Info about Touhou Tenkuushou ~ Hidden Star in Four Seasons.:

Official game description:
ストーリー
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幻想郷の異常気象は決して地球温暖化が原因では無い  
ようとして正体の判らない異変。  
全ての季節に現れた不気味な機構。  
隠されていたのは天使か悪魔か、それとも……
ゲームの進め方
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敵弾に当たらないように避けて、敵を撃破するゲームです。  
各ステージの最後にはボスが居ますので、それをやっつけるとステージクリアです。  
テクニックと精神力をかけた、ボスと自分とのタイマン勝負です。
操作説明
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・上下左右　自機の操作  
・SHOTキー（Zキー）　ショット  
・SPECIALキー（Xキー）　スペルカード（回数制限有り）  
・RELEASEキー（Cキー）　季節開放  
・SLOWキー（Shiftキー）　低速移動  
・PAUSEキー（ESCキー）　ポーズ
二つの季節装備
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今回のプレイヤーは二つの季節を装備して戦います。  
メイン季節はキャラ固定です。  
　博麗 霊夢　　──　春  
　チルノ 　　　──　夏  
　射命丸 文　　──　秋  
　霧雨 魔理沙　──　冬  
季節に因んだショットとスペルカードを使います。  
パワーアップアイテムで強化できます。  
また、メイン季節とは別にサブ季節を装備できます。  
キャラクターの後ろ側にミニオプションとして配置され、季節に因んだショットを撃ちます。  
季節アイテムで強化され、一つ以上溜まっていると季節開放することが出来ます。
サブ季節
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サブ季節はメイン季節を補佐する装備です。  
季節アイテムを取得すると増えていき、最大６個までつきます。  
季節アイテムは  
「敵を早く倒す」  
「敵弾にかする」  
「スペルカードや季節開放で敵弾を消す」  
と出現する季節オブジェ（桜、葉、紅葉、雪）です。  
とにかく大量に出現します。  
季節開放は一個以上装備している状態でリリースボタンを押すと行えます。
季節開放
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季節開放は季節オプションを一個以上装備している状態でリリースボタンを押すと行えます。  
それぞれの季節ごとに特徴が違いますが、敵弾を消す事が出来るのでスペルカードの代わりになります。

Release date: 17 Nov, 2017

Categories: Bullet-hell, Single-player, Resource Management, Character Customization, Linear Progression, Strategic Combat, High Score Chasing


- 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:
- Accessible for New Players (weight 0.99): Many players found this game to be an excellent entry point into the Touhou series and bullet hell genre due to its milder difficulty, especially on Easy mode, and beginner-friendly mechanics like abundant extra lives and the forgiving Season Release system. It allows new players to learn and improve without excessive frustration.
- Exceptional Music & Visuals (weight 0.74): The soundtrack is consistently praised as amazing, wonderful, and epic, with many compositions perfectly matching stage and boss themes. The game also features rich, colorful, and iconic character designs, contributing to a vibrant and visually appealing experience.
- Core Touhou Appeal (weight 0.65): The game successfully embodies the beloved aspects of the Touhou series, including its extensive lore, unique characters, creative fanbase, and signature bullet hell gameplay. Its release on Steam is seen as a significant milestone for the series and its community.
- Engaging Gameplay & Replayability (weight 0.62): The game offers a fun, thrilling, and rewarding experience with high replayability. The unique Season Release mechanic, combined with four playable characters and diverse sub-season options, provides strategic depth and varied approaches to gameplay, encouraging players to experiment and master different combinations.
- Varied Difficulty Levels (weight 0.53): While generally considered easier than some predecessors, the game still offers a challenging experience on higher difficulties. The range of difficulty settings, from Easy to Lunatic, caters to both casual players and hardcore fans seeking a demanding experience.
- Engaging Story & Characters (weight 0.35): Players found the game's story and character interactions interesting and entertaining. The unique and well-designed characters contribute to the overall appeal and narrative depth.
- Strong Boss Design (weight 0.27): The bosses are frequently mentioned as cool, interesting, and some of the best in the series. They explore diverse concepts and contribute significantly to the game's challenge and overall appeal.
- ZUN's Creative Influence (weight 0.26): ZUN's continued creativity, unique art style, and positive attitude towards fan works are appreciated. His one-man development approach is seen as contributing to the game's charm and the broader Touhou community.
- Strategic Bomb & Season Release (weight 0.24): The game's bomb and Season Release systems are highlighted as effective tools for clearing bullet patterns and escaping difficult situations. These mechanics, which can be used frequently, make the game more approachable for beginners while also adding a strategic layer for score optimization.
- Player-Centric Design Philosophy (weight 0.08): The game's design encourages players to adapt and improve their skills, focusing on flexible movement and learning bullet patterns. It fosters a sense of accomplishment without punishing mistakes excessively.

