Info about Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity:

Official game description:
_Infamous vampire Remilia Scarlet has grown weary of her posh, centuries-long life spent with dutiful maid Sakuya Izayoi at her side. So bored, in fact, that when the local newspaper runs a story about a massive monster spotted nearby, she decides she wants a piece of that action! Unfortunately, she returns home from her first foray to find her mansion heavily damaged, with no clues as to who the culprit might be. But this only serves to fan the flames of the vampiric maiden’s interest in what’s going on beyond the walls of her estate, leading her on a grand, chaotic quest for answers…and for revenge._  
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The enchanting world of the Touhou Project comes alive in this beautiful fan-made action RPG!
Key Features
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**Select Either of Two Playable Characters for Twice the Adventure**  
Choose to play as the titular vampire, Remilia Scarlet, or her devoted maid, Sakuya Izayoi. Each offers a different gameplay style with unique mechanics: Remilia’s attacks hit hard, while Sakuya’s are more technical.  
**Use Five Buttons to Carve Out Countless Swaths of Destruction**  
The game’s controls are simple, fun, and endlessly customizable: you’ll learn a variety of skills as you level up, which you can assign to the game’s action buttons however you’d like.  
**Build Hit Combos for Greater Success in Battle**  
The more you’re able to hit enemies in rapid succession, the higher your attack power will be, and the more experience you’ll receive per kill. The effect will wear off over time, however, or when you’re struck by a foe – whichever comes first!  
**Collect New Equipment to Become a True Powerhouse**  
Each new piece of equipment you find has its own stats, to the point that even two items with the same name may sport notable variances. So collect all the equipment you can, and try to max out your arsenal! There may even be rare equipment out there that allows you to utilize entirely new skills…  
**Get In the Zone With Arranged BGM from Acclaimed _Doujin_ Circle Hachimitsu-Lemon**  
Let a total of 35 background music tracks masterfully arranged from previous _Touhou_ titles wash over you as you experience the breakneck action!
Brand New Steam Features
------------------------
**Revised Difficulty Levels From the Console Version**  
Tweaked and adjusted, the game should now better suit any and all difficulty preferences, from the most casual action gamer to the most hardcore shmupaholic!  
**Fully-Featured Configuration Menu for PC Gamers**  
Includes the ability to remap and rebind keys and gamepad buttons, adjust technical specs and graphic levels, and more, allowing for a custom experience perfectly suited to your individual machine as well as your personal tastes.  
**4K Resolution Support**  
For a truly immersive action gaming experience!  
**Brand New “Bullet Hell” Mode**  
Start the game in this mode to drastically increase the quantity and intensity of enemy projectiles. You are not prepared!  
**New Achievements and the Full Steamworks Package**  
Try to 100% the game…if you dare!

Release date: 11 Jul, 2018

Categories: Action RPG, Real-time Combat, Bullet-hell, Character Progression, Equipment Customization, Boss Rush, Single-player


