Recent reviews by BlitzNexus

Crashes constantly on linux and a pretty egregious amount of DLC. Decent game otherwise.

While I have been enjoying what I've played so far this game has a major issue with VRAM usage - it seems to just not flush VRAM after use which means after a certain amount of time (around 30 mins-1 hour for me) playing you will have to leave to the main menu and come back in order to not have an unplayable amount of stuttering.

This gets even worse once you unlock the hub city area where the VRAM usage ramps up, in this area you're looking at about 5 minutes of gameplay before the stuttering becomes unplayable. Lowering graphical settings does mitigate the problem somewhat, but ultimately it just extends the amount of time until you're inevitably going to have to restart the game again anyway, especially if you're on a lower VRAM card.

While I'd love to write a review about the actual game and how it progresses, this pretty massive performance issue is turning me off from playing anymore for the time-being. I'll be leaving this negative review until the devs fix this issue.

Also a bonus negative point for using denuvo because I got locked out of the game while messing around with proton trying to see if that would change/fix the VRAM usage issue.

The big question for anyone reading reviews on this game is probably just - is it as good as undertale? To which I say -

Probably?

I say so because the game is, still, not finished. I believe there are intended to be 7 chapters and the release currently sits at 4, though if you purchase it now you will get those later ones for free. So that is something to keep in mind if you're thinking about purchasing it right now.

What is here right now though is excellent. In the gameplay department Deltarune absolutely smoke Undertale, Undertale pretty much just looks like a proof-of-concept game by comparison. Having a full party adds depth to the mechanics but Toby Fox also got even more creative with the attack patterns and boss fights in this game.

Music is still great, though it's not quite up to the level of Undertale in my opinion, at least as of yet. It's certainly got bangers and most of the music is still fantastic, but nothing that has ear-wormed into my brain quite the way Undertale's themes did.

Likewise with the story. The quality of writing is on par but the story hasn't left the impact Undertale. Having said that, the story is also quite literally only halfway complete, so it would be like me trying to criticise Undertale's story if I stopped playing after beating Undyne. It is also a much longer narrative than Undertale - my first run-through here (granted I was messing around with secret bosses) took around 20 hours, completing all 3 main routes in Undertale took less time than that. By the time all the chapters come out this is going to full-on JRPG length.

I don't regret buying it at this stage, though no doubt I'm going to have to take some time to refresh myself when Chapter 5 drops in 2026, but if the fact the game's narrative isn't finished puts you off then don't buy it for the time-being. I haven't seen it confirmed anywhere but people have said that the base price is apparently going to go up as new chapters release, but I'm sure the game will go on sale and such in the future and that'll offset things, so I wouldn't worry too much about that if you're hesitant about dropping £20+ on it right now (though it is, in my opinion, well worth that £20 even given what it is).

tl;dr - if you liked undertale then you'll like it - gameplay is better and all other aspects are on par or, if not, almost on par. just remember it's also only half-finished before deciding to buy

Still don't know if I wanna drop £80 to get the game and the DLC quite frankly, but I'm simply astounded that in the year of our lord 2025 something running on unreal engine using denuvo is somehow a buttery smooth PC port with no visible issues after an hour of gameplay.

All these guys did before this game btw was anime gacha butts and boobs.

Western studios you have no excuse jesus ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ christ.

DMC1 is pretty rough around the edges but enjoyable enough overall

DMC3 is great and really where the series hits its stride - gameplay of course isn't on par with something like DMC5 but it's still very good nonetheless and it has far better characterisation and writing than DMC5

DMC2 is so incredible, so powerful, that my PC apparently can't even launch it.

DMC2 now works - however I wish it didn't.

In short: taiko itself is a great and very fun game but I cannot recommend this specific version.

Base song list is quite pitiful, though this is bolstered massively if you buy the music pass, it doesn't sit right with me that you basically have to do that in order to have a decent song selection for a game that's already near-AAA price.

Most of the songs (particularly the anime ones) seem to be covers rather than the original versions, and largely worse than the original versions. Quite disappointing.

Lack of mouse navigation in a PC game is frustrating. I know most people will play with controller or a drum but this shouldn't be that hard to implement.

If none of that bothers you then by all means pick this game up, though I would say to at least wait for a sale. It's cool to see taiko finally making its way to PC in an official format, but if this overpriced, cover-filled offering is what we're going to be getting then I can't say I'm enthused.

If I could give a neutral/mixed review I would.

This game's central gimmick is interesting and I like the overall aesthetic, but the game gets incredibly repetitive on repeat playthroughs, unlike typical VNs where you can skip dialogue until you get to new content, in this game you will be actively punished for doing so. You have to respond to every DM Ame gives you or else you'll game over early on. This makes getting further endings extremely tedious.

My other gripe with this game is the writing. There's some good moments in here for sure but, and maybe this is the point of the game, but Ame gives you no reason to really like her. If you relate to her personal issues then sure I can perhaps see it, but she's a massive ♥♥♥♥♥ through-out and, while I've only done about 4-5 endings thus far, none of them end in her being an endearing character or someone I was particularly upset about watching spiral. I had no attachment to her from the start really. I'm not sure if this is purely a product of how she's written or just how short each run is (even if you go all the way to day 30 it'll take you less than an hour), but either way it results in a rather un-satisfying and honestly rather forgettable experience for something that seems to be very big on its "deep and shocking" themes.

I also didn't feel as if the game had anything particularly new/interesting/nuanced to say about the themes it does explore. I won't go too into detail so as to not spoil things, but it's pretty much all the kind of commentary you could get from just browsing /vt/ for 5 minutes.

That said, it is only £4 at the minute and there's some fun to be had if you do a few playthroughs, so it's a mixed review overall from me.

Honestly crazy that this is free. This could easily go for the same price as vampire survivors with some of its DLC and be well worth it. Tons of content to enjoy here, especially if you're a hololive fan.

Mad respect for the passion of this dev making something so high quality completely for free. Just hoping they add Rushia and JP gen 5/6 :)

Short and sweet boomer shooter with a really nice visual style. Good fun to be had here.

adam hilt