Touhou Reversal Steam Demo Review
Played 11 Nov 2026 · 1h 10min
Verdict: Play
My parrying needed work, but the combat and upgrades kept me coming back for another run.
By the end of Touhou Reversal my hands were hurting and I still wasn't very good at the one thing the name promises. I could hit things. I could dodge things. Reliably parrying a screen full of trouble back at whoever sent it was another matter.
I stopped after that defeat, with plenty still to learn and my hands ready for a rest. It gets a Play because I kept wanting one more run, even when my parrying was letting the side down.
Pros
- Getting a parry into an attack felt powerful. The finishers gave me a good reason to keep trying to get it right.
- Permanent upgrades made a difference I could feel by the end, especially against the first boss.
- The night-time fights look really good, with bright attacks standing out against the blue forest.
Cons
- Lining up hits on Sanae Kochiya was a struggle.
- Unclear arena boundaries caught me out when dodging.
- I had to finish a run before I could sort out my controller bindings.
Why did I pick this one up?
The developers sent this one over by email. The trailer looked chaotic and high energy, which was exactly what I wanted that evening. I was feeling a bit tired and didn't fancy something cozy for fear I'd fall asleep.
I don't know much about Touhou. I'd played another game based on it earlier in the year, but I still went into this with very little idea of the setting. Here you're playing as Marisa Kirisame, trying to recover her lost magic. That was enough of a reason for me to start hitting things.
Touhou Reversal mixes Hack and Slash combat with Bullet Hell attacks you can turn back on your enemies. There's a tutorial for the combos, dodging and parrying. I did play it. I forgot half of it the moment the fighting started.
How did the controls feel?
I started on keyboard, then moved to controller after my first defeat. That was easier overall, but the default layout wasn't where I wanted things. I was still getting keyboard instructions on screen while trying to work out which controller button would parry.
At first I thought there was no remapping. There is. I found it after the run ended and put melee attack and parry on the triggers. That felt much better straight away. I'd have liked to make that change during the run.
Once I started getting parries into attacks, I could feel why the game wanted me to use them. Those combinations had a lot of power behind them, and the big finishers were satisfying. I still spent plenty of time attacking and dodging because I couldn't reliably get the timing right.
What kept me coming back for another run?
The Roguelike side kept me going. I'd fight through rooms, choose upgrades, get beaten and spend the pages I'd brought back on permanent upgrades before heading out again. By the end, the first boss felt a lot easier because of what I'd bought.
I kept putting more into attack power and upgrading my moves. Several attempts ended with me stuck around the same point, so finally getting past Cirno, the ice boss, and heading further towards the mountain felt good. Then I met Suwako Moriya, who was quite happy to send me back again.
During runs I tried adding elements to melee, parry and dash, then combining them through fusion. I kept looking for more damage against single targets because the bosses were giving me much more trouble than the ordinary enemies. Some of those smaller fights were easy.
The upgrades could change how movement felt too. At one point I had a blink that I liked much more than my normal dash. Later I took equipment that shortened my dash and immediately regretted it when I needed to get out of a boss's way. When that turned up again, I left it alone.
What did I spend my gold on during a run?
There's a shop during runs too, separate from those permanent upgrades. I went in buying healing potions to keep myself going and looking at modifiers for my attacks. Early on I considered another potion, saw the price had gone up and decided against it. Then I noticed the gacha machine. Obviously we were having a go on that.
That gave me random upgrades to work into what I was using. On a later visit I passed over options that didn't appeal and rolled the gacha instead, then put the Quickening I got onto melee so I could keep attacking.
I did start thinking about how the choices fitted together. I picked a modifier that reduced my melee area but increased its damage, then tried pairing it with an effect that slowed enemies. I wanted something that would help against the boss, rather than more ways to clear groups I was already managing. Some of the descriptions took talking through before I understood the tradeoff.
How does it look and sound?
I liked the night-time areas, with the bright magic against the darker forest. There was a little pig in there that I nicknamed Mr Piggy. The music and attack sounds worked well with the specials too. Getting a combo into a stagger felt powerful, even when the next thing I did was fail to dodge out of the way.
Also, a small thank you for starting the music at a reasonable volume. My ears weren't getting blasted off before I'd even started playing.
What got in the way?
Judging the depth was my biggest frustration. You can move towards and away from the camera, and I didn't always feel lined up with what I was trying to hit. I eventually beat Suwako, but Sanae Kochiya stopped that run. I thought her arena might be wider; I couldn't get the depth right and was struggling to land damage. Earlier, I'd tried to get behind a boss and couldn't tell I'd already run out of room.
Game Info
- Full release
- TBC
- Platform
- PC (Steam)
- Multiplayer
- No
- Controller
- Yes
- Playtime
- 1h 10min
Watch the video review: YouTube
Watch the complete live play on YouTube
Tags: Hack and Slash, Bullet Hell, Roguelike
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