I was pulled immediately into the world of Twilight Parade: Moonlit Mononoke. The vibrant, mystical Japanese pixel art is both colourful and vibrant. From the lucky cats to the bathing gods to the rather chest-heavy bosses, it all looks great on the screen and moves fluidly. I just wish the gameplay was in the same ballpark.
There are four characters to choose from, each with a standard and swimsuit outfit, setting the tone for the game ahead. Expect jiggly-chested bosses, but oddly, that’s the least of the game’s issues. There is no information about how to play the game or what each button does, or even what moves are available for you at any point during the game. You cannot change button layouts, and the characters’ two movement speeds are not explained. Fire with Circle on PlayStation, and you’ll move at a normal speed, but fire with Cross and you’ll move in slow-motion, which can be helpful for boss battles. Your character wears a green gem necklace, which is your hitbox to defend. Again, none of this is explained. This lack of care spills out everywhere.
The four characters play almost identically. Each carries a pet that slightly alters the shape of their firepower, but the difference is minimal. There are five stages in Twilight Parade, each with its own theme. Most of the enemies you need to kill will pop up across most of the stages, making them feel more similar than they need to be. The stages are incredibly short, too, and as the bosses are damage sponges, you’ll spend more time with them. Boss-wise, each one moves through bullet-hell patterns that require you to find the careful hole in the wall of bullets, or to weave between rows of bullets. You don’t need to hit specific parts of the boss, as anything will do. The other issue is that you have infinite lives and continues, so playing poorly only delays your completion time. It requires no player skill, and if there is no penalty for losing, it starts to feel like the game is on autopilot.
This all builds up to a strangely disconnected experience, which is topped off with a completely unexplained jackpot match-3 game if you don’t die during the boss battle to gain extra lives. It doesn’t matter because continues are infinite and your score doesn’t matter. You can’t see it anywhere. It doesn’t exist because there are no options or menus in the game. Twilight Parade: Moonlight Mononoke looks the part, but it lacks the understanding and design expertise to deliver a cohesive horizontal shoot-em-up. A real shame. I can only recommend it to those looking at a quick 2.5-hour platinum. You’ll need to play the game 8 times at 20 minutes per run. Good luck!
Review copy provided by the publisher. Twilight Parade is out now.
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