We’ve been saying “Konami doesn’t make games” for a few years now, and to a certain extent we could say that it’s justified, mainly because its last relevant release was eFootbal, that soccer title that we all know how it came out. Now this Japanese company, mainly known for the Metal Gear Solid franchise or Pro Evolution Soccer (among others) returns to the fray bringing us GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moona title that had been in early access on Steam for a long time, and whose version for Nintendo Switch was announced in a past Nintendo Direct.
Now, after having thoroughly tested this title, going through all its nooks and crannies, killing all possible enemies, and exploring all the areas that have been, We bring you our impressions of this. From now on I tell you that we are facing a title with lights and shadows, but that seems to opt more for the light sidedespite its hellish setting.
GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon: all information
GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon | |
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Platform | PC and switch |
Release date | February 10, 2022 |
developer | Konami and GuruGuru |
Gender | roguelite |
Language | Spanish texts |
GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon is a review of one of Konami’s most classic and at the same time most forgotten titles, which It was originally released during the already distant year 1987, being released only in Japan for the Famicom. The Nintendo Switch version of this review was released on February 10, 2022, although it is also available for PC through Steam. This is a clear exponent of the roguelite genre, which also includes a great focus on action. In addition, this title comes with texts in Spanish, but without dubbing into this language.
Experience with GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon
As we mentioned in advance earlier, the GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon experience has its ups and downs, but overall leans more on the bright side, especially for those people who intend to enter the genre commonly known as roguewhich includes roguelikes and roguelites (not to be confused, because they are not the same), this title being a clear exponent of the second type.
We’ll break it down later, but without a doubt this is a game designed for those people who don’t usually have the patience to play this type of game, but who at the same time are attracted by the experience they offer. It may seem silly, but this is an important added value.
A story that acts only as a justification for the gameplay
There are titles that have impressive stories and plots, which manage to keep us on the edge of our seats every so often, but there are also those that do not need this resource. Many times it is simply necessary that the story act as a justification for the gameplay that the title presents us, and that is not bad. Can you imagine a rogue with a deep story? Well, I don’t, and while it’s possible that something like this could work in the right hands, I don’t think be something to look for in this class of titles.
In this kind of titles you want, as the saying goes, to go to nougat, that is, to be playing all the time. Not having to watch a cutscene every time you die or advance a bit, because at a certain point you’ll find yourself trying to repeat the same parts over and over again, and the last thing you want is to have to watch a cutscene every time you get to the point where you always die In the specific case of GetsuFumaDen, We will see a cinematic at the beginning, when we create the game and little else until the end.
It is true that we will see a kind of cinematic of a few seconds every time we meet a boss, or when we die, but they are all so brief that they cannot be considered to contribute or add anything. What’s more all of these can be skipped by holding down a buttonsomething that is not entirely necessary knowing that the one that lasts the longest we will only have to see it for about 5 seconds.
The roguelite for those who don’t play roguelites
The gameplay is the most important section in almost any video game, and if we are talking about a “rogue” this phrase becomes much more true. We are talking about a kind of video game that consists of repeating over and over again until you advance, and in which every time you die you lose everything or almost everything, so the playable mechanics have to be able to sustain the game for several hours without the player getting boredand that’s where this title fails.
Even the best game of the genre ends up getting boring after a certain time, but this is usually when it has been going on for several hours, but in GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon this happens after a few hours. The total absence of noticeable changes in levels, enemies and bosses for each turn make after two laps of the levels you have already seen everything, falling into the hands of the user to see something new by defeating the boss of each zone to move on to the next. It may seem normal, but we have to remember that we are not facing a beat em up or something like that, in this title we will have to pass each level over and over again, learning from our mistakes and improving as players, so the randomness of the level design is quite important.
After a while, it ends up becoming a complete routine to advance quickly through the levels already seen in order to try to defeat the boss on duty and thus advance to the next area, but this is not enhanced by particularly good control. The character feels clumsy, so in later levels, in which there is some platforming you can die many times, simply because of how imprecise these controls are. On the other hand, the combat is tremendously satisfying (largely thanks to the great graphic section that we will talk about later), but feels too simplealthough this can be a point for or against, since it helps that status of “the rogue for those who don’t play rogue” who seems to want to get this title.
Everything in this title, from the selection of various difficulty levels (including one for beginners of the genre), the type of combat to the design of the bosses, seems be made so that everyone can enjoy it. To be honest, this is on the one hand good, since many more people will be able to play it, but on the other hand leave aside all veteran users of the genre. Yes, there are higher difficulty levels that complicate things, but these do not change the simple combat or the little randomness that we can find in this adventure.
artistically sublime
Until now, everything we have discussed has its good and bad parts, hence the expression used previously of “lights and shadows”, but now we are going to talk about what is undoubtedly the best section of the game, that who manages to fall in love from the first moment: its artistic section.
This title uses a setting that we could call “Japanese folklore hell” and it suits it so well that it’s hard to describe it in words. Everything in it, from the background of each level, to the enemies and final bosses It looks like something out of a classic Japanese culture book.. If you are attracted to the culture of this country, this will possibly be your favorite game (at least in terms of setting), and even if you are not a big fan of this maybe this is the title that makes you like it.
Even the combat, which as we have already mentioned before feels simple excess, it manages to look impressive and be addictive thanks to the effects that are applied to itwhich fit perfectly with the title setting.
Its soundtrack, on the other hand, too accompanies in a special way this artistic section so good. Songs that seem to be taken from an old Japanese movie, and that manage to excite at any moment of the game. It doesn’t particularly stand out, but it does get its job done exceptionally well.
technically robust
I can say, without fear of being wrong, that Nintendo Switch is the platform where I have found the most mediocre ports. Many companies decide to dedicate the minimum effort to bring out a product that they know will work well in sales even though it is technically nonsense. I can happily say that this is absolutely not the case for GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon.
This may not be the best performing game on the console, but the frame rate is totally stable at all times, even when we fight against the huge bosses that we will have to defeat during our adventure. It is true that this is not the video game with the most requirements in its PC version, but even so it’s still quite nice to find a good job in this regard.
On the other hand, in all my hours of play I have not found a single bug that greatly affected my gaming experience. Yes, in some moments the enemies have done strange things, like once the second boss of the game just stood there without attacking me until i killed himbut they are completely isolated errors.
Conclusions and note of GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon
GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon is the perfect title for those who want to get started in the rogue. A difficulty that you can choose yourself, its simple but colorful combat, and the little randomness of its levels endorse it in this regard. All this being seasoned by a totally outstanding artistic section and a luxurious technical section. If you are an expert in this type of title, it may not be for you, but I would definitely recommend it to someone with zero or little experience in this genre.
Is GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon worth it? | |
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In favor |
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Against |
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Conclusions | At the end of the day, this is a game that does not intend to revolutionize its genre, but it does intend something that is worthy of admiration: attracting new fans to the genre to which it belongs, and this it does wonderfully. It may not be able to please those people who have played several dozen rogues, but it will get new people to join the genre and in a few years these will be the ones who have played several dozen titles of this genre. |
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