Common complaints:
- Poor visual clarity (weight 0.77): Many players experience eye strain and difficulty distinguishing bullets from backgrounds and seasonal items due to similar colors and overwhelming visual information. This significantly impacts gameplay and overall experience.
- High and inconsistent difficulty (weight 0.75): Players report the game is extremely difficult, even on easy mode, leading to frustration and repeated deaths. However, some experienced players find it too easy or comparable to other Touhou games, indicating an inconsistent difficulty curve.
- Uninspired design and innovation (weight 0.61): Some players feel the game lacks innovation compared to previous entries in the series and even fan games. Bullet patterns are described as repetitive, uninspired, and sometimes poorly crafted, with some spell cards feeling copy-pasted.
- Story and character issues (weight 0.53): The game's dialogue and story are described as simple, sometimes lacking meaningfulness, and feeling incomplete. Some players also express dislike for specific characters or boss encounters.
- Technical issues and bugs (weight 0.45): Players report various bugs, including crashes, weird replay behavior, and issues in practice mode, particularly around Stage 5 bosses. Some of these bugs are noted as unfixed from previous versions.
- Lack of localization (weight 0.28): The game is only available in Japanese, requiring players to use fan-made patches for English or Chinese translations. This lack of official localization creates a barrier for new players and makes understanding the story and mechanics difficult.
- Unsatisfactory scoring system (weight 0.16): The scoring system is criticized for being too easy to exploit by mindlessly clearing bullets, leading to a less engaging experience for experienced players and feeling incoherent with bullet patterns.
- Lack of Steam integration (weight 0.12): The game lacks common Steam features such as achievements, leaderboards, trading cards, and backgrounds, which is a disappointment for players expecting modern platform integration.
- Limited display options (weight 0.1): The game lacks essential display settings, such as the ability to change display settings in-game, keybind changes, borderless fullscreen, or true 16:9 support, which impacts player comfort and customization.

Gameplay feedback:
- Unique Season Release Mechanic (weight 0.66): The game introduces a 'Season Release' system, a powerful secondary bomb that clears bullets, deals damage, and generates score items. Its effects vary based on the chosen sub-season, adding strategic depth to gameplay and resource management.
- Touhou Series Entry & Context (weight 0.5): This game is the 16th installment in the long-running Touhou Project series, known for its vertical-scrolling bullet hell gameplay. It marks the first Touhou title released on Steam, continuing the series' tradition of changing game systems with each new entry.
- Difficulty & Accessibility (weight 0.41): While Touhou is known for its high difficulty, this entry is considered by some to be one of the easier titles in the series, particularly its Extra stage. It offers multiple difficulty settings (Easy, Normal, Hard, Lunatic) to cater to different skill levels, though even Easy mode can be challenging for newcomers.
- Varied Playable Characters & Seasons (weight 0.39): Players can choose from four distinct characters (Reimu, Marisa, Aya, Cirno), each with unique attack styles. Additionally, four sub-seasons offer 16 combinations, influencing seasonal skills and shot variations, which ties into the game's story of seasonal climate紊乱.
- Resource Management & Progression (weight 0.26): Clearing the game, especially on higher difficulties, requires diligent resource management of bombs and season releases, as well as pattern memorization. The game features a continue limit and no mid-game saving, emphasizing single-run completion for the 'Good Ending'.
- Boss Encounters & Lore (weight 0.23): The game features a cast of bosses, including Matara Okina as the final and Extra stage boss, known for her rule-breaking abilities. Other bosses like Nemuno Sakata, Narumi Yatadera, Mai, and Satono contribute to the game's narrative set in the fantastical world of Gensokyo, where seasonal anomalies are occurring.

