Touhou: Lost Branch of Legend

Really great card roguelike game, amazing doujin soundtracks

Now that I have Lunatic (7) perfectly solved, I think I'm ready to give my review. The main thing I want to review is difficulty. This game is very easy, which imo is a good thing. If the game was too difficult out the gate, I wouldn't have gotten hooked in the first place. But if you like your rouguelikes difficult, I recommend starting Lunatic right out the gate (if you can). The reason being, I didn't start finding seeds that were unbeatable until I started playing Lunatic. And the game really doesn't punish you for playing bad in lower difficulties. Like I mentioned, the difficulty isn't a criticism as it may be for others. It might be unpopular, but I prefer when the game starts easy with options to make it as hard as you want. Not only does it make the game more inviting, but it also gives you a nice and addictive progression to follow.
Presentation wise, this game vibes a lot. I'm a big Touhou Project fan, so it goes without saying I was sold on the style and the music. But also the playful and absurd fantasy atmosphere that Touhou harbors. It's enchanting, it's inviting, it's fun. This really captures the Touhou style that fans know and love, so big thumbs up there. And that is helped in big part by the card art. Huge w to all the artists that contributed to the game, they bring so much life to the game and the fantasy really wouldn't hit the same without them.
Next is gameplay and boy do I love it. There are many different builds, and you can tell a lot of care was put into the card pool. The more familiar I become with the card pool, the more little synergies and theories I take note of. There's been many times where I take a card during a desperate run saying, "there's no way this will work with my build." Only to be surprised that it was exactly what I needed to raise the ceiling of my deck. As a player I took note of all those little discoveries. And as I took on more and more difficult challenges, it was very rewarding to put both my knowledge and risk taking together to make a winning build. And that's the pinnacle of TH:LBoL for me. It's genuinely exciting playing into mid or late act 3 and being anxious, not knowing if your build is gonna make it. And then you find that 1 missing piece you were holding out for that gets you there. Pure euphoria man. It's that type of gameplay loop that makes you wanna play the game again and again.
I have a goal of perfectly solving Lunatic (7) with each character, and I certainly wouldn't have that goal if I didn't adore this game. So shout out to Alioth Studio. I like what your game has delivered so far, and I look forward to the new content coming down the pipeline. I already feel this game is worth the money as of now, so the fact that there's still more being developed is quite exciting for me.

Great game, similar to Slay The Spire, but better, because of the different mana colors and the strategies and options this leads to.

The art is not my favorite, but Slay The Spire's is the same, so again, so this one still is better.
The characters and their abilities and cards lead to very interesting runs, you get everything Slay The Spire provides plus more - scry, passive effects, stances, way to keep block between turns - everything.

The story is something related to Touhou, I don't care... The gameplay is important in games, for story - read books, watch films or play these cinema-games by Sony, I really don't care. Best story in a game is Bloodborne's (or any Souls game one) - play and pick stuff, if you care - read.

Anyway! Just a great game, really, maybe the best card game I've ever played and I tried quite a few. Also I really, really like Slay The Spire that's why I am comparing this one to it.

it's a touhou-themed slay the spire clone. i don't like calling games "clones" but at its core this is what this is, very derivative. it's not bad that it is, because it bounces off the idea well with its mechanics (mana types and mechanics associated to them) and is decently enjoyable to play.

not much more to say about it : what you see is what you get, pretty much.

slay the spire but with magic the gathering's mana system and some referenced cards.


it also has cirno in it

Just a really good slay the spire like with a more complex mana system akin to magic the gathering.
Really don't need to know anything about Touhou to enjoy the game, although it probably will let you in on the inside jokes and such.

I have about 60 hours through, uh, other means... But it's a huge thumbs up from me. As someone with over 1200 hours in Slay the Spire across three devices and a background in MtG, I was immediately interested in this games mana system. And it works really well! This is clearly a game made with love, for people who love card games.

There's a lot of little things I really love about this games attention to the little details about TCGs that a lot of other games miss, like how the borders clearly indicate rarity and how the sigils behind the card text indicate what set/character the card originates from. The card presentation in general is top notch, with some really incredible art (which is one of my biggest criticisms about Slay the Spire and many other digital card games.)

