Touhou Kinjoukyou ～ Fossilized Wonders. Review Summary

Excellent music and fun challenging gameplay with stone customization, but very high difficulty, character imbalance, and poor bullet visibility hinder the experience.

Excellent music praised repeatedly: Multiple clusters highlight outstanding music quality, often noting it's as good as or better than previous entries. Specific tracks like stage songs and Nareko's theme receive special mention.

Fun and challenging gameplay: Players consistently describe the game as fun and challenging, with a balanced difficulty curve that offers satisfying progression. The challenge is hard but gratifying to overcome.

Customization via stones: The anomaly/incident stone system offers deep customization of playable characters, broadening strategies and allowing unique builds. This mechanic is praised for its novelty and fun.

Excellent Touhou addition: Many reviewers consider this one of the best Touhou games, praising its quality and consistency with the series. It's frequently described as a favorite and highly replayable title.

Engaging bullet patterns: Bullet patterns are described as fun, creative, and visually stunning, encouraging movement and thought. They are a highlight for bullet hell enthusiasts and newcomers alike.

Difficulty is very high: The overall difficulty is considered high and not beginner-friendly. Players report that normal mode feels like hard or lunatic in other games, and the game is the hardest in the series.

Character imbalance exists: Reimu is perceived as stronger than Marisa due to her homing shots and more powerful bombs. Marisa's shot power and bomb are considered weaker, leading to an imbalance between the playable characters.

Bullet visibility is poor: Bullets are often hard to see against noisy or bright backgrounds, particularly in stage 4. This visibility issue worsens in later stages and is considered worse than in previous games.

Replay system is bugged: The replay function is broken, causing desyncs and incorrect playback. Players report needing fan patches or resolution changes to make replays work, which is a significant technical issue.

Extra stage is brutal: The extra stage is terrifying and offers a massive challenge, with some players saying it feels like a different game. The unlock condition is also confusing, requiring Normal completion.

Stone customization system: A central feature is the stone-based customization, allowing players to equip various stones into slots like Main, Wide, Narrow, and Assist. This system enables many combinations and encourages experimentation with different playstyles.

Danmaku bullet hell gameplay: Multiple reviews identify the game as a Touhou-style bullet hell shooter, emphasizing dodging intricate bullet patterns. The core loop is described as classic danmaku gameplay similar to previous entries.

Multiple shot types: The game offers various shot types and customization options, with Reimu and Marisa each having distinct strengths and shot patterns. This adds variety to gameplay and replayability.

Difficulty options available: Difficulty levels include Easy, Normal, Hard, and Lunatic, with some references to Extra mode. Players note that even Easy mode is not trivial, and Normal and above are quite challenging.

High difficulty level: Players frequently note the game's steep difficulty, with several calling it one of the hardest in the series. Even skilled players find it challenging, and Normal mode is considered tough.

Game crashes frequently reported: Users report crashes in various scenarios, such as when clicking other screens, pressing confirm or cancel rapidly, starting normal mode, and in the demo version. This suggests stability issues that need to be addressed.

Fullscreen mode issues: There are crashes when entering fullscreen and display offset problems on 4k screens with DPI scaling. These issues affect user experience, especially on higher resolution displays.

Performance drops with projectiles: Users experience lag and performance drops when cancelling many bullets or clearing large numbers of projectiles. This indicates optimization issues during heavy visual effects.

Replay and graphics bugs: There are bugs with the replay feature, and graphic bugs have been noted as an old problem. These issues persist and may contribute to a negative perception of game stability.

General bugs and glitches: Users mention various bugs and glitches that occur frequently, including hitbox issues. These problems are common and need comprehensive fixing.

Mixed recommendations for beginners: Some reviewers recommend this game for Touhou beginners, citing accessible systems and Easy mode, while others advise against it due to high difficulty and steep learning curve. This split suggests the game's suitability for newcomers is debatable.

Not recommended as first Touhou: Many reviewers explicitly state this is not a good starting point for new Touhou players due to difficulty and references to past characters. They suggest playing other entries first to better appreciate the game.

Highly recommended for fans: Many reviewers strongly recommend the game to existing Touhou fans, emphasizing its enjoyment for those familiar with the series or bullet hell genre. A few also recommend it to bullet hell enthusiasts and STG players.

Difficulty challenging for newcomers: Multiple reviews highlight the game's high difficulty as a barrier for new players, suggesting they may struggle with bullet patterns and obtaining extends. Veterans seeking a challenge are more likely to enjoy it.

Recommends for hardcore players: Seasoned STG players and veterans seeking a high-level challenge are recommended to try this game, likening it to rigorous training. However, it is noted that even Lunatic mode may require specific strategies.

Community fair range: $10.00 - $15.00.

Game completion: 10.0h.

Some players enjoy the game from the start due to fun gimmicks and level design, but many experience early friction from weapon balance, difficulty, or poor first impressions, which resolves after finding an effective weapon or mastering resource management, leading to addictive enjoyment.

Friction: Weapon balance issues; Thick popcorn enemies; Initial negative impression from demo/reviews; Unappealing music at first; Difficulty without proper resource management.

Unlock drivers: Discovering a viable weapon; Mastering moon stone resource management; Adapting to limited continues for challenge.

Veteran Shmup Master: High-difficulty challenge, build optimization, theorycrafting shot types and loadouts, seeking mastery and replayability. Motivation: Challenge, mastery, and theorycrafting deeply customizable build synergies. Stance: buy.

Series Devotee & Lore Defender: Engages with characters, story, and series lore; may not prioritize pure gameplay challenge. Some are skilled, some are casual, but all value the IP's integrity. Motivation: Love for Touhou characters and world, indignation over AI art usage, and desire to see series continue authentically. Stance: no buy.

Cautious Newcomer: Plays on Easy/Normal, struggles with dense patterns, seeks accessible entry points into the series. Motivation: Learning the bullet hell genre, having a fair challenge without frustration, and getting into Touhou through a gentler introduction. Stance: deep sale.

Steam Deck: The game is marred by frequent crashing issues during normal gameplay and controller configuration difficulties on Steam Deck. While some users find the comfort level satisfactory after adjustments, the technical problems significantly hinder the experience.

Linux and Proton: User feedback shows strong Proton compatibility on SteamDeck, with one user requesting a native Linux build but no reports of actual breakage or major friction. The overall experience is positive.

AI-generated backgrounds controversy: The use of AI-generated backgrounds, particularly for stage 4, has sparked discussion. Some appreciate the artistic choice and lore justification, while others criticize the precedent it sets.

Mainline Touhou by ZUN: The game is confirmed as a mainline Touhou Project title created by ZUN. This establishes its official status within the series.

High difficulty compared to series: Players consistently note that this entry is harder than most other Touhou games, with comparisons to Touhou 14 and 15. It is considered among the most challenging in the series.

20th mainline installment: The game marks the 20th installment in the Touhou Project series, a commemorative milestone. This is a significant release for fans and the series' history.

Multiple endings via anomaly stones: The game features eight anomaly stones and sixteen good endings across two characters. This provides substantial replayability and branching paths.