Touhou Mystia's Izakaya Review

Game: Touhou Mystia’s Izakaya
Genre: Simulation, Time Management, Music
System: Nintendo Switch (Also available on Steam (Windows and macOS))
Developers|Publishers: Dichroic Purpilion | Phoenixx
Age Rating: US Teen | EU 7+
Price: US $26.99| UK £22.90 | EU € 25,99
Release Date: May 2nd, 2024

A review code was used, with many thanks to Stride PR.

This is the story of Mystia Lorelei, a resident of Gensokyo in the Touhou Universe. She is the proud owner of a mobile izakaya, and you will help her fulfil her dream of reviving her establishment to its former glory. She had a good tavern going in the past until one day it was ransacked by a mysterious customer. But night sparrow Mystia isn’t one to sit still and give up! As a favour to a friend, she repays their loan, and to earn money to pay off her debt, she starts with a new Izakaya. Let’s see where her journey takes us in Touhou Mystia’s Izakaya.

A lively and chaotic scene from "Touhou Mystia's Izakaya" inside the izakaya. One character is flustered, dodging various flying kitchen utensils and food items, while another character in a maid outfit seems to control the chaos with a confident expression. The room is decorated with Japanese lanterns and traditional wooden furniture, enhancing the immersive, festive atmosphere of the scene. Published on: LadiesGamers. — Chaos: Mystia’s dream is in shambles

Gensokyo and Youkai

Mystia, our protagonist, is a Youkai, a term that loosely translates to spirit or demon. She lives in the world of Gensokyo, a fantasy land where myths are very real, that is populated by animals, humans and youkai. Gensokyo is the realm where all the games from Project Touhou take place. Touhou Project is a collection of games, manga, music and also fan-made fiction made or inspired by creator ZUN. He is a musician, programmer, character designer, and developer of “Team Shanghai Alice”, who created a series of games known as Touhou Project.

Marisa Kirisame is one of the characters from the other games

Most games in the collection are side-scrolling shooting games, but there are some spin-offs, and Touhou Mystia’s Izakaya is one of them. (Want to know more about Touhou Project: TouhouFest.org). Several games revolve around Reimu Hakurei, a shrine maiden from Hakurei Shrine and a magician called Marisa Kirisame. You’ll get to know these characters in Touhou Mystia’s Izakaya as well, but as special guests that visit the Izakaya.

We did review a Touhou Project game before, Koumajou Remilia: Scarlet Symphony, but I have never played any of the games in Touhou Project. I think that if you’re a fan, you are in for a treat. So many familiar faces in the story of Mystia!

The Gameplay of Touhou Mystia’s Izakaya

Touhou Mystia’s Izakaya is a simulation game that incorporates rhythm mini-games, but the main gameplay ingredient is time management. That’s the part of the game I love; I’m horrible at rhythm games. I think the music that you can play with must be very familiar for the fans of Touhou Project games.

An animated concert scene in Touhou Mystia's Izakaya with two characters playing traditional instruments inside a festive yurt decorated with lanterns, symbolizing a lively in-game event. Published on: LadiesGamers. — When you click on the jukebox, this is the opening screen for the rhythm game.

You can find them when clicking on the jukeboxes that you see at several places in the game. Clicking on them brings up several songs to choose from, trying to get your score as high as can be by pressing the right buttons at the right time. Fortunately for me, it’s not mandatory to play that rhythm game.

To get Mystia’s Izakaya up and running, and even expanding to new areas, you collect ingredients all over Gensokyo during the day. Talking to characters you meet and solving tasks for them can lead to new recipes. You can buy ingredients, beverages and sometimes recipes from merchants. The progression of time is done in a special way. Every time you collect something, 30 minutes passes. Making dishes in your house to have a stock for the night to serve to customers also takes 30 minutes per dish, as does travelling to a new area.

In the game Touhou Mystia's Izakaya: The bustling Human Village market depicted in bright daylight. Characters interact with various stalls, including a food stall and a pottery shop, as traditional Japanese-style wooden buildings and lanterns adorn the background. Published on: LadiesGamers. — The merchants in the human village

This means there’s only so much you can do during the day, as at 6 pm the Izakaya has to open for customers, and Mystia has to be ready to serve her dishes. That’s also when the fun begins!

Running a Succesful Tavern

The first job is to set things up. You choose who will assist you and what task you will set them. In the beginning, Kyouko Kasodani helps you out. They can only take care of the drinks, later on, you can also set them other jobs. You choose the recipes you want to make that night, considering which ingredients you have available. You also pick what drinks you will serve and what kitchenware you need to prepare the dishes.

