What parents need to know
Play as the girl from the Pocky Shrine or her raccoon companion Rocky and defeat hordes of enemies with your magical shots. Pocky & Rocky Reshrined offers you to explore levels based on mythology and the Japanese bestiary.
 | Release date: 24 June 2022 Developed by: Natsume (licensed from Taito) Published by: Natsume ININ Games takes care of the physical version of the game Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4 Game Type: Shooting game in top view Average game time: 10 minutes Themes: Traditional Japan, Japanese folklore Business model: Just need to buy the game once. Number of players: 1 player on the premises There is a 2-player mode, but it needs to be unlocked after several hours of play. Available: – in digital format (download on the console) – or physical format (cartridge or CD), in very limited version The game was provided by the publisher for its review. It does not influence our opinion. |
Possible configurations of the Nintendo Switch:
 |  |  |
| Players | 3+ | 7+ | 12+ | 16+ | 18+ |
| Neophytes |  | | | | |
| Intermediate | | | | | |
| Experienced |  | |  | | |
Difficulty
Very high. No difficulty choices. It is necessary to try, lose, try, lose and learn by heart the movements and appearances of enemies.
Violence, fear, nudity?
The characters are monsters in cartoon, manga format. They pull the grimace, show their teeth but that’s all. When they are defeated, they turn into a room.
Language level used
Very little dialogue.
Positive message
Encourages to persevere, to concentrate.
Minimum reading level required
Very little dialogue. Very optional.
Additional costs ?
none.
Minimum level of execution on the controller required
It is not difficult to perform, but it will take good coordination, reflexes and memory to pass the tests.
Game principle
You go through the levels filled with Japanese monsters and temples. You shoot at everything that moves, or try to avoid them, and you get to the end of the level where you will have to defeat a boss.
At your disposal, 4 actions:
- Shooting
- Magical spell that cleans the surroundings of the character, enemies.
- Reflection, which allows both to attack enemies in hand-to-hand combat, or to reflect their projectiles.
- Dodge, which allows your character to suddenly jump in the direction indicated. However, this dodge goes far too far, and risks landing in other enemies. In addition, we can not move for many seconds after the activation of it, leaving us vulnerable.
The principle of the game is really based on trial and error. As soon as you arrive in the game will many enemies will move in the direction of your character. No tutorial exists, you have to learn the basics and subtleties of the game hard.
By dint of trying, you will arrive further and further, and eventually unlock new characters, a cooperative mode playable with 2 players locally only, and new skills.
Local game mode
Only a story mode that you have to go through many times to unlock helpers.
8 levels full of danger await you.
The “Free” mode allows you to play 2 players but you have to complete the story mode or collect 10,000 coins on enemies in order to unlock it. You can get about 100 to 500 coins per try.
It takes 3000 coins to unlock a very easy mode, which is totally counterintuitive.
Limited physical edition and collector’s edition
Stuttgart, Germany-based publisher ININ Games will publish physical editions of the game. Some limited editions have plush toys and other gadgets inside.
More information on the GamesRocket website.
Conclusion
The game is pretty, the art direction is neat, but … it is very difficult and frustrating. It’s definitely not a walk in the park, and I don’t like the fact that you have to struggle for several hours before unlocking the co-op mode. The enemies are always ready to ambush you, you also have to learn the levels by heart.
Unfortunately, only the most persevering players will be able to find pleasure in this game.
More information about the game: Official game page
