Doujin Games
Touhou series (zun)
This is a danmaku (lit: "bullet curtain", also known in America as "bullet hell") series. I had never played shooters before really before starting these, so it's really an experience learning to dodge from scratch, even on easy mode.
The basic premise of the Touhou series is a shrine maiden named Hakurei Reimu flying around solving incidents caused by youkai and other creatures, often joined by her witch friend, Kirisame Marisa. Reimu's job is to keep the peace in the world designated for youkai, Gensoukyou. This world was created to both protect the outside world from youkai, and to protect the youkai from disappearing, because in the outside world, without faith they cease to exist. These youkai are (normally) forbidden from using their full power, and are forced to use spellcards (thus making the spells canonically dodge-able). There is a human village as well within Gensoukyou.
Generally speaking there are different characters, different shot types, bombs that usually clear the screen, options (extra shots) upon level up, death-bombing as you get hit, grazing bullets for extra score, and a focus mode where you hold shift to make yourself move slower and your hitbox visible. Often Reimu has a weak homing shot and a forward shot, contrasting Marisa who has a strong forward laser shot.
Objectionable Content: Being based heavily off Japanese mythology, magic, Shinto, and Buddhism, this may bother some more religious people. It's a generally comical and light-hearted series and doesn't usually take itself very seriously though. There is no fan service, despite the fact that almost the entire cast, save 4 characters (2 being merely alluded to, one being a turtle) are female. I would avoid fan works for the most part.
I found a fan map of Gensoukyou here: Gensokyo Map: Translated because there is no official map of the area. This one seems fairly accurate from what I can remember. Just a nifty thing.
More information can be found here: TouhouWiki
The basic premise of the Touhou series is a shrine maiden named Hakurei Reimu flying around solving incidents caused by youkai and other creatures, often joined by her witch friend, Kirisame Marisa. Reimu's job is to keep the peace in the world designated for youkai, Gensoukyou. This world was created to both protect the outside world from youkai, and to protect the youkai from disappearing, because in the outside world, without faith they cease to exist. These youkai are (normally) forbidden from using their full power, and are forced to use spellcards (thus making the spells canonically dodge-able). There is a human village as well within Gensoukyou.
Generally speaking there are different characters, different shot types, bombs that usually clear the screen, options (extra shots) upon level up, death-bombing as you get hit, grazing bullets for extra score, and a focus mode where you hold shift to make yourself move slower and your hitbox visible. Often Reimu has a weak homing shot and a forward shot, contrasting Marisa who has a strong forward laser shot.
Objectionable Content: Being based heavily off Japanese mythology, magic, Shinto, and Buddhism, this may bother some more religious people. It's a generally comical and light-hearted series and doesn't usually take itself very seriously though. There is no fan service, despite the fact that almost the entire cast, save 4 characters (2 being merely alluded to, one being a turtle) are female. I would avoid fan works for the most part.
I found a fan map of Gensoukyou here: Gensokyo Map: Translated because there is no official map of the area. This one seems fairly accurate from what I can remember. Just a nifty thing.
More information can be found here: TouhouWiki
English patching
For the older Windows games, there was often a translation group that would release an English Patch. You can google for those if you want to. For the newer games like Touhou 14+, you will need to grab the Touhou Patch Center's patcher. Their wiki will not explain hardly anything about how to actually USE the patcher, so I'm going to explain it here a little bit. It takes the translations from the community wiki and patches English into the game. It will update the translations when you run the config file. You can run more than one translation over another one if, say, one is incomplete.
1) First, you can find their patcher here: Touhou Community Reliant Automatic Patcher.
It's abbreviated thcrap for irony. You can unzip it wherever.
2) BACK UP YOUR ORIGINAL .EXES FIRST. It's not terribly explicit about what it does with your files, but it does tamper with them and makes its own.
3) Run the thcrap_configure.exe. It runs in a command prompt. It explains itself fairly well. First you have to pick a language, so you just type in the corresponding number.
4) If you want, you can have it patch all of your windows Touhou games by selecting the folder where you keep them all (if you keep them all together), or to patch them individually, just pick the path for the single game folder. It will ask you which .exe to patch if there are several, but it will show you the path of each.
5) Once it's done, it will make shortcuts to its modified .exes that you can move around if you want.
1) First, you can find their patcher here: Touhou Community Reliant Automatic Patcher.
It's abbreviated thcrap for irony. You can unzip it wherever.
2) BACK UP YOUR ORIGINAL .EXES FIRST. It's not terribly explicit about what it does with your files, but it does tamper with them and makes its own.
3) Run the thcrap_configure.exe. It runs in a command prompt. It explains itself fairly well. First you have to pick a language, so you just type in the corresponding number.
4) If you want, you can have it patch all of your windows Touhou games by selecting the folder where you keep them all (if you keep them all together), or to patch them individually, just pick the path for the single game folder. It will ask you which .exe to patch if there are several, but it will show you the path of each.
5) Once it's done, it will make shortcuts to its modified .exes that you can move around if you want.
PC98
PC98 was a gaming computer in Japan in the 1990's, for which Touhou 1-5 were developed. An emulator is needed to run them on Windows computers.
Touhou 1: Touhou Reiiden ~ The Highly Responsive to Prayers
(東方靈異伝 ~ The Highly Responsive to Prayers)
Someone destroyed Reimu's shrine, so she goes out to find the perpetrator.