- 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:
- Enjoyable Gameplay & Balanced Difficulty (weight 0.99): Players consistently praise the game's fun and addictive gameplay, highlighting its balanced difficulty that caters to both beginners and experienced players. The combat system, character variety, and overall design contribute to a satisfying experience.
- High-Quality Touhou Fan Game (weight 0.36): The game is highly regarded as an exceptional Touhou fan game, successfully adapting the series' essence into an ARPG format. Its quality, music, and adherence to Touhou lore are frequently commended, making it a standout among fan-made works.
- Distinct Character Playstyles (weight 0.36): The game offers two playable characters, Remilia and Sakuya, each with unique abilities and playstyles. Players enjoy the differences, with Remilia often noted for her mobility and power, and Sakuya for her devastating late-game abilities.
- Exceptional Soundtrack (weight 0.24): The game's music receives widespread acclaim, with many players calling the soundtrack wonderful, captivating, and a permanent addition to their playlists. The quality, remixes of original themes, and atmospheric contribution are frequently mentioned.
- Effective Bullet Hell Integration (weight 0.22): The integration of bullet hell elements with ARPG mechanics is a significant highlight. Players appreciate how bullet patterns are adapted to 3D, making boss battles visually impressive and challenging, especially in dedicated bullet hell modes.
- Varied & Beautiful Environments (weight 0.19): Players appreciate the game's diverse and well-designed maps, noting the variety in themes, creative art style, and beautiful scenery. The environments contribute to an immersive experience, often evoking the feeling of Gensokyo.
- Engaging Boss Battles (weight 0.16): Boss battles are a major highlight, described as plentiful, unique, and fun to figure out. They offer a good balance of challenge and satisfaction, with interesting patterns and dynamic attacks that keep players engaged.
- Appealing Art Style & Graphics (weight 0.1): The game's art style, illustrations, and graphics are consistently praised as beautiful, impressive, and well-done. They contribute to the game's visual appeal and are often noted for their quality, especially for a fan-made title.
- Smooth & Responsive Combat (weight 0.1): The combat system is praised for being smooth, fluid, and easy to pick up. Players enjoy the fast-paced action and the overall 'feel' of attacks, contributing to an enjoyable gameplay loop.
- Decent Story & Lore (weight 0.08): The game's plot and dialogues are generally considered good, decent, and enjoyable. While sometimes cheesy, the story is appreciated for fitting the Touhou franchise and providing an interesting narrative.
- Engaging Initial Experience (weight 0.06): Many players found the initial hours of the game to be very interesting and engaging, drawing them into the experience with its charm and gameplay simplicity.
- Affordable Price Point (weight 0.05): The game is frequently highlighted for its low and reasonable price, offering excellent value for the content provided. This affordability makes it an attractive purchase for many players.
- Ample In-Game Supplies (weight 0.04): The game provides abundant recovery items and supplies throughout levels, ensuring players have sufficient resources, except for a few challenging boss encounters.

Common complaints:
- Repetitive & Poor Map Design (weight 0.45): Players found the map design monotonous, overly large, and confusing, often leading to a boring exploration experience. The lack of mini-maps in some areas and repetitive assets exacerbated the feeling of getting lost and made traversal a chore.
- Clunky Controls & Camera Issues (weight 0.26): The game suffers from clunky controls, especially for platforming, and an uncomfortable fixed camera that hinders visibility and navigation. This contributes to a generally unpolished and frustrating gameplay experience.
- Repetitive & Grind-Heavy Gameplay (weight 0.25): The core gameplay loop is criticized for being monotonous, repetitive, and requiring excessive grinding. This leads to a feeling of wasted time and a lack of meaningful engagement beyond basic progression.
- Lack of Enemy & Boss Variety (weight 0.2): The game features a limited number of enemy types that are reused across many levels, leading to repetitive combat. Boss fights are often described as bland, too easy, and sometimes exploitable, with annoying invincibility frames.
- Sakuya's Gameplay is Unengaging (weight 0.17): Many players found Sakuya to be significantly less enjoyable to play than Remilia due to her slower movement, stiff actions, and less effective abilities. This makes platforming and general traversal particularly frustrating when playing as Sakuya.
- Remilia's Imbalance & Tedious Playstyle (weight 0.14): Remilia is seen as overpowered in some aspects, trivializing bosses with certain skills, while also having tedious elements to her playstyle. Her abilities can make parkour sections too easy, but some skills are also considered useless.
- Mediocre Quality & Lack of Innovation (weight 0.12): The game is perceived as mediocre, lacking originality, and failing to offer new or unique experiences. It falls short as an action game, with simplistic combat and a general lack of polish in various aspects.
- Subpar Graphics & Character Models (weight 0.12): The game's graphics are considered dated, with poor quality character models and environments. Characters are often too small and blend into backgrounds, making them hard to see, and there's a lack of diverse character options.
- Unrewarding Equipment & Gacha System (weight 0.1): The equipment system is unappealing due to random drops and stats, discouraging exploration. The gacha system is also a negative point, making it difficult to acquire desired gear and potentially leading to frustration.
- Poor Touhou Accessibility & Lore (weight 0.09): Newcomers to the Touhou series may feel lost due to a lack of explanation regarding the universe's lore and story. The game's overall experience is described as frustrating and chore-like, potentially being the 'worst' among Touhou-related works for some.
- Weak & Incomprehensible Story (weight 0.08): The story is widely criticized for being basic, short, and often incomprehensible. It lacks depth and meaningful narrative, contributing little to the overall player experience.
- Frequent Crashes & Progress Loss (weight 0.05): The game suffers from frequent crashes that can lead to significant loss of progress, forcing players to restart from their last save or even the beginning of the game.
- Game Not Worth Full Price (weight 0.05): Many players feel the game's overall quality and content do not justify its full price. They suggest it would be more appropriately priced at a significantly lower cost.
- Flandre Boss Fight Difficulty Spike (weight 0.05): The Flandre boss fight is noted for being extremely difficult due to her high stats, often requiring extensive grinding to overcome. This creates a significant challenge for players.
- Punishing Gold Loss on Death (weight 0.05): Players lose a significant amount of in-game money upon dying, which is frustrating given that gold has limited utility as essential equipment is often found through drops or chests.

