I often grow frustrated when games within the industry discourse are cast aside simply for their aesthetics. Many complain that certain titles (particularly those originating in Japan) possess such grating art styles that they can’t take them seriously, or worse, look down on those who enjoy them.

At first blush, I can understand why people would feel that way about Mamorukun ReCurse!. Its aggressive anime facade can be offputting, especially for “serious gamers” who don’t want to be associated with “that kind of stuff”. Unfortunately, this mindset prevents them from experiencing all sorts of great projects, and while ReCurse! isn’t the cream of the crop, it’s a fun bullet hell timewaster perfect for those looking to chase a high score.

ReCurse! is technically an enhanced port of Mamorukun Curse!, an arcade game that hit Japan in the summer of 2008. Given its initial trappings, you might expect the story to be threadbare, and you’d be correct. Somewhere in here there’s a plot about people being sucked into the Netherworld, where you’ll need to battle a generic “Darkness”, but it’s not likely to hold your attention.

Narrative isn’t too much of a concern for an arcade experience, and the gameplay is more than capable of picking up the slack. ReCurse! is a shmup, featuring a bunch of stylized anime kids. Each has a different shot spread; some fire straight, others in an arc, and one even has homing attacks.

Along the way, you’ll have to dodge plenty of projectiles, with precise movement being just as important as actually killing enemies. It’s a thrill to narrowly avoid death, but should you get hit by an errant shot, your character is done for. Your score in a stage is dictated not only by how many foes you gun down, but by how quickly you can complete it.

ReCurse! does add one interesting wrinkle to the shmup formula, that being the curse bullet mechanic. Charging one up and blasting an enemy will make them take damage over time, but they’ll also fire more projectiles back and drop increased rewards when killed. Alternatively, you can shoot a weak curse right in front of you, where entering it will temporarily buff your firepower. These are great ways to boost your effectiveness as you chase high scores, and the risk-reward tradeoff keeps skirmishes with even low-level enemies engaging.

If you’re deadset on discovering why the game’s events are happening, you can check out story mode. Here you’ll be ushered through various stages, all of which are bookended by relatively static character portraits exchanging dialogue. While this might be considered the premiere offering for a home console release, it’s hard to recommend it when the arcade mode is also present. It allows you to play through many similar environments, even letting you choose which path you’d like to take, without needing to entertain a weak plot.

There’s also the obligatory challenge mode. You’ll be given access to a small handful of stages, and after finishing them, you’ll unlock more grueling gauntlets to battle through. Unfortunately, these are made up of the same scenarios and boss fights you’ve already experienced, offering little in terms of new playable sections, so your enjoyment will be based purely on how motivated you are by chasing scores.

Completing levels across all modes will give you unlockables to view in the gallery. They’re almost all illustrations of the cast, but if you enjoy the anime art style, they can be fun to browse through. You’re also able to view the cutscenes from the arcade release and story mode if you want a refresher.

Is Mamorukun ReCurse! for everyone? No. Is Mamorukun ReCurse! even for most people? Probably not. The game caters to a very niche audience with its gameplay and art style, but that shouldn’t take away from the fact that the package on offer is solid, and those who appreciate the genre will find it a decent addition to their collection. 

Ghost of Tsushima is one of my favorite games ever and definitely my favorite Playstation new IP in the past nine years.

That art design, smooth gameplay, and that title card reveal scene will always be in my memory, and I will never forget them.

I don’t usually use photo mode too much in the games I play, but that game was special, and I have countless hours in its photo mode.

When they announced Ghost of Yōtei, I was first a bit sad that Jin wasn’t there and it’s not a direct sequel to GOT, but after playing GOY, I’m so happy they chose to create a “Ghost of” series instead of limiting it.

So the title card reveal scene in Ghost of Yōtei is amazing and lovely, but it isn’t at the same level of what Ghost of Tsushima did with that part, and I don’t blame them. That scene in GOT is really one of a kind, but still, GOY does an amazing job in that part.

STORY

Atsu is seeking revenge from the Yōtei six members, and she is clearly lost in her anger, which leads her to decisions that might end up bad for everyone. Yet, she chases death and seeks her revenge from Lord Saito, the leader of the Yotei six, and his men.

The story progresses in both past and present time to show you Atsu’s pain and what she has been through. It doesn’t just show you the whole backstory of Atsu at once, and that’s a great decision and makes the story more emotional.

The story contains some great plot twists, something that Ghost of Tsushima was really bad at. Atsu’s story is far more personal than Jin’s, and it’s way better than Jin’s story.

While better than GOT, the story still has some problems, like the Yotei six members’ lack of detail in character development. They don’t have any depth to their personalities. They could’ve added an extra hour or two to the story to both cover that part and make the story longer, as it takes about 16 hours to beat the main story.

There is one particular thing that GOT was better at, and that was Jin started as Lord Sakai and developed the name “Ghost,” while Atsu is being called The Onryo (vengeful spirit) from the very beginning.

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay is so satisfying. While borrowing a few things from Ghost of Tsushima, it is not the same at all, and it’s a whole new gameplay in Ghost of Yōtei.

You have five melee weapons which you carry at the same time. In comparison, GOT only has one melee weapon and four stances for it. In GOY, they use the stance wheel, but it replaces the stances with weapons. This leads to a very engaging gameplay.

You can feel the weight of your attacks, and the gameplay has depth which was absent in GOT. You can feel how hard the attack is that you are blocking, or the attack you did and your enemy blocked, and that is something beyond satisfying.

Fights are harder and need more focus and skill, and make you feel very proud when you win a battle.

Boss fights have way more variety in their moves and don’t get repetitive.

There are guns now in the game, which I don’t find them fun, and I prefer to use a bow or avoid ranged fights altogether.

The stealth part is the only weakness of both games that hasn’t really improved; it’s still so repetitive, and the AI isn’t smart enough to make it fun.

SIDE CONTENT

The side quests and side activities are way better too. Their story, their path, their rewards, everything is great, and they are not repetitive at all.

There is a fun mini-game called Zeni Hajiki that you play with coins, throwing them in a particular way to win a reward.

Also, there is a fun fire-making and cooking part in the game that is nice to have, and you can skip it if you don’t want to do them, but I really liked them, and they are a nice addition to have.

VISUALS

Visually, it’s a piece of art. Every time I look at the scenery in this game, I’m left speechless. While its art design is at the same level as Ghost of Tsushima, it has better textures, better lighting, better draw distance, and even RTGI in ray tracing mode.

I played the game on the PS5 Pro with the RT Pro mode, and it was amazing. I didn’t find anything that makes me want to try other modes. If you have a PS5 Pro, the RT Pro mode is the way to go.

SOUNDTRACKS

The soundtracks never fail; they play with your soul from the moment you enter the game all the way through the ending. I sometimes found myself lost, riding my horse slowly while playing music with my shamisen and enjoying the scenery around me, and that feels unbelievably good.

DUALSENSE

Sometimes I forget how good the DualSense is until I play a PlayStation first-party game and remember why I love this controller. Everything feels more real in your hands. I might say Ghost of Yotei uses the DualSense features as much as Astro Bot, if not more.

Something great that I noticed and felt so good was that the soundtracks in the background of the cutscenes use the DualSense too! You can feel the soundtracks in your hand while listening to the story, and that feels amazing.

CONCLUSION

Ghost of Yōtei is definitely a better game than Ghost of Tsushima, but I believe that it’s not just an improved GOT but rather a new game built on the foundations of Ghost of Tsushima. This game really lives up to the expectations and even goes higher, and the only thing that is keeping it from getting a perfect score is some minor issues with stealth and parts of the story.