- Exceptional and diverse soundtrack
- Highly enjoyable and challenging gameplay
- Appealing characters and artwork
- Extreme and inconsistent difficulty
- Frustrating Bentler/UFO system
- Complex UFO mechanic
Emotions
Players frequently experience frustration due to the game's extreme difficulty, particularly with specific bosses like Ichirin and Shou, and challenging bullet patterns. The UFO mechanic is a major source of frustration, often leading to accidental deaths, conflicting with dodging, and requiring difficult memorization and planning, especially when it changes colors unexpectedly or leads to 'UFO greed'.
Satisfaction stems from overcoming the game's high difficulty, especially achieving a 1cc (one credit clear) or beating the Extra Stage. Players also find satisfaction in the game's aesthetic qualities, such as the music, artwork, and unique character designs, as well as successfully mastering the innovative UFO system and developing complex strategies.
Enjoyment is primarily driven by the game's engaging music, which enhances the experience of dodging bullet patterns. The challenging yet fair gameplay, unique characters, and the innovative UFO mechanic also contribute significantly to players' enjoyment and replayability.
Excitement arises from the game's overall quality, including its music, bullet patterns, and rich worldview. Players are excited by the novel mechanics, the accessibility for beginners, and the feeling of accomplishment, particularly when encountering memorable elements like Byakuren's theme or the Extra boss.
Players appreciate the game's replayability, gameplay variety, and high polish. The music, character writing, and the depth of ZUN's work, especially within the broader Touhou Project, are highly valued, along with the unique UFO system and atmospheric visuals.
Verdict
Mostly positive
Summary
Positive 78% · Negative 22%. Score: 22 / 100
Positives:
- The game's music is universally lauded as superb, divine, and consistently high-quality, with many tracks considered among the best in the Touhou series. The BGM is well-composed, diverse, and syncs perfectly with the gameplay, enhancing the overall experience.
- Players consistently praise the game for its fun, challenging, and innovative gameplay mechanics, particularly on Easy and Normal difficulties. It's considered a masterpiece and one of the best, most unique installments in the series, offering a fair challenge and high replayability.
- The game features a cast of cute, cheerful, and humorous characters, with specific favorites like Kogasa, Byakuren, and Nue. The character designs and overall artwork show significant improvement, contributing to the game's immersive and whimsical atmosphere.
- The UFO collection system is a standout feature, described as fun, strategic, and dynamic. It acts as a constant mini-game, allowing players to 'order what they need' (like lives, bombs, or points) and providing resources that make the game more forgiving and aid in clearing stages, even for beginners.
- Reviewers highlight the unique, dynamic, and visually interesting boss patterns, especially in Stage 6. The combination of emotional music and bullet patterns in later stages creates an excellent and intense experience, with specific praise for the Stage 6 boss fight's spell cards.
Negatives:
- Players consistently report the game as one of the most difficult in the series, especially on higher settings. There's a notable inconsistency in difficulty spikes between modes and even within stages, making it challenging for both newcomers and veterans.
- The Bentler/UFO collection system is a major source of frustration. It forces players into rigid patterns, conflicts with bullet dodging, and often leads to accidental collection of wrong items, which negatively impacts resource management and overall gameplay flow.
- Certain shot types, particularly Reimu A, Reimu B, and Marisa A/B, are considered weak or problematic. Issues include low damage, poor homing, unclear attack direction, large hitboxes, and ineffective bombs, making them less viable for progression.
- The game's visual intensity and overall difficulty can lead to eye strain, headaches, and a mentally destructive experience. Some players find the game boring and restrictive due to these factors.
- Specific bosses, such as Byakuren and the 'damn master' in stage five, are particularly frustrating. Additionally, some players express a general dislike for the character Shou and the game as a whole.
Gameplay:
- The core gameplay revolves around a detailed UFO system where collecting specific color combinations (three of the same or one of each) summons larger UFOs. These larger UFOs provide crucial resources like lives, bombs, and score multipliers, but require strategic collection and destruction within a time limit.
- Resource acquisition (lives and bombs) is heavily tied to the UFO system, making efficient management and strategic collection of UFOs vital for survival. Players must balance risk and reward when interacting with UFOs to gain necessary resources.
- The game is noted for its high difficulty, requiring extensive planning, memorization of UFO drop locations, and bullet patterns. The difficulty curve is steep, especially in later stages and on higher settings, demanding significant effort to clear.
- Bentler items (UFO fragments) are dropped by enemies, change color, and move around the screen, adding a dynamic element to collection. Their appearance and movement are not random, requiring players to memorize patterns for optimal collection.
- UFOs offer a strategic way to clear bullets, either upon their appearance or destruction. This mechanic becomes increasingly important on higher difficulties for managing the game's intense bullet patterns.
Performance:
- -
No data available
Recommendations:
- Despite its difficulty, the game receives strong recommendations from players who appreciate its challenge and unique gameplay. Many consider it a standout title within the Touhou series.
- Many players highlight the game's significant difficulty, especially stage five, making it unsuitable for new players to the genre or series. It's recommended for those seeking a challenge and with prior experience in bullet hell games.
- There's conflicting feedback on whether this game is a good introduction to the Touhou series, with some suggesting other titles like Touhou 10 or 17 as better starting points, while others find it 'friendly' for STG newcomers.
- Players recommend using community-made patches, specifically 'thcrap', to access English translations, indicating a desire for official localization.
- A specific recommendation is made to encounter the Extra boss, suggesting it offers a notable experience or challenge.
Miscellaneous:
- Several players purchased the game specifically to support the developer, ZUN, highlighting a strong fan base despite other criticisms.
- Some players indicate they primarily played the game outside of the Steam platform, suggesting prior ownership or alternative distribution methods.
- The game is famously linked to 'Rensenware,' a ransomware that demands an extremely high score on Lunatic difficulty for file decryption. This is a unique and notable cultural association.
- There's a sentiment that this release may not be the definitive version of the game, possibly due to issues or missing features.
- The game's narrative combines themes of religion and UFO mysteries, contributing to its unique setting.
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