Gameplay feedback:
- ARPG with Bullet Hell Elements (weight 0.45): The game blends Action RPG mechanics, such as leveling up, acquiring skills, and equipping gear, with bullet hell combat elements. Gameplay involves hack-and-slash action, dodging projectiles, and strategic boss battles.
- Two Playable Characters (weight 0.37): Players can choose between two distinct characters, Remilia Scarlet and Sakuya Izayoi, each with unique skills, playstyles, and equipment sets. Remilia is often described as a power-type melee character, while Sakuya specializes in speed, precision, and ranged knife attacks.
- Bullet Hell Mode offers challenge (weight 0.3): The game features an optional 'Bullet Hell Mode' which significantly increases difficulty by adding more and faster bullets from enemies and bosses. This mode is recommended for experienced players seeking a greater challenge, as the base game is often considered too easy.
- Boss Fights are Key (weight 0.28): Boss battles are a central and engaging part of the gameplay, requiring players to learn attack patterns, dodge projectiles, and strike during openings. These encounters are often highlighted as the most fun and challenging aspects of the game.
- Grinding for Progression (weight 0.19): Progression often involves grinding for experience and items to level up characters and improve stats. While some players find this natural, others note that reaching the level cap or obtaining specific gear requires dedicated farming.
- Moderate Game Length (weight 0.15): The game offers a relatively short main campaign, with completion times ranging from 5 to 15 hours for the normal or true ending. Achieving all achievements typically takes around 10-20 hours.
- Accessible and Casual Gameplay (weight 0.12): The game is generally considered accessible and not overly difficult, especially on lower settings, making it suitable for casual players. The learning curve is enjoyable, and beginners can overcome challenges through grinding.
- Item Farming is Streamlined (weight 0.05): The game simplifies item farming through the availability of gear that boosts item drop rates. Players can strategically equip these items to efficiently acquire rare loot and achieve specific goals like the 'Treasure Hunter' achievement.
- Map Navigation Needs Improvement (weight 0.04): While players can revisit previous areas and return to the map from the pause menu, there is a suggestion for an in-game map for each level to improve navigation and exploration.
- Skills and Mana System (weight 0.04): Characters unlock new skills as they level up, which consume mana that recharges over time. These skills, including 'Spell Cards' in boss fights, add strategic depth to combat.

Performance notes:
- Graphics Scalability is Good (weight 0.12): Players noted that the game maintains good visual quality even when graphics settings are lowered, and it can run stably on older hardware at lower resolutions. The Steam version also supports up to 4K resolution.
- Inconsistent Performance & Stuttering (weight 0.11): Many players report significant frame rate inconsistencies and stuttering, even on high-end systems, despite the game often being locked at 60 FPS. Some suggest adjusting graphics settings or playing in windowed mode to mitigate these issues, while others note that the original game also had FPS instability.
- High Refresh Rate Tool Improves Experience (weight 0.01): One player mentioned that using a specific tool with a high refresh rate screen significantly enhances the gameplay experience, suggesting potential benefits for those with compatible setups.

