- Accessible difficulty for newcomers
- Exceptional music and soundtrack
- Engaging story and characters
- Poor bullet visibility and eye strain
- Inconsistent difficulty and balance
- Intrusive animal spirit gimmick
Emotions
Players felt satisfied due to enjoyable gameplay, music, and story, often highlighting improved mechanics, manageable difficulty, and the rewarding nature of the spirit system. The game's accessibility for beginners, combined with engaging presentation and powerful abilities, contributed to a positive overall experience, especially upon completing the game or challenging extra stages.
Frustration primarily stemmed from visual clarity issues, such as blinding background visuals, invisible bullets, and difficulty seeing enemy danmaku due to overwhelming graphics or color matching. Other causes included bugs, performance issues, complicated mechanics, and problems with the continue or item collection systems, leading to unexpected hits and a poor user experience.
Enjoyment was frequently linked to the game's music, character design, and interesting bullet patterns. Players also appreciated the overall Touhou gameplay experience, the beast spirit mechanic, and entertaining dialogue, finding the game fun despite personal skill levels or specific challenges.
Excitement was generated by memorable boss encounters, challenging gameplay, and immersive experiences, often enhanced by killer soundtracks. The anticipation for future game entries, new characters, story developments, and powerful abilities also contributed to a sense of thrill and enthusiasm.
Disappointment arose from the overall game experience, particularly concerns about the developer's design quality, visual style, and perceived lack of innovation. Issues like system flaws, unoriginal bullet patterns, an easy extra boss, and visibility problems contributed to a feeling that the game did not meet expectations.
Verdict
Mostly positive
Summary
Positive 85% · Negative 15%. Score: 15 / 100
Positives:
- Many players found the game's difficulty to be lower than previous Touhou titles, especially on Easy and Normal modes. This makes it an excellent entry point for new players while still offering a satisfying challenge for veterans on higher difficulties.
- The game's soundtrack received widespread praise, with many tracks being highlighted as memorable and among the best in the series. The music effectively sets the atmosphere and enhances the gameplay experience.
- The Otter spirit is frequently cited as overwhelmingly powerful, offering strong bombs, bullet-erasing barriers, and significant defensive capabilities. This spirit makes clearing stages and even Lunatic difficulty much more manageable.
- Players appreciated the game's darker atmosphere, memorable characters, and well-crafted, deeper story. The narrative is considered interesting and a highlight of the series.
- The 'Roaring Mode' system is a significant feature, providing powerful offensive and defensive boosts, including temporary invincibility and bullet clearing. This mechanic makes gameplay more exhilarating and helps players manage difficulty.
Negatives:
- Many players report significant issues with bullet visibility due to clashing colors between bullets, backgrounds, and player effects. This often leads to eye strain and unexpected hits, especially during intense 'Roaring Mode' or with specific character/spirit combinations.
- Feedback on difficulty is mixed, with some finding the game extremely hard due to bullet speed and specific mechanics, while others find it too easy, especially the extra stage. The 'Roaring Mode' can also feel overpowered, allowing players to bypass difficult sections.
- The animal spirit collection system is widely criticized for being distracting and interfering with core bullet-dodging gameplay. Spirits often obscure visibility, are difficult to manage, and their constant presence on screen is seen as annoying and detrimental to the experience.
- Players find the bullet patterns and spell card designs to be monotonous, unoriginal, and lacking the creativity seen in previous titles. There's a sense of déjà vu, with many patterns feeling recycled or overly simplistic, reducing the joy of dodging.
- Players report several technical issues, including frame drops in the pause menu, stuttering cursor movement, and the lack of a quick retry function. Gamepad adaptation is also noted as being extremely poor, affecting overall playability.
Gameplay:
- Collecting five animal spirits activates 'Roaring Mode,' a temporary buff. If three or more of these spirits are of the same type, 'Berserk Roaring Mode' is triggered, offering enhanced effects. Successfully ending Roaring Mode without being hit grants bonus spirits or items, with specific bonuses for rare spirits.
