Yōdanji Reviews

Don't be put off by my 14 hours. I bought this a while ago on my android and obsessively played it and SOMEHOW abstained from giving my phone a flight lesson after the 50 bajillionth OHK after entering a floor. Yet, here we are, I've decided to subject my rig to the equivalent of a nuclear stress test. Not to be confused with it getting a hardware stress test like games that have GPU melting graphics.... RAGE. It runs deep. It's all consuming, it's turning ME into a Yokai's older grumpier brother and so far, my Lenovo Legion has actually endured... the RAGE. What's this game? A roguelike that forgot that it's a roguelike and acts like it's a roguelite as there's meta progression... not that I've ever unlocked any of the other yokai... Here's the thing, the gameplay seems simple, but it is actually kinda deep and DEFINITELY challenging. I tried hour after hour, day after day, week after week year after year on regular difficulty to get more than one scroll... Finally had to bite the bullet and pick Picnic difficulty "Oh, you're playing on easy, you won't get as many points"... IDGAF... take those points and shove it. BTW's Picnic really doesn't do too much... you will die, and then you'll die again, then you'll die on the second floor as soon as you move off the steps. It is a sadistic game, it is a painful game, it will change your outlook on the world... you'll hate it... the world I mean... like, this world. It will happen if you put more than an hour into it.... Thankfully, that's also the time it'll take for you to know if it sunk its hooks into your soul, eternally bound... *shudders* it's dark down here :-( .... Get this game if: - You're a masochist. - You hate yourself. - You hate the world. - You think you're a "hardcore" gamer... you'll probably be refunding after 5 minutes, but, you tying up your money on a game that'll take you down a peg is well worth the price of admission of free (for me) Popping the corn and sitting on the sidelines in the discussions section when the inevitable deluge of previous "hardcore" gamers whining lifts my mood and soothes my soul. - You like the OG Rogue, but want modernized controls and a Japanese lore spin - If you're a fan of roguelikes. Don't buy if: - You have any faith in the world at all. - You are put off by the idea of playing as a Japanese equivalent to the wee folk of Celtic lore. - You don't want to buy it. - You aren't ready to strip away the illusion that is our cushy little comfort illusion bubble. - You are wanting yet another Kemco game that has IAP's. Seriously, this is one of the few I know of that they've released that doesn't have IAP's... and happens to be a game where I'd be most tempted to click a button to infuse the game with money powered cheating just to stop the pain. 10 out of 10 WILL suffer again.

It isn't often I buy the same game across multiple platforms but there's a nice charm to Yodanji. It was a great buy on the switch as the game is something that can be just be played really quickly or in pieces here or there as it works well with the sleep mode. That said, this game is something that definitely isn't for everyone but to me I really enjoy its simplistic design and straight forward difficulty. Unlocking new yokai to use, or resetting for 3 new ones if you happen to get 3 bad starters that are difficult to win with, give you a nice moment of clarity as you learn about the yokai that have been giving you problems. Every yokai is pretty straight forward and often shows pretty easily what their most powerful builds you should be playing as. Some yokai offer two play styles, such as the kitsune, where you can pick and choose depending on how you're feeling. Most yokai, however, have one objectively best build in which it's just the only choice to go with. This might seem like it makes them boring and in a sense that is correct but in this game it then becomes a game of strategy and knowing what the other yokai do in order to survive. Every yokai has 4 skills and every level has a spirit you can kill in order to level up and gain a point to apply to your skills. The enemy yokai are the same level as the floor you're on (floor 4 will have every yokai at level 4) and you, as the player, have the advantage of leveling up to one level higher. However in certain circumstances an enemy yokai might get it first and give you a challenge of killing one that is one level higher than you and rewarding you with the spirit if you manage to kill them. The game is very difficult at first when you're learning the ins and outs but eventually you will start to piece together the strategy for and against each yokai. Sometimes its better to run, sometimes its better to close a door and let them come to you, sometimes you need to position yourself at just the right distance and close the gap with an ability that dashes forward and does massive damage. Unlock all the yokai and/or take on the infinite mode for a point challenge in an attempt to go as deep as you can before you die or starve. Short and sweet and easy to pick up.