Performance notes:
No performancepoints

Recommendations:
- Strong fan appeal and support (weight 0.81): The game is highly recommended for existing Touhou fans, who are encouraged to buy it to support the developer, ZUN. Many express loyalty to the series and hope for more Touhou games, especially older titles, to be released on Steam.
- Mixed recommendations for new players (weight 0.74): There's conflicting advice regarding this game as an entry point to the Touhou series or bullet hell genre. Some recommend it for beginners, while others strongly advise against it, suggesting other Touhou titles or different bullet hell games as better starting points. Many suggest trying the demo first.
- Explore Touhou beyond official games (weight 0.53): Reviewers highlight that enjoying Touhou isn't limited to official STG games; secondary creations and community engagement (wikis, forums) are also valid ways to experience the universe.
- Suggestions for game improvements (weight 0.11): Players suggest ZUN hire a professional translator for official English versions and consider adding an achievement system to enhance engagement. There's also a specific tip about utilizing seasonal releases.
- Minor technical/humorous feedback (weight 0.03): One reviewer humorously gave a positive review despite uninstalling due to difficulty, and another mentioned potential Windows 11 compatibility issues with visibility.

Other player notes:
- Need for Fan Localizations (weight 0.42): Despite the Steam release, Touhou games lack official English and other language localizations, necessitating fan-made patches. Tools like 'thcrap' are widely used to apply these translations, which are crucial for non-Japanese speaking players to fully engage with the game's story and dialogue.
- Touhou's Cultural Impact (weight 0.41): The Touhou Project has cultivated a vast and dedicated fanbase, often discovered through fan-made content like music remixes, animations, and derivative games. This rich universe, drawing from Japanese folklore, fosters a strong community and inspires numerous fan works, making it more than just a game for many.
- ZUN's Unique Development Approach (weight 0.31): Players recognize ZUN as a prolific solo developer who handles all aspects of game creation, from story and art to programming and music. This dedication to a one-man studio model, consistently releasing games for over two decades, is a defining characteristic of the Touhou Project.
- Steam Release Significance (weight 0.23): The release of Touhou games on Steam, starting with HSiFS, is a major milestone for the series. It provides legitimate and accessible purchase options, moving away from previous methods like piracy or unreliable imports, and is seen as a positive step for the franchise's global reach.
- Community Support for Developer (weight 0.11): Many players purchase Touhou games primarily to support ZUN and the series, viewing it as a way to contribute to the ongoing development and acknowledge his efforts. This support extends to hoping for continued success and future releases on platforms like Steam.
- Limited Feedback on Gameplay (weight 0.08): Based on limited and low-quality feedback, there are some mentions of the game's difficulty, with one player finding it 'very casual' and another comparing it to Dark Souls. However, specific constructive details about gameplay mechanics are sparse.
- Mixed Reception of Soundtrack (weight 0.05): While the Touhou series is known for its music, the soundtrack for this particular entry receives mixed feedback. Some find it enjoyable for continuous listening, while others consider it average compared to other games in the series.

