Fantasy Maiden Wars: Dream of the Stray Dreamer is your next tactical RPG

After over a decade of fans begging for it, the English version of the bullet hell tactical RPG Fantasy Maiden Wars: Dream of the Stray Dreamer is finally being released on Steam. Touhou fans, rejoice!

Created by independent Japanese soft developer Team Shanghai Alice, The Touhou Project (or simply Touhou) is a series of shoot 'em up bullet hell style video games. Originally revealed back in 2021 as Gensou Shoujo Wars, the English version of Fantasy Maiden Wars: Dream of the Stray Dreamer will finally see the light of day on October 21st on Steam.

Fantasy Maiden Wars: Dream of the Stray Dreamer is one of over 33 games in the Touhou series. In this game, you get to pick who your main character will be, picking between shrine maiden Reimu Hakurei or magician Marisa Kirisame. Make sure to choose wisely, as this will affect your story.

As in any tactical RPG, you deploy your little units on top of grid-based maps. From there, you can make the best strategic decision while taking your location, angle, and units nearby into consideration. Take the enemy down, weaken or debilitate them; you have complete control of where to plop your unit and scheme/damage away.

One thing I appreciate very much is the incredible tutorial system, complete with an ever-evolving manual that goes over terms and more things as the player progresses in the game. Being able to pick from multiple difficulty levels to fit my playing style and comfort was something that I also appreciated; I like to relax while playing video games, not struggle. I struggle enough with daily life as it is, let me pretend to be a complete badass flying and fighting other beings for a lil' bit. Anyway, being able to set the difficulty to whatever the player prefers is also great for those new to the genre, so they can get acclimated without pressure. And genre veterans can do what they do best and crank it up to 11.

The fight scenes are beautiful, fun, and worth leaving the animations on for. Every sword swing and slash, every ultimate and unique fighting ability is highlighted with gorgeous imagery. The world of Gensokyo is brought to life in a fun and immersive way, a way that will have you playing the game for very long sessions at a time. Another thing that will help pass the time as you play the game is customizing the 70+ characters with gear, assigning skills, and teaming up to wipe out the baddies in your way. As you may expect, every character is unique, and so are their abilities and traits. The number of options when it comes to team composition is unreal.

If you love games like Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics, and more, Fantasy Maiden Wars: Dream of the Stray Dreamer is a game you will definitely want to snag come October 21st.

Fantasy Maiden Wars: Dream of the Stray Dreamer gets the Pixigonal stamp of approval, and you can pre-order or wish-list it on Steam.

Pixigonal received a free copy of Fantasy Maiden Wars: Dream of the Stray Dreamer in exchange for an honest review.