I don't usually write reviews but had to for this one. Really fun roguelike, very mystery dungeon-esque. Feels straight out of the NES era, really cute graphics. Wasn't expecting much but 6 hours in and I just wanna play more. Pretty difficult to begin with, but very rewarding to improve. My only gripe with the game is one that many won't care about - a lack of achievements and trading cards, but of course that doesn't hinder the quality of the actual game. Overall, a very pleasant surprise for such a small price. Definitely worth picking up for fans of the genre.

I initially picked this one up during the summer sales after I saw it in a recommendation, and promptly bought it for the Switch as well, where most of my time is spent playing. Yōdanji is a bite sized roguelike dungeon crawler that has you navigating your Youkai through randomly generated dungeons, all while fighting other Youkai and attempting to stave off hunger. The game offers 3 modes of play, a mode where you collect 3 scrolls to unlock other Youkai, an easy mode, and an endless challenge, which puts your strategy to the test. While each run is short and easy to fit into 30 minutes or so, the runs are brutal, and at times incredibly unforgiving. Each Youkai has it's own playstyle, such as the Chouchin Obake (paper lantern) who depends heavily on their firespitting ability, stealth and evasion for survival. In comparison, the Kamaitachi (weasel with blades for paws) Is a much more well rounded melee focused character. In addition to playstyles, each Youkai has different inherent stats. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a way to show this, so trial and error seems to be the way to go. You'll start with 3 Youkai, Kamaitachi, and two others (Yuki Onna, that cat thing, Chouchin Obake and Karakasa) The main encouragement for exploration, besides the need to find food and the staircases to the next level is to find Hidotama, the wayward human spirits on each floor. Seeking out Hidotama and absorbing them is the way that you progress your level and acquire new abilities for your selected Youkai. The enemies you encounter can do the same, and it makes for a life or death scenario battling a monster who's a level higher than you. Another reason to explore is to find Omamori, charms that can give your Youkai a much needed stat buff based on the kind it provides. The wood Omamori halves your hunger rate per turn, which gives you a lot more breathing room to explore the maps. In most runs I've done, I usually find around 2-3, the most common being ATK up or DEF up as well as the aforementioned wood Omamori. These charms can really make or break a run, so trying to find them while managing your hunger is highly recommended. Because of the hunger mechanic, being economical in your moves is important, and with each floor food becomes more and more scarce. Using abilities further increases your hunger, so opting to just use basic attacks can be the more pragmatic option at times. There's not much you can use for gauging the mechanics outside of the "stuffed, peckish, famished and starving" statuses underneath the health bar, so sometimes it's just better to eat anything you find immediately, including corpses of defeated Youkai and bones. They don't really do much but anything helps to stave off your hunger, especially as you reach the bottom floors. When you reach the famished status, it seems like you no longer can heal by resting on your turn. Upon reaching starving, unless you have a large health pool or are nearby a source of food, you're essentially dead. each turn will take chunks out of your health, and will kill you quickly, ending what could have been a promising run. If you've been careful about managing your hunger, strategic in your fights, and diligent in collecting the scrolls and omamori, you'll reach the tenth floor. The bottom floor contains a room with slots for the scrolls, which upon placing the three in the slots, summons the King of Hell, Enma Daiou, an incredibly powerful but slow