Info about 东方雪莲华 ～ Abyss Soul Lotus.:

Official game description:
  
东方雪莲华 ～ Abyss Soul Lotus.是在东方Project世界观基础上创作的二次同人STG游戏。在地狱与净土的夹缝中，少女们演绎着弹幕幻想。  
遭受神秘寒流的侵袭，幻想乡一夜之间化作冰天雪地。大结界已经处于崩毁的边缘，岌岌可危。  
少女们决心化作勇者，挽狂澜于既倒，击败那倒行逆施的黑幕。  
盛开在雪原上的无数莲花，究竟会指引她们前往何处……？  
和原作相同，一边躲避敌人发出的弹幕一边将其击破，只要不被击中就完全没有问题！  
两两组合的幻想乡勇者，可以随时切换获得不同的攻击效果。  
寒流不仅封冻了幻想乡，也封印了少女们的魔力，所以非常遗憾，不能使用符卡（Bomb）。  
但是，大结界崩坏产生的碎片，有着特殊的用途。击破敌人收集碎片，把不利状况转变为自己的矛和盾吧！

Release date: 2 Feb, 2023

Categories: Bullet-hell, Single-player Story, Strategic Combat, Skill-Based Mastery, Real-time Combat


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Exceptional Art, Music, and Bullet Design (weight 0.99): Players consistently praise the game's high-quality visuals, including character art, sprites, and backgrounds. The music is frequently described as top-notch and synergistic with gameplay, while bullet patterns are noted for being creative, gorgeous, and well-designed.
- Beginner-Friendly Mechanics and Difficulty (weight 0.59): The game features a unique barrier system that makes it accessible for newcomers, allowing for more aggressive dodging and reducing instant deaths. Normal and Easy difficulties are considered reasonable and suitable for casual players, offering a good learning curve.
- High-Quality Touhou Fan Game (weight 0.34): The game is widely regarded as one of the best Touhou fan games, capturing the essence of the series while introducing innovative mechanics. It's praised for its polished presentation, music, and bullet design, often compared favorably to official Touhou titles.
- Well-Designed Stages and Bosses (weight 0.19): The game's stages, including mid-bosses and extra stages, are highly praised for their design and fresh feel. Specific stages, like stage five, are highlighted for their amazing visuals and intense battle atmosphere, contributing to an excellent stage-clearing experience.
- Engaging Replayability and Challenge (weight 0.09): The game offers replayability elements, with players finding increased enjoyment on repeated playthroughs as they master stages and bosses. While some challenges are noted, the overall design encourages learning and skill development.
- Smooth and Responsive Controls (weight 0.07): Players appreciate the game's smooth and comfortable controls, noting that movement and character switching are responsive. This contributes to the overall enjoyment of navigating bullet patterns.

Common complaints:
- Unclear and Oppressive Bullet Patterns (weight 0.32): Many players found bullet patterns difficult to see due to merging with backgrounds, excessive density, or blinding effects. The barrier system sometimes exacerbates this by making bullets invisible or leaving residual hits. This leads to an oppressive and clunky gameplay experience, especially in later stages.
- Unsatisfying and Unclear Spell Cards (weight 0.25): Several spell cards, particularly in the Extra stage, are criticized for being unreasonable, having too many off-screen elements, or prioritizing presentation over intuitive dodging. Some spell cards are also too simple or have inexplicable mechanisms, leading to an inconsistent experience.
- Inconsistent Character Art and Balance (weight 0.24): The character illustrations are noted for inconsistent art styles, resembling mobile gacha games, and feeling jarring in dialogue. Additionally, there are significant balance issues among playable characters, with some shot types being much stronger, leading to a less diverse and fair gameplay experience.
- Frustrating Countdown System (weight 0.22): The countdown system is a source of frustration for players, often leading to game over even with lives remaining, especially on higher difficulties. Its presence feels annoying and can force players to actively speed it up to avoid Last Spell Cards, which are themselves poorly implemented.
- Poor Game Optimization and Performance (weight 0.15): Players reported significant lag, frame drops, and occasional screen freezes, especially when many projectiles are on screen. Input lag and jerky movement were also noted, which negatively impacts the precision required for a bullet-hell game.
- Lack of Enjoyment and Poor First Impressions (weight 0.13): Many players expressed a general lack of enjoyment, finding the game frustrating and difficult to get into, especially for first-time players. Issues like aggressive gamepad tuning, confusing game instructions, and a melancholic atmosphere contribute to a poor initial experience.
- Underwhelming Audio Feedback (weight 0.06): The absence of normal hit sound effects when shooting enemies makes it difficult to confirm if shots are connecting. Additionally, the lack of a satisfying explosion sound after defeating the final boss diminishes the sense of accomplishment.
- Minor Stage 6 Specific Issues (weight 0.06): Specific issues in Stage 6 include a rotating laser that is hard to discern, a brief boss defeat presentation, and a mid-boss laser section in Stage 5 that seems to require invincibility frames to pass, costing multiple lives.
- Dialogue Quality Needs Improvement (weight 0.05): The game's dialogue is criticized for being too formal, unnatural, and sometimes overly 'chuunibyou,' lacking character personality and sarcasm. This suggests a need for more natural and engaging writing.

