Azure Reflections – Review (PC)
Shooters and shoot ‘em ups can come wrapped in all sorts of different packages. This may be the most diverse genre since so many different games can be considered shooters. Azure Reflections falls somewhere in the genre as a side-scrolling shooter set against a fantastical backdrop.
The nonsensical storyline is as follows: set in a mysterious garden of darkness known as Scarlet Devil Manor a deep red mist appears and threatens life as we know it. The first time the mist appears two human girls rise up and vanquish the evil foe. Like most evils, the red mist returned once again and the two girls were tasked with banishing the blood red mist for a second time. This time they enlist the help of a fairy in an attempt to rid the world of this darkness for good.
Azure Reflections offers quite a bit of customization when it comes to controls, but we found that most of the customization really didn’t work well. Though you can use a PS4 or Xbox one controller it seems that using the keyboard is the easiest way to make sure that the controls are how you want them. Like any side-scrolling shooter, you’ll be moving your character up, down, left, and right as you shoot enemies that appear on both sides of the screen – sometimes all at once. Aside from your normal weapons you’ll have a few special moves and spells that you’ll need to work into your arsenal in order to take out the game’s many bosses.
Before the game begins, you’ll chose which character and weapon type you’ll use on your journey as well as difficulty settings. Easy and normal both offer little challenge and, though hard does add some difficulty, it’s still not much different because hits appear to be random and you never know when the enemy’s weapons will actually hit you.
Gameplay is honestly a mess. The default weapon set should have Z shooting to the left and C to the right, but they are nonsensically switched, and we found ourselves having to use the inverted shooting controls during our time with the game. As mentioned, there is mayhem on the screen constantly, yet you only appear to be hit randomly. This means that you are never able to know which shot will actually hit you so avoiding them is pointless. You’ll just want to shoot your heart out as you take out the enemies in each level and, ultimately, each boss. One thing that is hard to understand is how slow the game feels considering how much is actually happening on screen. Your character moves like a tortoise as you try and move from side to side taking out the baddies.
Another frustrating thing about the game involves the dialogue. Though there is an option for subtitles, there aren’t any during the gameplay. Considering the characters are constantly talking as they fight, it becomes infuriating because you have no idea what they are saying to each other.
There are some fun items and characters to unlock as you progress, but the gameplay is repetitive as there aren’t a ton of levels it feels painfully long.
As far as Bullet Hell games go… unless you are a fan of the source material there are much better ways to spend your precious time.
Check out our Review Guide to see what we criteria we use to score games.
*Azure Reflections the reviewer by the publishing company but this fact did not alter the reviewer’s opinion*