Recommendations:
- Generally well-received (weight 0.41): Players generally enjoyed the game, with many giving positive ratings and expressing a desire for a sequel. Despite not being a 'masterpiece,' it offers a good amount of content and replayability, especially when players create their own challenges.
- Primarily for Touhou fans (weight 0.3): The game is highly recommended for fans of the Touhou series, especially those interested in 3D Touhou games or ARPGs. It serves as a good entry point for newcomers to the Touhou universe, but its appeal is significantly amplified for existing fans.
- Recommended on sale (weight 0.11): Many players suggest purchasing the game when it is on sale, particularly at a 40% discount or more. While considered worth the money, a sale price makes it an even more attractive buy.
- Character choice impacts experience (weight 0.06): Players recommend starting with Sakuya for a more enjoyable initial experience, then adapting to Remilia for a second playthrough. Remilia is also noted for quick achievement grinding.
- Controller recommended (weight 0.01): A controller is recommended for playing the game, suggesting it enhances the gameplay experience or is preferred over keyboard controls.
- Desire for OST release (weight 0.01): One player expressed a hope for an official soundtrack release in the future, indicating appreciation for the game's music.
- Specific grinding strategy (weight 0.01): A detailed strategy for leveling Remilia in specific areas for money and gacha before entering the labyrinth was provided, indicating advanced player engagement.

Other player notes:
- Touhou fan game with Ys influence (weight 0.09): The game is a fan-made ARPG based on the Touhou Project franchise, often described as an 'Ys clone' due to its gameplay style. It appeals to existing Touhou fans and follows the series' incident-style plot.
- Nostalgia and Steam release (weight 0.07): Many players have a history with the game, having played pirated versions in the past or during high school. There's a general sentiment of happiness to see the game officially released on Steam.
- Desire for Chinese localization (weight 0.06): Multiple players expressed a strong desire for Chinese localization, both Simplified and Traditional. Some noted that a Korean patch was released, but Chinese support was either missing or came too late for their playthroughs.
- Connection to Youyou Kengeki Musou (weight 0.06): Some players consider this game a sequel to Youyou Kengeki Musou and hope its predecessor will also be released on Steam, indicating a desire for more games from the same developer or series.
- Requests for quality-of-life features (weight 0.05): Players suggested adding in-level save points, a 'Music Room' feature, and the ability to revisit previously explored locations after completing certain game segments.
- Minor gameplay nitpicks (weight 0.04): While not game-breaking, some players have minor nitpicks about the game. One specific query was about obtaining a golden box in the Lost Bamboo Forest.
- Character balance and preference (weight 0.03): Players often start with one character (e.g., Remilia) but switch to another (e.g., Sakuya) to complete the game or achievements, suggesting potential balance issues or differing playstyles between characters.
- Miscellaneous observations (weight 0.02): Players noted the game's file size is 2.4GB and made a humorous comment about the Scarlet Devil Mansion being 'blown up again,' a common Touhou trope.
- Improved bullet patterns (weight 0.02): The developer reportedly improved the difficult bullet patterns, indicating a positive change in gameplay mechanics.

