Touhou Mystia’s Izakaya

Title: Touhou Mystia's Izakaya
Series: Touhou
Publisher: Phoenixx
Release Date: October 1, 2021
Genres: Cooking
Platform: macOS, Nintendo Switch, Steam
Where to Find It: Website
Rating:

"Touhou Mystia's Izakaya" is a fan game of the "Touhou Project", where Mystia Lorelei, a resident of Gensokyo, struggles to revive her own izakaya.

During the day, players procure ingredients and interact with residents of Gensokyo, while at night, they operate the izakaya. The basic flow of the game involves welcoming various customers every night with delicious dishes and aiming to create an izakaya beloved by the residents of Gensokyo!

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Review

I knew absolutely nothing about Touhou Project beyond the fact that they are bullet hell games and watching the very cool Bad Apple fan made music video years ago. I spotted Touhou Mystia’s Izakaya and was intrigued as a fan of restaurant management sims, and eagerly picked it up, with all the expansion DLC. I finished this game nearly 60 hours later, and I love it to bits!

In Touhou Mystia’s Izakaya players follow the story of Mystia, a yokai running a izakaya, a type of informal bar. After waking up from a nightmare in which her restaurant is destroyed, she goes into debt helping a friend from a debt collector. During the day, Mystia can forage for ingredients to prepare for night shifts cooking at the izakaya. As the story progresses you discover new ingredients, learn new recipes, and meet new friends while upgrading and expanding the izakaya. Shifts gradually become more chaotic and there are “boss battles” that are genuinely challenging.

The game is filled to the brim with personality and charm, I really enjoyed unlocking new areas and meeting new characters. There are several cheap DLC that massively expand the game by adding tons of new content which I really loved, I can’t imagine the game without the extras. My singular critique is that this is a dialogue heavy game, and sometimes it feels like conversations go on and on. The writing is okay, obviously I played the translated English version, and it’s very nyaa anime moe overload which could get a little cringey to me. I ended up skipping dialogue at times to get back to the game.

I was shocked and thoroughly impressed to find out that the game was a fan made game and was fascinated to find how strong the fan community is around Tohou Project. I didn’t encounter any bugs while playing and the game is really polished considering. The pixel art style is amazing and such a delight to look at! I played this game when I was going through a hard time and it really brought me a lot of cheer. This game is an easy recommendation and you don’t need any prior knowledge of Tohou Project to dive in.

Quote

“Misty, it’s alright… Seeing your face and how you’re trying to help before I lose my kneecaps… I have no regrets in life!!!”