- The game introduces a central 'Animal Spirit' system where players collect red, blue, and green spirits (Wolf, Otter, Eagle). This mechanic is compared to the UFO system from a previous game but is generally more forgiving. Players choose an initial spirit, and collecting spirits on screen influences gameplay.
- The game's difficulty is generally considered lower than other titles in the series, especially on Easy mode, which is noted as potentially the easiest ever. However, difficulty can vary significantly based on character choice, animal spirit selection, and player skill, with a noticeable gap between Easy and Normal modes.
- The game features three playable characters: Reimu, Marisa, and Youmu. Each character can be paired with one of the three animal spirits (Wolf, Otter, Eagle), creating nine distinct playstyles. This system offers varied dialogue and gameplay experiences.
- The Otter spirit (Green) enhances bombs, increasing their duration and power, and provides an initial extra bomb. It also creates a barrier that can absorb or erase enemy bullets, making it a safer option for players who prefer to bomb through stages or seek an easier clear.
Performance:
- Players are experiencing various display problems, including frame rate drops in windowed mode, improper scaling with gaps at the bottom of the screen in fullscreen, and screen flickering upon launch. There are also reports of other applications' aspect ratios being affected when the game goes fullscreen.
- There is a specific bug affecting the Youmu character when combined with the Eagle spirit, significantly reducing her firepower and maximum attack power compared to other character/spirit combinations.
- The game's achievements are not properly integrated or adapted for the Steam platform, which may affect player experience and tracking.
Recommendations:
- Many players recommend this game as an excellent starting point for those new to the Touhou series or bullet hell games, citing its accessibility and enjoyable gameplay. However, some suggest other titles like Ten Desires or Perfect Cherry Blossom for a more classic or easier introduction.
- The game receives strong recommendations from players, with many considering it a solid entry in the Touhou Project series and even a personal favorite. It's seen as a worthwhile purchase that offers significant replay value.
- Players note the game's difficulty, particularly for those new to bullet hells, but also highlight its ability to test skills and provide a unique experience. It offers a good challenge for veterans and can help hone reflexes.
- A small but dedicated group of players explicitly recommends purchasing the game to support ZUN, the creator of the Touhou Project.
- Some players offer minor tips, such as adjusting monitor brightness for a better experience, or note that the game could be slightly improved.
Miscellaneous:
- Players consistently praise the game's music, describing it as unique, stunning, and memorable. Specific tracks are highlighted for their quality and ability to evoke strong feelings, fitting the game's darker atmosphere and hell setting.
- The game's plot is frequently lauded as one of the best in the series, featuring interesting mysteries, unexpected twists, and a well-made narrative. It delves into complex themes like rivaling gangs, manipulation, and societal commentary, expanding the Touhou world beyond Gensokyo.
- The game introduces many new favorite characters, with specific mentions of Keiki, Yachie, Saki, Eika Ebisu, Urumi, and Kutaka for their unique characteristics, dynamic personalities, and visual appeal. Players are interested in their future development.
- Despite some concerns, the game generally receives positive feedback for its design and decent graphics. Many players express long-standing appreciation for the Touhou franchise and its unique world.
- There's a recurring concern about ZUN's creative output, with some players wondering if age or increased responsibilities (parenting, business management) are affecting game design. Players hope for a slower release schedule to allow for more artistic depth, similar to older titles.
Similar games
Blend with other games
98%Touhou Shinreibyou ~ Ten Desires.
97%Touhou Chireiden ~ Subterranean Animism.
97%Touhou Fuujinroku ~ Mountain of Faith.
97%東方獣王園 〜 Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost.
97%Touhou Kishinjou ~ Double Dealing Character.
97%Touhou Makuka Sai ~ Fantastic Danmaku Festival Part III
97%Touhou Kinjoukyou ～ Fossilized Wonders.
97%TouHou Makuka Sai ~ Fantastic Danmaku Festival Part II
97%東方幕華祭 TouHou Makuka Sai ~ Fantastic Danmaku Festival
97%Touhou Kouryudou ~ Unconnected Marketeers.
97%東方催狐譚 ～ Servants of Harvest Wish
97%Touhou Tenkuushou ~ Hidden Star in Four Seasons.