Homura

Many tropes of the shoot-em-up genre are thoroughly established and easy to identify, so it is not common to see a Japanese-themed bullet hell shmup created by Koreans, let alone having the chance to play a good one. This is where Homura steps in and gets the privilege of representing such an uncommon diaspora of gaming. Developed by Skonec, known for their contributions in the genre with Psyvariar 2, the game seems to mesh elements that feel right at home for many players while still managing to have its own identity in many respects. It was released in 2005 for the arcade, later followed by a PlayStation 2 port.

Frankly, the story has never been of importance in such a frantic genre where your only objective is to shoot everything in sight and survive as long as possible. It does though, more often than not, offer imaginative art styles and designs with settings that can be quite memorable. Homura (which roughly translates to “flame” or “blaze”) sits right in the middle of it all. Set in a fictional timeline during the Japanese Edo period, the story revolves around a forbidden Heaven’s jewel which came to Ieyasu Tokugawa’s possession, granting him many powers, resulting in the invasion of Osaka Castle, and opening his path for ruling the kingdoms. Of course, no one is going to let him have it his way, so members of different families unite to oppose him. Their only hope is Homura, the powerful half-human being, who is not affected by the jewel due to his bloodline, and is the only one capable of defeating the demonic army of Tokugawa.