I tend to dislike a lot of Touhou's visual and character designs but the art is undeniably high quality. The card art does an amazing job of letting you know when you're about to do something cool, which is backed up by a huge variety of shiny and colourful visual effects and animations on the battlefield. Almost every attack has its own bullet hell shot pattern or giant magical beam, which does wonders for making your attacks and abilities feel impactful. Some are pretty, some are badass, many are flashy and all of them really add a lot to the feeling that you're casting a spell or putting up a barrier to prepare for a big attack.

My biggest criticism is that I'm running out of things to do already, partially because the game can be a little easy (which is probably for the best) but mostly because the game lacks the Ascension system from Slay the Spire, which is where many of my hours in that game come from. I always enjoy starting a new file and progressively climbing up ascension levels with each character about once a year. Lost Branch's closest mechanic would be the "Request" modifiers but there's only 7 of these and they each unlock after a few runs, regardless of if you actually have them active or not. There is also three difficulties and while these do need to be beaten and progressively unlocked per character, it's certainly a lot less for me to get invested in compared to climbing to Ascension 20 in Spire.

There's currently 5 characters, each with multiple starting kits, unique Spell Cards (essentially an ulti that you can cast at any time once charged) and a huge amount of potential build variety. Unlike Spire, this game has a lot of good answers for multiclassing. The classes are all so unique and interesting to learn and the more unique mechanics of Lost Branch are where the game really shines.

Overall I'm extremely impressed and I hope for some more challenging content in the future. Even without that, I've enjoyed my time with the game immensely and I can easily say the game is worth it even in its current state.

Very nice game. It has a lot of cool effects. The music and the characters are great. Highly recommended!

This is unabashedly a Slay the Spire clone – a good one. The primary mechanistic difference is the introduction of a colored mana system kind of like Magic: The Gathering but more lenient (i.e., no land cards needed). The flavor text of the game's cards and items make many pop culture references to other deck building games, so I think the developers know what footsteps they follow in.

However I don't think there's much to enjoy about this game while it remains in Early Access unless you're a diehard Touhou fan. I'd wait for the full release on this one. Also, the controller/touch support right now is pretty awful which is a deal-breaker for Steam Deck/Ally/etc gamers. I believe the devs intend to fix this soon.

Great on deck. I use the trackpad very easily. This game is a deckbuilder-type and rogue-like anime (touhou) game. Art is beautiful, which has both sexy and cute. Animation is smooth. Story/plot is what you would expect for a touhou fans which is very funny. I love that the choices you make will help you go to a different ending. This is my favorite game on deck. I kept coming back even though I already finished it. I hope they keep updating this and they are true to their words since I've since played two new characters already. Thanks to the developers. I hope they make more games like this and with other anime.

Definitely worth it at full price.

there is alot of flesh and depth to the cards. aswell as a ton of them and the core gameplay mechanic of how your mana/energy works makes it solely unique to slay the spire, arguably more difficult then slay the spire if you take into account the request system which functions as a negative modifier to be applied to your runs in a similar vain to Ascension as well as a base difficulty modifier for enemies.

Great art, and animations for both base gameplay and card art, makes slay the spire look bland in terms of presentation, which is important if its what im looking at while playing, aswell as a massive card library and still more content being added to the game, this game essentially turns up the dial of intensity of fights to an 11, enemies have tons of variable debuffs aswell as bosses and elites having extremely unique mechanics

to make a comparison its like slay the spire is Pokemon TGC and this being Magic of Gathering or Yugioh
(source have beaten Ascension 20 multiple times on all characters)

Sound design and music is great, the thought of muting it hasn't crossed my mind unlike slay the spire which after 20 hours gets a bit meh hearing

Can honestly not return to slay the spire after this

Definitely worth it. Openly inspired by Slay the Spire but does introduce enough new mechanics to avoid seeming like a Touhou-themed re-skin.

Runs do take longer than in StS, but there is an option to speed up animations that makes them substantially faster.

They didn't need to go so hard on a Touhou Slay the Spire clone- but they did, and I'm all for it.

I was somewhat wary of the price at first, being $5 more than Slay the Spire, but getting into it more, I realize the price is WELL deserved- even for 'Early Access', there's a lot of content, love, and thought put into the game and it shows.

