Thank you ININ games for sending us a review code!

Trouble Witches was originally released in 2007 and has been re-released multiple times with Trouble Witches FINAL! Episode 01 Daughters of Amalgam being remastered and including all of the DLC. The 2016 Steam release has a lower entry price of $9.99, but by the time you add all of the DLC, the Switch edition is cheaper. However, the Steam version has been on sale for less than $2.50, so it may be cheaper at that point.

Trouble Witches FINAL! Episode 01 Daughters of Amalgam is a shoot ‘em up, but with the cute art style and easier game modes, it is also referred to as a cute ‘em up. Like shoot ‘em ups, there are lots of projectiles to avoid, and all the witches you can play have a star icon in the center of them that is their hit box. Your character will take damage if a bullet comes in contact with that star. Unique features in this game include the loot mechanics where you can only collect coins from fallen foes if you’re not pressing the fire button.

Coins are used at shops that appear multiple times throughout each level. At the shop you purchase extra lives, mana boosts, and magic cards. Each magic card temporarily changes your character’s firing pattern and often unleashes an area of effect attack. For example, you can hurl meteor showers and thunder at foes and turn them into coins.

There are multiple game modes, but the story remains the same throughout them all. A powerful witch named Amalgam has stolen a powerful ring that sealed away a demon named Draupnir. After freeing and being possessed by Draupnir, Amalgam broke the ring into six pieces and handed each fragment to her six children. The King of Eihemland (where this game takes place) spread flyers across the country promising to grant the wish of anyone who can defeat Amalgam. Twelve witches take the king up on his offer, and you can hear about their backstories in the story mode of the game.

The dialogue in the story mode is very silly as some of the reasons why these girls are risking their lives are rather odd. One of them takes on Amalgam to prove that she’s not a cat, while another is searching for her missing mother. One of the witches is an idol looking to boost her popularity and another is a priestess looking to exorcise the demon Draupnir once and for all.

I highly recommend playing through the story mode first since it’s fully dubbed in English. The other arcade modes have some Japanese voice acting with no subtitles to let you know what they are saying. Each of the twelve characters routes should take less than an hour to complete, and after doing so, they will be unlocked and available to play in the harder Valpurgis Night mode. The Valpurgis Night mode follows the same story, but the enemy patterns are a bit different, and you’ll have to deal with more attacks from behind, and more projectiles in general.

The arcade modes (enhanced and original Japanese arcade AC) are quicker to play through because they don’t have much chatter or a story. I do like the conclusions at the end, and because of that they’re worth playing despite being similar to the other modes.

There’s a Boss Rush mode that loops all of the boss battles indefinitely. Since your score doesn’t reset and you can continue endlessly, it gets repetitive quickly. I think the only way to lose is to run out of time during a boss battle.

For added replayability there are multiple difficulty levels to play at with the easiest having the least amount of projectiles to avoid. There are four difficulty modes (No Sweat, Troubling, Nervous, and Stress max), but only two of them are ranked in in the online leaderboards. Troubling and Stress Max are included in the online rankings. However, if you alter the game options like adding more lives, they will no longer be eligible.

With witches being the playable characters, it should come as no surprise that there are multiple moral issues to mention in this review. Magic is used through the cards, but each of the witches has a magic circle that can appear and repel enemy attacks. These magic circles can contain occult symbols. Cartoon violence is shown during the boss battles against Amalgam’s offspring. No blood is shown. Most of the enemies are ships and explode. There are references to homosexuality and alcohol consumption. Lastly, there are lots or curse words (*ss, d*mn, p*ssed, sh*t) used throughout the game. The Lord’s name is used in vain too.

Moral issues aside, Trouble Witches FINAL! Episode 01 Daughters of Amalgam is a fun cute ‘em up. I enjoyed the similar Cotton games and am happy to see Cotton is available as a DLC character, though I think I’ll wait for a sale before purchasing her! While Trouble Witches FINAL! Episode 01 Daughters of Amalgam can be a bit repetitive, it is fun. It’s a shame that there’s no Episode 2 in the works.