boss who can summon 2 Oni, making the fight difficult. If you can defeat him (the oni are not necessary to kill), the run ends and you unlock a randomly selected Youkai for your next dungeon runs. Any Youkai you encounter in the game are playable, including Enma Daiou (who almost trivializes runs) and the Hidotama. As for some of the problems with this game, the music in this game is, well, interesting for the first few times you play, but seeing as there's really only one theme for the first 9 floors and one for the tenth floor, you'll get tired of it quickly and want to turn it off. Ranged attacks have some really bizarre mechanics (some attacks can curve around corners??), and basic combat is relatively boring. The item inventory is fine, but it can be fiddly at times when there's multiple items in the same place. Because of the rapid pacing of the hunger mechanic, some of the buffs from food items, such as tofu get pushed to the wayside in order to just stave off hunger, meaning most of the buffs never come into play outside of situational strategic usages. Enemies tend to be able to see you beyond your own vision range, which can lead to you getting shot at/debuffed by something you don't even see. it's a rougelike, so the random nature means you can die within the first few moves, and for some that can be offputting, especially if you get surrounded. Yōdanji's biggest draw really comes down to how easy it is to pick up and play. It's a tough little distraction that has charming character designs and a decent learning curve. While I wish it had more transparency in some of it's mechanics, the short nature of the game means even the most frustrating defeat isn't too much to be upset about. Finally unlocking that Youkai you hate to fight against gives you some interesting insights about how to deal with them when you encounter them again. All in all, it's 5 bucks and it's got enough charm to give it a try. Some tips for new players: -Kamaitachi is well rounded, with a 1d4 base attack, healing ability and multiple offensive options, as well as a AOE attack and speed boost which can double your turns against enemies. Kamaitachi is good for learning the ropes, but they're not particularly good against ranged characters. -Don't underestimate the value of having at least one Sake on you, it can really help turn the tide of a battle if you get surrounded, or you encounter an already powerful Youkai who has also absorbed the Hidotama for that level -Fight smart! If you see a lot of enemies, and they see you, try to funnel them into a small room to fight them one on one. -Running away is always a good option for survival. Just be aware that some enemies such as Karakasa operate well when there's a few spaces between you and them. Run upstairs if you're really under threat, enemies stay on their floor. -Ranged enemies almost always blow through their SP trying to kill you from afar. If you can withstand it, once they're out they will move towards you, giving you the option to retaliate. -certain rooms will almost always contain Omamori, such as the lantern room or the forest room, as well as the rooms filled with cobwebs. Be cautious that it will almost always be a big fight situation with multiple Youkai, so make sure you're prepared -this is a tooltip in game as well, but if you see a staircase, scout it out, sometimes the Hidotama will be nearby, which means you can return to the current level you're on with a stronger Youkai -Sometimes it's a good idea to drop items. Nothing disappears if you leave it there, so sometimes you can drop the scrolls in a place you'll remember and use that inventory space to carry something more useful like an Omamori until you can put that down. -Finally, Enma Daiou has a base speed of 90, meaning you may be able to get in two moves. Be careful, as Enma Daiou can cause a bleed proc on you as part of his abilities, and bleed does more damage if you are moving as opposed to sitting still. Only Enma Daiou must be defeated to complete the run.