Genuine recommendation for Touhou fans, roguelike card game/STS fans, or anyone curious about either of the two.

There's a mod support for it

Very fun rogue-like. Honestly feels like a slightly more polished version of Slay the Spire. Most cards have special effects, and there are tons of characters to choose from. I just wish there was more enemy, event, relic, and boss variety.

It's everything I wanted in a roguelike deckbuilder.
Multicoloured mana is an excellent mechanic allowing for a lot of variability between runs.
Also Touhou.
Music is also excellent.
Because Touhou.

Solid game, especially if you like deck builders and / or touhou

Its core mechanics are nearly identical to StS, which in itself makes it a great game. What makes it stand out though are the extra mechanics and build diversity, packaged together with all its charming tributes to Touhou. I just hope it can get out of early-access hell.

Fun slay-the-spire-like with a MTG-style twist done well, and easily one of my favorites in the genre.

At this point it feels like a complete game that keeps getting free updates, I completely forgot it's still "Early Access".

played the hell out of slay the spire? this is different enough to entertain for hours while scratching that deckbuilder itch

Very fun game, although I'm pretty casual with these deck builders. The card art and animations are very pretty.

Phenomenal fun! Coming back after 1.7.0 is out. I had put in plenty of time before Koishi's final release and only tried her out in beta a couple of times. Definitely a unique character.

Gameplay? Well its a deckbuilder roguelike, just like it says. Compared easily to other games in the genre like slay the spire which I haven't played, I just want to give my two cents on simply how fun this game is and how it potentially got me into the genre. Its just one of those 'its so satisfying, trying another one in the genre can wait till I'm completely bored' type things. I wanted to write this review just to make sure the game gets its thumbs up from me. I was really hype when I heard somewhere on the side through out notes that Alice was in development, it made me wonder why they didn't make this more upfront as well? Oh well. I suppose I just want to give my support in this case.

If you like deckbuilders, the game is for you.
If you've never played one and you're into Touhou Project, I highly suggest it. I believe its accessible to just about anybody thats willing to at least try, and from there use your brain a little depending on your play style, some of the randomness that plays into your deck building, and by the end of it, I'm sure you'll be cooking. Its almost inevitable. The game does a great job at showing just how unique the play style through out will change depending on the character and their deck you pick effects gameplay. One of my absolute favorites being Marisa's potion deck. Theres something out of this world satisfying about unloading 9 potions on some poor bastard or taking out an entire encounter of 4 mobs doing so. I just love everything the game allows you to experience when it all comes together and you feel near unstoppable. That being said, it does have its difficult parts like lets say the true final boss. We're also now in the time where a certain really hard regular mob encounter has been nerfed (thank god) so the game is shaping up more then well. To say I'm looking forward to playing as Alice is an understatement. This game is addictive, beautiful illustrations and effects, and it'll have you likely whipping out your calculator sometimes or simply using your brain to think 7 steps ahead to pull out a killer move and ensure not just your survival, but the enemy's defeat.

I love it.

i can only imagine how good slay the spire is when this game is already this good

and wow an early access game that isn't abandoned and is actively being updated? awesome

Phenomenal roguelite

Highly addictive. I know nothing about the series, but the game play is fun, the battles are tough, but rewarding, each character has TWO play styles, and the music is INCREDIBLE

I bought this game just because the devs seem passionate about it. I wouldn't go mainly off that fact at all with games. but they seemed to be genuine and they keep updating the game after all these years. Never been a big slay the spire fan or a really big fan of rogue likes, But i thought i would give it a try and it has surprised me, It has been a lot of fun for the little time i have put into it. And i hope the devs don't let the number of sales discourage them. They clearly made this game with passion and the intention of making something great, and they hit the nail on the head. I wish the devs the best of luck with their future endeavors and whoever reads this. i hope you enjoy the game too.

Very well made Slay the Spire x Magic the Gathering rouge like deck builder wrapped up with Touhou's aesthetics. Each card has unique animations reminiscent of the old bullet hell games.

Love the Tohou character. Plus, i love deck bulders, And the deck building in this game is amazing

This game takes a lot of Inspiration from Slay the Spire. So first of all: If you want something like StS but Touhou, you already can't go wrong with this.

