Review of Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs: An Exciting and Steamy Maze by Kiwami

A dull visit to an eerie onsen

Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs: The Thrilling Steamy Maze Kiwami
Platform: PC, also on PlayStation 5, Switch, and mobile
Developer: Matrix Software
Publisher: FURYU Corporation
Release date: January 17th, 2024
Price: $29.99 via digital download, $26.99 launch price through January 29th
Availability: Steam

The whimsical idea of Tadahiro Miura’s Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs serves as its foundation. The manga, which is serialized across 24 volumes, narrates the tale of “hands-on psychic” Kogarashi Fuyuzora, who uses his bare fists to beat and banish yōkai. However, the life of a wandering exorcist is not very lucrative, so Kogarashi has to arrange a room at a run-down onsen in order to make ends meet.

The benefit is that, for a thousand yen a month, he can remain for as long as he pleases. An additional benefit is that a multitude of women suddenly take over the host, led by Yuuna Yunohana, a ghost covered in yukatas who is confined to the inn. Like in other harems, a lot of the girls have affections for Kogarashi, which sets off a series of amusing and sensual events, frequently at the hot springs. There isn’t a drawback from a narrative standpoint, unless you dislike fan service.

Recognize your drunken oni, cat-girl, and ninja!

The most obvious kind of adaptation, considering the abundance of erotically beautiful people in Haunted Hot Springs, would be to make the romp into an eroge graphic novel. Furthermore, even though Kiwami gives a lot of dialogue in The Thrilling Steamy Maze, the title also imagines the group in a Mystery Dungeon clone. It pretty much follows Chunsoft’s model, except it’s more goofy than seductive. In between randomly generated dungeon treks, you will undertake some menu-driven experimenting to obtain a statistical edge. Furthermore, until you use a Santa suit in combat, it’s difficult to determine how much of a bonus it offers. Sure, you can make weapons and armor into ridiculous things.

The Thrilling Steamy Maze Kiwami essentially assumes that players have read the original books. You’ll be pushed into dialogue akin to a visual novel shortly after the game launches, introducing you to the majority of the manga’s cast. Though savvy players may be able to identify characters from the dialogue in the game, Steamy Maze doesn’t include much background information. Rather, it sees Kogarashi being drawn into a model garden with enigmatic qualities, such as talking crystals that serve as guides.

A little Cleavage in the Crawl Corridor

In order to save Kogarashi, missions frequently send Yuuna and an ally of her choosing through mazes chock-full of obstacles, objects, and traps. Success involves upgrading your party’s armor and weaponry and equipping any newly acquired amulets and talismans that grant extra abilities, all in accordance with the roguelike concept. When The Thrilling Steam Maze tries to trap you in a room full of enemies, the last two are essential. If your character is cursed, Yuuna may be able to disperse opponents throughout the dungeon’s current floor, maybe saving your life. Fortunately, you can break any jinxes that are causing you to miss attacks frequently by finding a foot spring inside a dungeon.

Naturally, Yuuna will fumble. She might come under attack from all sides, be unable to break a curse, or suffer from a mix of all kinds of misfortunes. You will lose all of your owned items at that point, including any equipped armor or upgraded weapons. You have an opportunity to retrieve your belongings in the Exciting Steamy Maze. However, you’ll need to descend to the level where you were eliminated. That can be difficult if you’re short on cash and your loadout has been seized.

The Advantages of Reusing Bath Water

Yes, the sudden death in Steamy Maze can be frustrating on a regular basis. Furthermore, you can’t merely grind out strength gains because Yuuna and her chosen adventuring comparison have their experience level reset each time they enter a dungeon. In response, the game—which was initially exclusive to Japan for the PlayStation 4—has been updated and now includes some optional DLC weapons to make sure you never run into a deadlock.

Some players could find the game’s mini-game featuring hot springs stimulating, despite the dialogue and action being quite bland. The Thrilling Steam Maze has you defend the girls’ bodies from waves of intruders while they bathe, bringing back memories of the Criminal Girls’ “don’t get caught playing public” shenanigans. It feels like you’re playing a Flash game from the early 2000s, only you’re a tanuki with sunglasses going around and smacking enemies with your tail. However, just like with today’s streamers, used bath water can improve your armor and weaponry. Attempt to clarify that to the train passenger sitting next to you.

In summary

Utilizing a mouse and keyboard on a laptop or desktop, The Thrilling Steamy Maze is a suitable game to play. But when using portable PCs like the Steam Deck or ROG Ally, a few problems become apparent. You can get through a stage with a controller, but every single on-screen button instruction is likely to be wrong. Because of the unique key bindings in the game (such using “tab” to skip dialog), you’ll probably need to design your own control scheme or at the very least download a community one. Additionally, the game’s character portraits have some ugly edges because the display resolution cannot be changed.

True, not much sexiness can be found in the majority of Mystery Dungeon games. And even though a few vapor clouds obstruct your view of the onsen, Thrilling Steamy Maze Kiwami’s only distinguishing feature is a small portion of skin. Given their superior gameplay, any of the Shiren the Wanderer games are a better choice if you’re genuinely interested in overhead, turn-based roguelikes.

The Exciting Steamy Maze of Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs
Kiwami was played on a PC using a review code that the publisher sent over.

Review Overview

Gameplay – 60%

Controls – 40%

Aesthetics – 75%

Content – 70%

Accessibility – 50%

Value – 45%

57%

DISAPPOINTING

Summary : Regretfully, there isn’t anything about Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs: The Thrilling Steamy Maze Kiwami that makes it worth recommending. The gameplay is too similar to Mystery Dungeon, even though fans of the manga or anime would be inspired to go dungeoneering with ghosts, ninjas, and cat-girls.