Kotomasho First Impressions
- chrishstreams
- Jan 31, 2023
- 3 min read
Kotomasho First Impressions
Developed by Walgallen
Story
Kotomasho: I Can't Believe This NEET Guy Turned into a Magical Girl, is the full title of the game. And honestly the story is right there in the title of the game. The game is about a NEET, a young adult who isn’t in school or working, by the name of Genji who gets teleported to the Realm of Dreams and transformed into a magical girl. While in this dream world Genji befriends a magical creature named Yumeko and decides to help her fight off Nightmares and search for her long-lost sisters. While the comedy in the story is clearly apparent, Walgallen does a great job with balancing the comedic elements with mystery and thriller sprinkled in along the way. It doesn’t take long before realizing that there is something seriously messed up about the Realm of Dreams. It is very intriguing and has one of the best teaser endings I’ve encountered in a demo.
Gameplay
Kotomasho is an adventure game inspired by anime and retro Gameboy Color Games like Link’s Awakening. Which is honestly the best way I can describe the gameplay, think 2D Zelda but with Sailor Moon’s flashy moves. Throughout the demo the player is tasked with clearing dungeons, fighting enemies, and solving puzzles. I found the dungeons to be very fun, filled with intense enemy spawns and clever puzzles. The way I can tell if I’m enjoying an adventure game is when I don’t really care what direction I decide to go in, because it’s all just as fun. I felt that way while playing Kotomasho. In the sprawling open area, I enjoyed getting the jump on distracted enemies surrounding a campfire, reminiscent of games like Genshin Impact and Breath of the wild. Something else I really enjoyed about the gameplay was the customizable play styles. Genji can change, based on pickups that can be found in the game, the type of projectile he can use. My personal favorite was B which curves around like a boomerang after you throw it. Overall, the gameplay is very fun and can get really intense when a lot of enemies begin to spawn, I feel this game will have speed run records waiting to be broken.
Sound & Art
Walgallen is the solo dev for this game and oversees both the sound and art. The mix between Gameboy Color and 90s Magical Girl Anime was meshed so perfectly. In between chapters there are even commercial bumps that all anime fans will recognize, that come on just before an anime goes on commercial and right before it comes back. The pixel art in the game looks fantastic and went great with the Gameboy Color era color palette. Walgallen is also a talented musician. This isn’t the first time that I’ve written about Walgallen’s music as they also did the music for a previous demo I played, called Mislight. While I live streamed Kotomasho, many people in the chat complimented the music and felt like it perfectly captured the sounds of that era of gaming. I personally would buy the soundtrack for Kotomasho.
Overall Impressions
The time and effort that Walgallen put in, as a solo dev, definitely shows in this demo. The map was so much bigger than I expected it to be, the story was so well written, and perfectly captured the aesthetic it was going for. While playing I could picture myself playing this game on Gameboy Color. Overall, I think that if you’re a fan of Gameboy Color era games or 90s anime like Sailor Moon or Cardcaptor Sakura, you should try out this demo.
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