Emotions:
- Satisfaction (weight 0.21): Players feel satisfied by the game's high-quality music, unique and challenging gameplay, and accessible difficulty options. Successfully clearing difficult modes or mastering game systems also contributes to this feeling, alongside the overall enjoyable Touhou experience and specific characters.
- Frustration (weight 0.12): Frustration stems primarily from the game's high difficulty, particularly challenging boss fights and bullet patterns that blend with backgrounds, leading to poor visibility and repeated deaths. Technical issues like lack of Win11 compatibility, unfixed bugs, and the Japanese-only text also contribute to player annoyance.
- Excitement (weight 0.08): Excitement is generated by the game's fresh and fun gameplay style, stunning bullet hell presentation, and cinematic battles. The release of Touhou games on Steam and the opportunity to experience the story and characters also create significant enthusiasm, especially for hardcore fans.
- Appreciation (weight 0.08): Players appreciate the game's brilliant soundtrack, ZUN's art style and creative work, and the depth offered by unique systems and characters. The game's significance as a 'rare item' on Steam, the fan community's translation efforts, and the overall Touhou universe are also highly valued.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.04): Enjoyment comes from engaging mechanics, top-tier musical compositions, and the overall fun and addictive gameplay. Players find pleasure in practicing patterns, the strategic depth, and the relaxing atmosphere, even when facing language barriers or high difficulty.
- Admiration (weight 0.04): Admiration is directed towards ZUN's creative vision, the game's beautiful bullet patterns, and the rich world-building, art, and music of the Touhou series. The challenging difficulty and the talent of other players also inspire admiration.
- Amusement (weight 0.04): Amusement is derived from the game's humorous elements, such as satirical 'trigger warnings,' funny descriptions of difficulty, and self-deprecating accounts. The humorous writing style and satirical comparisons provide lighthearted moments for players.
- Hope (weight 0.04): Players express hope for more Touhou games and soundtracks to be released on Steam, as well as future improvements like an achievement system. There is a strong desire to see older Touhou titles become available on the platform.
- Guidance (weight 0.03): This emotion arises from players providing helpful information, such as instructions on how to patch the game for translations. It also involves explaining game mechanics and assessing the game to assist new players entering the series.
- Disappointment (weight 0.03): Disappointment stems from perceived flaws in the game's quality, such as less memorable music compared to previous entries, high bullet repetition, and eye-straining visuals. Specific issues with the scoring system and overall game design also contribute to this feeling.
- Concern (weight 0.02): Concern is raised regarding the increased barrier to entry for new players, the lack of innovation for modern audiences, and the perceived declining quality of Touhou games. Issues like visual clarity, bugs, and the game being only in Japanese also cause worry.
- Support (weight 0.02): Players show support by purchasing the game, often to back the developer ZUN and the doujin community. This includes giving positive reviews despite a lack of discounts and buying copies for friends, demonstrating a commitment to the series.
- Love (weight 0.02): Love is expressed for the overall game experience, including enemy appearances and background music. Specific characters like Matara Okina, her dialogue, and the overarching themes and world of Touhou also evoke strong affection.
- Encouragement (weight 0.02): Players offer encouragement by highlighting the game's accessibility for clearing difficult modes like Lunatic. They also encourage new players to join and discover the series, fostering a welcoming environment for newcomers.
- Challenge (weight 0.02): This emotion is driven by the game's high difficulty, with players acknowledging it as one of the hardest official Touhou works. The inevitable struggles and the demanding nature of the gameplay contribute to the sense of challenge.
- Surprise (weight 0.01): Surprise occurs when players encounter unexpected elements, such as the Extra stage being easier than the main game or the presence of mechanics similar to those in other bullet hell titles. The game's perceived ease compared to a very difficult predecessor also causes surprise.
- Caution (weight 0.01): Caution is advised regarding the game's suitability for new players and its niche appeal. Some reviewers warn against misleading positive reviews, emphasizing that the game might not be for everyone due to its specific genre characteristics.
- Dislike (weight 0.01): Dislike is directed towards specific elements such as the Narumi boss fight or particular capture conditions for Okina's finals. Some players express that this game is their least favorite among the Touhou titles they have played.
- Loyalty (weight 0.01): Loyalty is demonstrated through continued support for the Touhou series and its developer, ZUN, often by purchasing the game despite acknowledging its flaws. This reflects a deep-seated commitment to the franchise.
- Dedication (weight 0.01): Dedication is evident in players who commit significant time and effort to the game, such as memorizing stages, playing on Lunatic difficulty, or mastering Extra stages. This includes playing daily or for extended periods like five years.}