Emotions:
- Satisfaction (weight 0.3): Players felt satisfied by the game's high overall quality, including its polished gameplay, engaging boss battles, and excellent music and art. The game's value for money, replayability, and the sense of accomplishment from completing the game or achieving 100% completion also contributed to this emotion.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.13): Enjoyment stemmed from the game's fun and accessible gameplay, crisp action, and engaging boss fights. Players also appreciated the captivating music, appealing art style, and interesting plot, which together created an overall positive and immersive experience.
- Disappointment (weight 0.13): Disappointment was primarily caused by the game's perceived lack of originality, repetitive farming and combat, and bland map design. Players also expressed dissatisfaction with the simple mechanics, easy difficulty, and issues like outdated graphics, poor animations, and a short, unengaging story.
- Frustration (weight 0.13): Frustration arose from poor map design leading to players getting lost, technical issues like crashes and poor performance, and game-breaking bugs. Repetitive grinding, clunky controls, and tedious platforming sections also significantly contributed to this negative emotion.
- Excitement (weight 0.07): Players felt excitement due to the game's successful blend of bullet hell and RPG elements, its addictiveness, and high replayability. The excellent soundtrack, amazing visuals, and the overall high quality of the game, especially as a Touhou fan game, also generated significant excitement.
- Joy (weight 0.03): Joy was experienced through the overall fun and immersive gameplay, particularly the feeling of being in Gensokyo. Playing as specific characters like Sakuya, enjoying the soundtracks, and the positive experience of starting new playthroughs also brought joy.
- Boredom (weight 0.03): Boredom was caused by repetitive gameplay, particularly in the latter half of the game, with monotonous labyrinth climbing and exploration. Reskinned monsters, repetitive background music, and homogenized monster groups also contributed to a dull experience.
- Amusement (weight 0.03): Amusement came from humorous elements such as the hit counter font, subtle character graphics, and initial crude jokes. Players also found humor in personal anecdotes, self-deprecating moments, and various humorous points that satisfied Touhou fans.
- Nostalgia (weight 0.02): Nostalgia was triggered by the game's graphics reminiscent of early 2000s games and memories of playing pirated versions before its Steam release. Replaying the game and recalling past experiences, such as high school summer vacations, also evoked this emotion.
- Admiration (weight 0.02): Admiration was directed towards the game's high quality as a fan-made work, with players considering it the best in the series. The game's artistic and technical achievements, including its art, music, skill design, map design, and boss patterns, also garnered significant praise.
- Mild annoyance (weight 0.02): Mild annoyance stemmed from issues like weird camera placement, a simplistic control interface, and the camera sometimes being hard to see. Tedious and monotonous grinding, along with minor inconveniences like slipping while climbing waterfalls, also contributed to this feeling.
- Annoyance (weight 0.01): Annoyance was caused by specific gameplay mechanics such as boss invincibility animations and issues with the save system and quit button design. Awkward camera angles and game bugs also contributed to player irritation.
- Surprise (weight 0.01): Players experienced surprise when the game exceeded their expectations, particularly regarding its quality. The unexpected difficulty of playing as Sakuya compared to Remilia and the game's release on Steam also contributed to this emotion.
- Desire (weight 0.01): Desire was expressed for additional content and features, such as more playable characters and a mechanic to slow the character down. Players also hoped for increased difficulty and challenge in the game.
- Gratitude (weight 0.01): Gratitude was felt towards the development team for creating the Touhou fan game and for Touhou's overall positive impact on players' lives. This emotion reflected appreciation for the game's existence and its contribution to the community.
- Affection (weight 0.01): Affection was directed towards specific characters, particularly Remilia, due to her cuteness and unique actions like her headbutt. The presence of Sakuya also evoked feelings of affection among players.
- Mild disappointment (weight 0.01): Mild disappointment arose from dated graphics, a lack of voice acting, and poor optimization. Players also noted Sakuya's slow traversal speed in fields as a minor drawback.
- Challenge (weight 0.01): Players felt challenged by difficult boss fights, especially in Bullet Hell mode, which often required multiple attempts to learn attack patterns and timing. This indicated a desire for engaging and demanding gameplay encounters.
- Hope (weight 0.01): Hope was expressed for potential improvements in a sequel and the desire for additional features, such as a music room. This emotion reflected optimism for the game's future development and expansion.
- Amazement (weight 0.01): Amazement was caused by the game's scene design and its overall quality and adaptation. Players were impressed by the visual presentation and the successful execution of the game's elements.}