Gameplay feedback:
- Unique Barrier/Shield System (weight 0.32): The game replaces traditional bombs with a multi-layered barrier system that offers hit protection and strategic resource management. This system allows players to tank hits, clear bullets, and collect items, fundamentally changing gameplay from a pure dodging experience.
- Dual-Character Switching Mechanic (weight 0.27): Players control two characters, able to switch between them to activate unique shot types, special effects, and skills. This adds a strategic layer to gameplay, allowing for varied approaches to different situations and enemy types.
- Strategic Scoring System (weight 0.24): Scoring is deeply integrated with the barrier and countdown mechanics, requiring precise timing and activation of abilities. This makes high-score runs demanding, often necessitating restarts if mistakes are made.
- Emphasis on Memorization & Planning (weight 0.17): The game's mechanics, particularly the barrier system and complex bullet patterns, necessitate memorization and detailed planning for optimal play. This is crucial for both survival and high-score runs, especially on higher difficulties.

Performance notes:
- Performance is generally stable (weight 0.1): Players report stable 60 FPS and support for higher resolutions and frame rates like 4K and 120 FPS. However, some users noted that even at 120 FPS, movement can feel jerky, indicating potential optimization issues despite high frame counts.
- Large game file size (weight 0.04): The game requires a significant amount of disk space, with players noting it exceeds 2GB. This could be a concern for users with limited storage.
- Developed using Unity engine (weight 0.02): The game is built with the Unity engine. While this is a technical detail, it might be relevant for developers or players interested in the underlying technology.

Recommendations:
- Highly Recommended for Touhou Fans (weight 0.25): The game is strongly recommended for Touhou fans and those who enjoy STG (Shoot 'em Up) games, especially as an accessible entry point for newcomers to the genre or official Touhou titles. Many players appreciate it as a high-quality fan creation.
- Mixed Overall Satisfaction (weight 0.16): While many recommend the game, some players express that the experience was not entirely satisfactory or that the current effect is slightly regrettable, indicating room for improvement.
- Difficulty Settings Varied (weight 0.09): The game offers a range of difficulty experiences. Normal difficulty is generally enjoyable, and STG beginners can use infinite continues on lower difficulties to experience the story. However, Lunatic difficulty is perceived as uninteresting and a completely different, less enjoyable experience.
- Improve Tutorial & Manual (weight 0.07): There's a clear need for better in-game explanations and tutorials, particularly for complex systems like the barrier system and the LSC trigger method. Improving these aspects would enhance player understanding and overall experience.
- Music Pack Recommended (weight 0.04): The game's music pack is highly recommended for purchase, both for its quality and as a way to support the development team.
- Support for Developers (weight 0.03): Players express strong support for the development team, particularly 'Boss Bei,' and hope they continue to create excellent STG works and optimize current issues.
- Consider English Localization (weight 0.02): A significant number of players, particularly those who do not understand Chinese, would benefit greatly from an English patch. This would broaden the game's appeal and accessibility to a wider international audience.

Other player notes:
- Difficulty is subjective but challenging (weight 0.21): Players report a varied experience with difficulty, ranging from finding Normal challenging to clearing EX. The boss battles are generally considered medium-high difficulty, with specific stages like stage 5 noted as harder than stage 6.
- Anticipation for future content (weight 0.12): Players express strong appreciation for the development team and eagerly anticipate future optimizations, new works, or even remakes of previous titles on platforms like Steam.
- Minor design and UI suggestions (weight 0.12): Some players noted specific design elements like distracting backgrounds, 'chuunibyou' text, and a desire for more explicit explanations of mechanics or bullet patterns in the manual.
- Time system needs improvement (weight 0.07): Players suggest that the in-game time system lacks clear guidance and visual feedback. They recommend adding a time flow bar and displaying time deductions when a player dies.