Inside the bustling izakaya with characters seated and a server managing the bar. The scene captures a typical day with customers enjoying meals and the lively atmosphere of the izakaya. Published on: LadiesGamers. — One dish left to be prepared, and one special guest is in the house

Eventually, the Izakaya gets bigger, but you start out with 3 or 6 tables for customers. The first Izakaya is situated at the YouKai trail, and later on you can also move to the human village. The visitors and their taste in food varies with the site you’ve set up your Izakaya. The special visitors also depend on the place where the Izakaya is.

These rare visitors don’t automatically put in their order; you have to talk to them yourself and gauge, based on their description, what kind of food and drink will make them happy. Because there will be consequences either way! Make them super happy, and you will get a unique reward spell card. Give them the wrong dish, and you get a punish spell card. The spell cards will give rewards or hinder you.

A game interface of Touhou Mystia's Izakaya showing a collection of character profiles with attributes, focusing on a guest book page with special spells like "Moon Sign 'Moonlight Ray'" and "Darkness Sign 'Demarcation'". Published on: LadiesGamers. — The rare guests and their spell cards

It’s up to you to make the right recipes, accompanied by a little mini-game to hit some musical notes at the right time. Hitting these right notes gives you benefits, like ultimately the power to fling dishes to the right tables, so you won’t have to run back and forth.

For the rare visitors, you can adjust the recipes to suit their tastes and wishes. The reward spell cards will help you string combos of successfully delivered orders together, thus earning you more money. The punish spell cards will lead to bad things happening, like the Darkness Sign, where a black cloud blocks the cart, so you can’t do a thing!

Complete Package for the Switch

Although Touhou Mystia’s Izakaya has been out of Steam for quite some time, the version coming to the Nintendo Switch is very complete. It includes all downloadable content previously released, broadening the characters you can meet and the number of locations for your Izakaya. You will also find new ingredients, more recipes and costumes to collect.

A vibrant scene in Touhou Mystia's Izakaya at Youkai Trail with two characters standing in front of a wooden cabin with a traditional thatched roof, surrounded by lush green trees. A train-like vehicle with ornate decorations is stationed on a bridge. Published on: LadiesGamers. — Mystia’s cabin on the Youkai trail

These are the DLC’s included:

Forest of Magic & Youkai Mountain (DLC1)
Former Hell & Chireiden (DLC2)
Myouren Temple & Divine Spirit Mausoleum (DLC3)
Garden of the Sun & Shining Needle Castle (DLC4)
Makai & Lunar Capital (DLC5)
Especially for the music & rhythm enthusiasts: Rhythm Game (DLC2.5)

Spellbinding Gaming For Fans Too

The management part of stringing combos together, trying to make the best dishes for rare guests and making sure I earn enough to pay my debt is wonderful. I’m not a big fan of retro graphics, but in Touhou Mystia’s Izakaya it doesn’t bother me in the slightest. The game looks lovely. Discovering new areas with all the DLC is great, and the addition of the spells that your visitors can put upon the Izakaya is interesting.

A dialogue scene in Touhou Mystia's Izakaya showing a character named Chen offering a humorous contract about handprints or pawprints, representing a moment of quirky humor in the game. Published on: LadiesGamers. — Please, I’d like to keep my kneecaps.

The game has a great soundtrack, and the controls are spot on. When it gets very hectic, the gameplay pauses when you have to check out the requirements for your special guests. Even the loading screens are fun to watch, with Mystia working the wok or the grill like a musical Masterchef.

Conclusion for Touhou Mystia’s Izakaya

I’m having a blast playing this game while I know nothing about other Touhou Projects, or Gensokyo for that matter. For fans of the games who love a bit of time management simulation, Touhou Mystia’s Izakaya is a must-play.

An in-game menu of Touhou Mystia's Izakaya showing a selection of dishes and ingredients, highlighted by an item description of "Cubic Kedama Volcanic Tofu" with attributes such as expensive, vegetarian, and photogenic. Published on: LadiesGamers. — I’m not sure if I’d like this Cubic Kedama Volcanic Tofu.

It’s not just about cooking dishes quickly and sufficiently; the simulation aspect is fleshed out nicely as well. Chatting with characters during the day and serving them the best dishes at night ensures their friendship level rises. Which in turn leads to hearing their unique stories and their help in getting recipes, ingredients and so on.

Add a great soundtrack and good graphics to all that, and you’ll understand why I love this game.

Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up