Yurukill: The Calumniation Games

Yurukill: The Calumniation Games blends visual novel story and Shmup gameplay to create a very engaging experience.

I’m not sure whether to think of Yurukill as a decent shmup with a good adventure game attached, or a good adventure game with a decent shmup minigame inserted into it. Perhaps it doesn’t matter, as the two disparate flavors taste great together all the same.

Yurukill: The Calumniation Games is an ideal game for fans of Japanese mystery games who are looking for a different experience from the usual. Mixing puzzles with shoot 'em up we have found a very original title that, without standing out too much in anything, has turned out to be an enjoyable experience.

Yurukill: The Calumniation Games is greater than the sum of its parts. The bullet hell sections are fun and challenging if a bit drab in design and variety while the escape room sections have good character interactions but are far too simple and tame for what you might expect in a game about an amusement park where people can be murdered with the push of a button. Tear them apart and you get two substandard games that likely wouldn’t be worth anybody’s time. Keep them together, however, and you’ve got a one-of-a-kind experience that’s worth checking out.

Despite our relative indifference toward the shmup sections and our frustration with some of the puzzles, by the time we cleared each team’s attraction and really got to know the eccentric cast before the intense final chapters, Yurukill: The Calumniation Games had thoroughly hooked us. Individually, the puzzle-solving and shooter elements aren’t anything particularly special, but they come together with some ridiculous characters to form a game greater than the sum of its parts. We’d go so far as to say we like pickles on ice cream now, and – while you might think us as crazy as Binko – we think you might, too.

Yurukill is a great game, with awesome music and artwork, but specially well designed in all the variety of genres it provides. What makes it hard to recommend is that all the genres are very different from one another to appeal to all audiences. Without the capacity to play the Shmup sessions alone without the need to finish the game once, or disable the Shoot-em up sessions for those who only want to play the Visual Novel, the game may not appeal to you, even if you are a fan of one of those genres.

Yurukill: The Calumniation Games is a valiant effort to merge together two niche genres but it feels a bit underwhelming. The premise of the titular Yurukill Games is interesting and the characters have compelling backstories but there needs to be more meat and narrative justifications for the shoot-em-up gameplay sections. Without spoiling anything, the game’s ending is indeed sequel bait. If this game’s shortcomings can be addressed in a follow-up, there’s definitely potential here.