Emotions:
- Satisfaction (weight 0.27): Players felt satisfied due to the game's high overall quality, encompassing excellent visuals, music, and well-designed gameplay mechanics. Specific elements like accessible difficulty options, innovative barrier systems, and engaging bullet patterns contributed significantly to a rewarding experience, especially upon completing challenging modes or achievements.
- Frustration (weight 0.15): Frustration stemmed primarily from initial difficulty spikes, unclear system guidance, and perceived balance issues with characters or specific bullet patterns. Technical problems like lag, recording bugs, and optimization issues, alongside the unforgiving time limit system and 'first-time kill' mechanics, also contributed to player annoyance.
- Disappointment (weight 0.11): Disappointment arose from the game not meeting player expectations, particularly regarding character design, specific gameplay choices, and perceived inferior bullet or stage design compared to previous titles. Issues like unclear system explanations, inconsistent art style, and unsatisfactory music or endings also contributed to this feeling.
- Appreciation (weight 0.09): Players expressed appreciation for the developers' significant effort, the game's long development cycle, and its overall high quality, including innovative mechanics and polished presentation. The game's accessibility for beginners and its appeal to both Touhou fans and STG enthusiasts were also highly valued.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.07): Enjoyment was derived from the fun gameplay, particularly the rewarding 'hard dodging' mechanics, excellent music, and beautiful graphics. The game became more enjoyable after players understood its mechanics, and the accessible barrier system also contributed to a positive experience, especially for new players.
- Excitement (weight 0.07): Excitement was generated by the game's release, especially for fans of the developer, and its high quality, innovative STG mechanics, and engaging bullet patterns. The beautiful character art, music, and the potential for the game to attract new players or carry on a legacy also fueled this emotion.
- Admiration (weight 0.03): Admiration was felt for the game's overall near-perfect quality, including its visuals, bullet patterns, and gameplay. Players also admired the technical advancements and the game's ability to capture the essence of the Touhou series, particularly within the context of Chinese fangames.
- Confusion (weight 0.03): Confusion was mainly caused by the language barrier, leading to unclear system explanations and a lack of guidance for mechanics like the time limit system or specific spell cards. Unclear bullet trajectories and issues with unlocked BGM not appearing also contributed to player bewilderment.
- Concern (weight 0.03): Concerns were raised regarding specific gameplay balance issues, such as excessive bullet clearing or machine design, and performance problems with certain characters. There was also worry about the potential for a bad first-time experience for new players due to high difficulty or visual clutter.
- Nostalgia (weight 0.01): Nostalgia was primarily triggered by the game's music, particularly the third stage music, which evoked memories for players. This suggests a strong connection between the game's audio and past experiences or other titles in the series.
- Challenge (weight 0.01): Players felt challenged by the game's high bullet pressure, intense bullet patterns, and the difficulty of achieving high scores. Struggling with boss battles, even on Normal difficulty, also contributed to this sense of challenge.
- Anticipation (weight 0.01): Anticipation was driven by the long wait for the game's release, indicating a strong desire and expectation for the title. This suggests a dedicated fanbase eagerly awaiting new content from the developers.
- Enthusiasm (weight 0.01): Enthusiasm was expressed through strong recommendations for the game, indicating a high level of positive sentiment and a desire for others to experience it. This suggests a very positive overall impression of the game.
- Annoyance (weight 0.01): Annoyance stemmed from specific design choices, such as an overpowered barrier system in stages and its overuse in fangames, as well as issues with TLB unlock, practice mode, and the language barrier. These elements detracted from the player's enjoyment.
- Curiosity (weight 0.01): Curiosity was piqued by unclear mechanics, such as a specific interaction with the barrier system at the end of a stage. This indicates players wanting to understand the game's systems more deeply.
- Surprise (weight 0.01): Surprise was experienced due to specific spell card designs, suggesting that certain bullet patterns or boss mechanics were unexpected and impressive. This highlights innovative or particularly well-executed design elements.
- Anger (weight 0.01): Anger was directed at other reviews unfairly criticizing the game and perceived anti-human design or unbalanced achievements. This indicates a strong defensive sentiment towards the game and frustration with perceived injustices.
- Relief (weight 0.01): Relief was felt when the game's difficulty was reduced and system optimization occurred. This suggests that initial difficulties or performance issues were a source of stress, and their resolution brought comfort to players.
- Hope (weight 0.01): Hope was expressed for future improvements, such as more distinct character features and potential DLC. This indicates a desire for the game to evolve and expand, suggesting continued engagement and investment from players.
- Amazement (weight 0.01): Amazement was caused by the game's art, music, and bullet art, indicating a strong positive reaction to the aesthetic and visual design elements. This suggests a high level of polish and creativity in these areas.}