Touhou Project has received a countless number of games over the years, making it one of the most recognizable franchises in the Japanese gaming niche. Alliance Arts and Unknown X’s Marisa of Liartop Mountain is the latest addition to the series lineage, and it might just be one of the my Touhou Project games yet. Marisa of Liartop Mountain fuses tabletop mechanics with more traditional turn-based RPG elements for a game that I just couldn’t get enough of. Gameplay is rather simple in Marisa of Liartop Mountain, but the game’s narrative and tabletop elements make it an absolute joy to play.
Set in the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Marisa of Liartop Mountain sits players down at the table to experience the story of Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame from Patchouli Knowledge’s magical book. Marisa has gone missing, and Reimu vows to look for her. This story is the focus of Patchouli’s self-proposed game, which requires the direct input of herself, Remilia Scarlet, Flandre Scarlet, and Sakuya Izayoi. Unbeknownst to the girls, the player takes the role of Reimu as she searches far and wide for Marisa in the book’s various chapters, and the player is also responsible for making important decisions.
Marisa of Liartop Mountain is Simple RPG that I Can’t Get Enough of
Admittedly, I’ve never dabbled into tabletop games, but Marisa of Liartop Mountain is certainly an amazing starting point for me due to the narrative and subtle turn-based RPG systems. Players control Reimu and make decisions for her in various areas that are diorama and board-game like. Each character in the game appears like game pieces, so it almost gives off a real-life tabletop or toy-like impression. The environments, and the overall aesthetic of Marisa of Liartop Mountain, invoke a strong sense of fantasy due to lighting and visuals reminiscent of Fantasian and Square Enix’s HD-2D games. The similarities with those games end there, though, as the tabletop and elements shine through to create a unique identity for Marisa of Liartop Mountain.
With the guidance of dice, the player will explore chapters filled with mysteries and intrigue in order to search for the whereabouts of the missing Marisa. Marisa of Liartop Mountain is presented like a book to the player through the UI itself. On the right hand side of the UI, the game’s story plays out page by page, narrated by voice actress and announcer Chiaki Matsuzawa, also known as NEKI. Dice comes into play during battles and when making decisions that rely on chance. For example, in combat, Reimu will think of various different strategies, and the player’s roll of the dice will determine which strategy is enacted, for better or worse. There are various types of die to collect and use throughout the playthrough, so the game does smarten players up and allows them to use any combined pair of die to get the desired outcome.
Nearly every action that Reimu takes can be read from the book and enacted, such as navigating from one area to another, talking to NPCs, saving at a save point, or even looking for secrets. It’s simple—almost like progressing a visual novel—but it’s more interactive through the entire game due to the Scarlet Devil Mansion party’s input and the narrated story. As a fan of visual novels and RPGs, I found Marisa of Liartop Mountain to be one of the coziest games I ever played thanks to the aesthetic, the narration, and the simple but engaging gameplay loop. The diverse range of music by RD-Sounds was also a treat to hear.
Some RPG Depth While Staying True to its Core
Each Scarlet Devil Mansion member can provide ideas and advice on how she should grow, and the player can certainly take those into consideration. In fact, the influence that each girl asserts onto the player through her suggestions is graded at the end of each character. There is a leveling and stat system, but its more secondary to the experience. While playing each chapter, defeating enemies, progressing the main story by fulfilling objectives, and finding secrets will earn XP for Reimu. You’ll also get the opportunity to choose a reward from one of the four girls upon leveling up, such as a new dice, expanded dice slots, or stat increases. You can also regain Cheat Points, which allow you to reroll dice or make other decisions that require the usage of Cheat Points.
Although there’s no real grinding to do, certain boss enemies can still be tough, so I appreciate that there’s still some balance to consider. When faced with challenging enemies, you have to think outside the box and consider Reimu’s environment to get an advantage or take risks head-on. Which option you choose, it still feels like I’m playing a RPG, and since that was likely the intention, Marisa of Liartop Mountain does capture the essence of tabletop games. It offers the tabletop experience while bringing the comfort and gameplay that only video games can bring.
Despite how much I enjoyed Marisa of Liartop Mountain, there were still some aspects that I would have liked to have seen improvements in. There’s a lack of voice acting outside of NEKI’s narration and Mariko Honda’s portrayal of Marisa Kirisame. This goes a long way in the game, but I would have loved to have heard voice acting for the girls at Scarlet Devil Mansion during the intermissions between chapters and during major moments in the story. Other than that, the PC version runs well at 60 FPS at any resolution, and the game basically reads any controller. It was a bug-free experience, and I can’t recall encountering any typos, which was quite surprising considering the amount of text in the game. I’d also love a Nintendo Switch 2 version, since that bring the best of both worlds when it comes to portability, performance, and ease of use.
Marisa of Liartop Mountain is a Hidden Gem that Shouldn’t Be Overlooked
I didn’t know that I really needed or would have enjoyed the concept of a tabletop RPG until Marisa of Liartop Mountain came around. Marisa of Liartop Mountain is a really great game with a narrative that puts the player at its center. Although there’s definitely an illusion of choice to some extent, I enjoy the freedom that Marisa of Liartop Mountain gives you. If you want to take risks, you can. If you want to play 4D chess and pick a strategy that will make things easy, you can. All of this is true while satisfying some of the criteria I expect in more traditional RPGs, such as an interesting story, a robust cast of characters, and a rewarding gameplay and leveling system.
Marisa of Liartop Mountain launches on September 19 for Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam, and a 10% launch discount is available for digital copies through October 3.
Disclaimer: Alliance Arts and Unknown X provided a Steam key of Marisa of Liartop Mountain for review purposes.
