you didn't like it than please rate it fairly, doing otherwise could hurt our chances of getting even better fangames released here in the west. Not to mention a lot of these reviews rating it 0 say in their comments that they found at least one thing about the game fun and/or interesting, so to give it a 0 after that is just plain childish.… Expand
  2. nobodymuch
    Sep 7, 2016
    8
    This game doesn't deserve zeros to be sure. It's no 'No man's sky' to be sure. As it is, it's not a bad game to be sure, yes there isn't much content- but do you expect much for a fighter game? The base mechanics are solid enough, all you need really.
  3. 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 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    The 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.    … Expand
  4. 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 complete garbage. Hopefully no one wasted their money on this crap.
  5. 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 that long. I like how its unique to other Touhou games but other than that this game isn't that great at all.
  6. Letiste-Gaming
    Sep 17, 2016
    6
    A pesar de que la calidad del título no sea excesivamente alta, si que es de celebrar que por fin nos haya llegado un juego de la saga Touhou a nuestras tierras, lo cual es buena seña y puede que en un futuro podamos disfrutar de la saga al completo aquí.

    En cuanto al título en cuestión, aunque la mezcla de géneros es original e interesante (SHMUP y juego de lucha), la escasez de    A pesar de que la calidad del título no sea excesivamente alta, si que es de celebrar que por fin nos haya llegado un juego de la saga Touhou a nuestras tierras, lo cual es buena seña y puede que en un futuro podamos disfrutar de la saga al completo aquí.

    En cuanto al título en cuestión, aunque la mezcla de géneros es original e interesante (SHMUP y juego de lucha), la escasez de contenido para un solo jugador, mecánicas algo complejas y un anticuado apartado gráfico, hacen que sólo los conocedores y fans de la saga Touhou sepan sacarle todo el partido posible y disfrutarlo como es debido .

    En cuanto al resto, esperad a que llegue un Touhou "de verdad" (de la serie principal), porque desde luego este no creo que sea el título en el que iniciarse a la saga.    … Expand
  7. SwitSwat
    Nov 28, 2016
    7
    For what it is, it's a pretty solid game. I'm a sucker for niche titles like these and bought it on a whim. Can't say I'm disappointed. I've played many bullet-hell games in the past and this one stands out with its interesting combat mechanics and 1 v 1 battles. I'd say it's at least worth it to get on a good sale for established fans of the genre.
  8. xenofiend95
    Sep 27, 2016
    5
    I personally have a soft spot for arcade shoot em ups, and I have only heard of the touhou project up until playing genso rondo. From my understanding this is only a fan made indie project but not a main game in the series. This makes it strange for one of the first U.S. releases. Gameplay wise each characters attack variations are separated by either dashing or slowing down, along with aI personally have a soft spot for arcade shoot em ups, and I have only heard of the touhou project up until playing genso rondo. From my understanding this is only a fan made indie project but not a main game in the series. This makes it strange for one of the first U.S. releases. Gameplay wise each characters attack variations are separated by either dashing or slowing down, along with a melee which works as a bomb in shmup sense, as well as a special attack or super move each attached to a meter like in a fighting game. Each battle is a 1v1 against each of the 10 or so characters like in a traditional fighter, although each level is just a 360 degree ring with dull back drops. Probably the most interesting part of combat is when a super move is activated. The game then becomes a top down shooter where the user gains a.seperate health bar the defender tries to deplete as quickly as possible all while dodging hundred of bullets. The game ends up becoming only fun in short sessions, making me feel it would have made a better handheld or mobile release at a third or half its initial price of $30. Being such a nice game based on 1v1 competitive play, don't buy looking for an online community because I have never seen more than one player online since launch, just come in for the single player which isn't very exciting. Personally I purchased this more as a hope to encourage more Touhou releases in the US, more so from the main series. I don't regret the purchase but for me this is a backlog title to play occasionally.… Expand
  9. ChibiRainbow
    Jun 13, 2017
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Being a Touhou game, I'd probably like it even if DOUBLE SPOILER was terrible 0/10 and honestly one problem is many of the characters are broken in story mode I was playing as Sanae and Yuyuko used too many spells the gameplay is great even if some people disagree and I can believe why people hate this. in my opinion this is a great game… Expand
  10. ifeelit
    Jul 1, 2018
    8
    Solid game mechanics with depth to each characters move set. I have put 4 hours or more into the game so far and have only made my way through 2 characters. Each one feels unique and is fun to try to master. I feel some of these reviews are unfair like someone else mentioned and this really is a solid game worth looking into when it is on sale (i got it for 7.99 on PSN) if this gameSolid game mechanics with depth to each characters move set. I have put 4 hours or more into the game so far and have only made my way through 2 characters. Each one feels unique and is fun to try to master. I feel some of these reviews are unfair like someone else mentioned and this really is a solid game worth looking into when it is on sale (i got it for 7.99 on PSN) if this game retailed for 20 dollars I would rate higher… Expand
  11. streetkrc
    Feb 24, 2020
    2
    No online in game, without online not intresting and no sense to playing. Vey bad balance.

Critic Reviews

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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
  1. Gameblog.fr
    Sep 29, 2016
    60
    Touhou Genso Rondo Bullet Ballet is an original mix of shoot'em up and fighting game. The gameplay is fun and sharp, but there's a lack of content and uncharted online servers.
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  2. 4P.de
    Sep 23, 2016
    40
    The interest that gets sparked by the sheer “weirdness” of Touhou Genso Rendo goes as fast as it appears. Lack of content, lack of variation and especially lack of balancing take this generally interesting bullet hell mix out of the skies.
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  3. Eurogamer Italy
    Sep 19, 2016
    60
    Touhou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet is a crazy Japanese mash-up between a fighting game and a bullet hell shooter. Its gameplay mechanics are pretty good, but the lack of a good color code for letting player recognize which bullets are good and which will hurt him when the screen is loaded with any kind of stuff, may hurt the experience.
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