I originally bought this game because I bought it from the Nintendo Eshop and wanted to buy another copy of the game. The game itself is similar to the Mystery Dungeon franchise and I liked the Yōkai that I saw in the game.

Yōdanji is a Indie rogue-like dungeon crawler ghost game. You play as different yōkai from Japanese folklore. You start with three random yōkai every new game, and they ranged from actually good to pretty useless. You go through a dungeon filled with other yōkai to find 3 scrolls to unlock more yōkai to play as. I like the 8-bit art style, but the gameplay could use some more work. The combat feels like it's rushing you through it, and most of the time when you realize that your heading into a fight you can't win, it's too late to run away. It's a fun short time killer, if you like rogue-like and/or dungeon crawlers. And I give this a 6/10.

I personally like this game as its very simplistic but an absolutely brutal meat grinder of a rogue like game. You will lose often, even after you get a feel for the game don't expect to win often but that's a part of the fun. You'll find your favorite characters to run through, all have different methods to get through, some far better than others but this varies from person to person so find your favorite and see how far you can get. It's a learn as you go type of game so try and not get discouraged the first couple of goes. I strongly advise you start with the tutorial and easy mode to get your bearings. Good luck! You're going to need it!

Genuinely one of my favourite games, the art is amazing (both the pixel art and character selection sprites), all of the characters are unique and have unique playstyles, allowing you to pick what bests suits you, and there are so many different items and buffs in the game that make it easy to set harder challenges for yourself

I've been playing the Switch version of Yōdanji time to time and it's hard to decide. It has good bits, and bad bits. Fun for a bit, but ends rather suddenly for the most part. [h1]Pros:[/h1] + Short sessions, a non-endless-mode run can be done in 20-30 minutes + Good pixelart and higher-res illustrations per character + Characters are fairly varied and play differently + No incentive to kill everything on the level, though you still want to scout for items [h1]Cons:[/h1] - The soundtrack is really short and barely lasts one session before you'd have to disable it in options - Combat is relatively shallow, fights end quickly and mistakes end in demise - Some mechanics (hunger rate, regeneration rate, hit/dodge %, ...) are never explained in numbers, you can only guess - Your starting character selection is randomized and varies in difficulty Clarifications follow, [h1]On combat[/h1] Baseline level for the genre. Your character can level up by destroying wisps (1 exists per floor) Levelling up grants ability points and some stats Characters have 4 abilities (3 that can be upgraded at lv2/4/6/8, one at lv6/8/10/11) Enemies also have levels and abilities, but you don't know the numbers With this selection, most characters have 1-3 ways that you can play them, but at least there's plenty of characters (21) There's a hunger system. Find no food for a while and you'll loose HP/MP regen and then perish. There are items around the levels including food, one-time buffs, healing, boosting equipment, and scrolls (3 needed for boss in main mode). The inventory holds 5 items total and there's juggling involved. Environment plays no role in combat, can't even take cover because ranged attacks hit around the corner from 2 tiles away (??). Fleeing mostly isn't a thing as 18/21 characters act at the exact same pace, and equipment/buffs affecting speed are rare. [h1]On characters[/h1] The general deal is that you get to unlock every animate object in the dungeon to play as, down to level up "wisp" and the normal mode's boss. Some are exclusively melee, some are range-oriented, some lay traps, some rely on buffing/debuffing/stunning, a few can summon allies. One gets to pick each skill from a randomized selection of 3 and is a lot of fun to play. A side effect of stats being shared between player and enemy characters is that most fights only last 2-4 turns, getting flanked by >=2 enemies at once equates death for most characters, and it's generally easy to perish by mis-guessing how much an enemy can hit for at most or whether you are going to land the final blow on them while low on health yourself. [h1]On starting characters[/h1] Your starting characters are as following: [list] [*]The otter "Kamaitachi" [*]The lantern "Chōchin Obake" or the umbrella "Karakasa" [*]The cat "Nekomata" or the snow girl "Yuki Onna" [/list] I'm not adding a wall of text here so, in short, https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1548691028 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1548691702 If by the roll of dice you get the umbrella and/or the snow girl, all is well - with minor prior experience with roguelikes, you have good chances of beating the game first try with either of two. Those getting otter+lantern+cat (25%?), on other hand, are a little less fortunate - the cat isn't quite a beginner-friendly character (despite seeming the most powerful of three), and beating the boss with the lantern requires you to understand that you need buff items if none of your skills deal reliable damage or cripple the enemy. All in all, if only things were just a little better

This old school rouge-like game is fun once you get the hang of it. You play as various Yokai creatures with different abilities to level up. The combat seems simple enough but can be gruelingly punishing like in most old school rpg games. [h1]Pros[/h1] +Accurate Yokai creatures which is not something that appears in a large number of games on Steam +Cute pixel art to represent creatures and other +Variety of style between characters attack and spell abilities +Can be challenging which is great and if you are feeling overwhelmed there is an easier difficulty scaling +Pick up "coffee-break" game which means you can jump into it for a few minutes and enjoy a game or two [h1]Cons[/h1] -Short looping soundtrack while playing that will get old rather quickly despite the theme it fits -User Interface can be a bit annoying to figure out at first -Leveling not gained through combat but through item that is on floors -Potential to have some story but is lacking it entirely So all in all this is a decent title but of course there are better rouge likes out there for the asking price. I picked this up to scratch a "yokai in my entertainment itch" and this does it well enough. If you're interested I'd say wait for a sale. This sat in my wishlist until a 20% off sale and it may go even lower in the future. So if it seems like something you may be into keep it somewhere to keep an eye on. [quote=Crimson-Albedo]Follow my reviews through my curator at [url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/32482033/]Crim's Humble Opinion[/url][/quote]