But it's not just a copy with a different theme either (personally I've spent a lot more time on this than on StS, though maybe that's just because I'm a hopeless weeb). The different mana colors add some more strategy to the gameplay, and the ability to mix different characters' cards after the first boss can lead to some fun combos. There's a lot of variety to be had here, with soon 5 characters to be fully implemented, and a 6th already being planned. Each character also has 2 different starting decks (and accompanying starting relic) which usually lend themselves to different deck archetypes.

And, being a touhou game, the music is as great as you would expect.

It's not a perfect game but I don't really have anything major that I'd complain about, strongly recommend for anyone that likes roguelike deckbuilders or Touhou.

the best STS mod out there

Can't wait for the full release, the gameplay is simple yet it's fun. Very recommend if you like rouge-like deck builder game.
Even if some of enemy and boss is not really balance but you can still go through it, hope they'll balance things up in the future.

It's okay.

Amazing and engaging card game, I'd recommend it both for touhou fans and also for those that do not know much about it.

It is in my opinion better slay the spire. From my experience far more enjoyable, just as complicated, and having a mana system of starting 5 feels so much more better the base 3 you get.

The cards are fun, artworks can be cool, silly and god I've spent so much time playing this game.

Also a Touhou game you need not know knowledge of playing the game. Just have fun.

Great game

Great game

Y

Like Slay the Spire but 2hu + MTG

So put aside if you don't know the source material or not [Touhou is basically a free-use IP for other indies as long as ZUN is credited].

This game is in the same genre as Slay the Spire; and the base format of the game is similar. However, there are two massive differences:

1 - The Mana system; which is inspired by MTG. Each character starts with 2 colors of mana [favouring one color depending on which starter deck you take] As you progress, you'll gain relics which increase your mana pool, but different relics grant different colors of mana, which can add new cards to the card pool you can gain. There are some cards which you will only ever see by taking unusual mana combos [such as cards which need 3 different types of mana]

2 - The system with the Stage 1 boss. Halfway through the first stage, you'll get to choose which boss you fight, which will be one of the other selectable characters. When you defeat them, one of the relics you are offered will be one that gives you one of the two colors associated with that character of mana, AND allows you to find cards unique to that character's card pool. So you can hybridize decks. It's like if you were playing the Silent and after defeating the first boss, you could suddenly add Defect cards to your deck as well. This only takes up 1 relic option, if you don't want to hybridize, you can always select one of the two other choices as well and stay "pure".

It's worth noting you will never find a card you cannot use as well.

This makes this game similar to Slay the Spire in core concept, but with a lot more diversity in builds, experimentation and the ability to hybridize characters. If you like Slay the Spire; definitely try this game out!

There are also various difficulties; an Ascension-like system [Going up to 7 instead of 20, Lunatic7 being the hardest difficulty before challenge settings], and some addittional settings you can use on top of this to change the difficulty/add some weird mods as you please.

Touhou + Slay the spire = This banger ass game.

Brilliant game, must have for any strategy enjoying touhou fans.

you can play as marisa

If you like touhou and Slay the Spire this game is literally perfect for you, it has the depth and engaging gameplay of STS but with enough new and exciting mechanics to still be a fresh and fun experience.
Koishi my beloved

steam age, baby.

You can play as Reimu.

The store page hasn't been updated in awhile so don't be fooled by the early access sticker. The game as it stands now is well worth the pricetag. If you like StS and other roguelikes you'll find something to enjoy in this game. If you like to go zoom more easily than StS will allow you to, you might fall in love with the game like I have. Despite a generally higher power floor and ceiling for the player, the difficulty is well balanced to always give you enough of a challenge. In general the devs and artists have a lot of love for Touhou Project and it shows.
There's one more character left (at time of writing Koishi has become playable in beta) and a story mode before it'll be out of EA, but if my advice is worth anything I reckon you might as well pick it up now and enjoy the two free DLCs' worth of content as it comes out. There's plenty to do in the main game as it stands (I'm at 300 hrs and counting).

I shouldn't be allowed to play card games. You can play Reimu.

Slay the Spire but 2hu and super fun.

you can play as Reimu

Very fun deckbuilder rogue-like with some pretty visuals.