Touhou Kikeijuu ~ Wily Beast and Weakest Creature. Review Summary

Accessible Difficulty for Newcomers: 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.

Exceptional Music and Soundtrack: 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.

Overpowered Otter Spirit: 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.

Engaging Story and Characters: 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.

Impactful Roaring Mode Mechanic: 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.

Poor Bullet Visibility & Eye Strain: 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.

Inconsistent Difficulty & Balance: 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.

Intrusive Animal Spirit Gimmick: 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.

Repetitive & Uninspired Danmaku: 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.

Technical & Quality of Life Issues: 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.

Roaring Mode Activation & Effects: 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.

Core Animal Spirit Mechanic: 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.

Variable Game Difficulty: 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.

Playable Characters & Combinations: 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.

Otter Spirit Focus: 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.

Display and Scaling Issues: 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.

Youmu + Eagle Spirit Bug: 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.

Unadapted Steam Achievements: The game's achievements are not properly integrated or adapted for the Steam platform, which may affect player experience and tracking.

Good entry for newcomers: 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.

Highly recommended overall: 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.

Challenging but rewarding: 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.

Support the developer: A small but dedicated group of players explicitly recommends purchasing the game to support ZUN, the creator of the Touhou Project.

Minor quality of life suggestions: Some players offer minor tips, such as adjusting monitor brightness for a better experience, or note that the game could be slightly improved.

Exceptional Music and Sound Design: 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.

Engaging and Complex Story: 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.

Strong Character Design: 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.

Positive Overall Impression: 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.

Developer's Creative Challenges: 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.