This one is an odd shooting game, very unlike the rest of the series. You run along the ground, shooting up at tiles with her seals to get points and powerups. Reimu is also armed with a Yin-Yang Orb that she has not yet learned to control, and you either have to shoot it to make it bounce a direction, slide into it, or whack it with your gohei (shrine stick thing). The Yin-Yang Orb is the only thing you can hurt enemies with. There is a branch off after stage 5, and you go to either Makai (demon world) or Hell to beat whoever thus becomes the perpetrator.
I haven't played this one very much. It's difficult it seems like, because Reimu is slow and the Yin-Yang Orb is hard to predict, especially when it's fast, and your hitbox is large.
(東方靈異伝 ~ The Highly Responsive to Prayers)
Someone destroyed Reimu's shrine, so she goes out to find the perpetrator.
This one is an odd shooting game, very unlike the rest of the series. You run along the ground, shooting up at tiles with her seals to get points and powerups. Reimu is also armed with a Yin-Yang Orb that she has not yet learned to control, and you either have to shoot it to make it bounce a direction, slide into it, or whack it with your gohei (shrine stick thing). The Yin-Yang Orb is the only thing you can hurt enemies with. There is a branch off after stage 5, and you go to either Makai (demon world) or Hell to beat whoever thus becomes the perpetrator.
I haven't played this one very much. It's difficult it seems like, because Reimu is slow and the Yin-Yang Orb is hard to predict, especially when it's fast, and your hitbox is large.
Touhou 2: Touhou Fumaroku ~ the Story of Eastern Wonderland(東方封魔 ~ the Story of Eastern Wonderland)
Reimu finds her shrine overrun with ghosts and youkai after returning from training out in the mountains. She then goes out to find the perpetrator.
This time, Reimu is shooting seals from the back of a flying turtle named Genji that lives behind the shrine, as she has not yet learned to fly on her own. It is a top-down shooter, aiming as you would expect towards the top of the screen. Reimu travels to Makai, where Kirisame Marisa, the other main character of the series, titled the "ordinary magician", is first introduced as the apprentice of the vengeful ghost Mima, one of the bosses beat in the first game that wanted revenge.
This one is very difficult, even on Easy for the unskilled player. Focus mode was not yet introduced. Reimu's hitbox is now a small dot in the slightly-upper-middle area of her sprite so that you can dodge bullets easier; however, it is always invisible. You have 2 Yin-Yang Orb options as you level your shot from powerups, which becomes standard.
Reimu finds her shrine overrun with ghosts and youkai after returning from training out in the mountains. She then goes out to find the perpetrator.
This time, Reimu is shooting seals from the back of a flying turtle named Genji that lives behind the shrine, as she has not yet learned to fly on her own. It is a top-down shooter, aiming as you would expect towards the top of the screen. Reimu travels to Makai, where Kirisame Marisa, the other main character of the series, titled the "ordinary magician", is first introduced as the apprentice of the vengeful ghost Mima, one of the bosses beat in the first game that wanted revenge.
This one is very difficult, even on Easy for the unskilled player. Focus mode was not yet introduced. Reimu's hitbox is now a small dot in the slightly-upper-middle area of her sprite so that you can dodge bullets easier; however, it is always invisible. You have 2 Yin-Yang Orb options as you level your shot from powerups, which becomes standard.
Touhou 3: Touhou Yumejikuu ~ Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream
(東方夢時 ~ Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream)
Reimu finds strange ruins near her shrine, and she is told by Mima and Marisa that the resident is offering a prize to the one that gets in. So a contest is held and everyone fights for their chance to enter.
There are several playable characters this time. This is a shooter with a split-screen where you compete against an AI character indirectly by surviving longer. You try to defeat enemies and that character's boss and get more points and powerups which in turn make your opponent's side of the screen have more obstacles specific to your character. You have a charge shot to assist you. You are to fight each of the 7 characters.
It's a shame that this one isn't multiplayer. I haven't played it very much because of that. There are no actual levels to play through either so I haven't devoted much time to it.
(東方夢時 ~ Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream)
Reimu finds strange ruins near her shrine, and she is told by Mima and Marisa that the resident is offering a prize to the one that gets in. So a contest is held and everyone fights for their chance to enter.
There are several playable characters this time. This is a shooter with a split-screen where you compete against an AI character indirectly by surviving longer. You try to defeat enemies and that character's boss and get more points and powerups which in turn make your opponent's side of the screen have more obstacles specific to your character. You have a charge shot to assist you. You are to fight each of the 7 characters.
It's a shame that this one isn't multiplayer. I haven't played it very much because of that. There are no actual levels to play through either so I haven't devoted much time to it.
Touhou 4: Touhou Gensoukyou ~ Lotus Land Story
(東方幻想郷 ~ Lotus Land Story)
Sensing a powerful youkai in the mountains while the shrine is being swarmed again by ghosts and youkai, Reimu and Marisa head out to find the culprit. They enter a dream world at the bottom of the lake, and wake Kazami Yuuka in her mansion, an occasionally-recurring character. The progression of the game in locations and characters is similar to ZUN's first Windows game, Touhou 6: Embodiment of Scarlet Devil.
This is where it starts to become a more standard Touhou series game. Grazing and focus were first implemented here, although focus will be missing the visible hitbox until the Windows games. Genji is absent from this point on, as Reimu has learned to fly on her own. It's hard on normal, what with Yuuka's fast Double Spark. However I did manage to clear it without continuing so it is doable for the less skilled.
(東方幻想郷 ~ Lotus Land Story)
Sensing a powerful youkai in the mountains while the shrine is being swarmed again by ghosts and youkai, Reimu and Marisa head out to find the culprit. They enter a dream world at the bottom of the lake, and wake Kazami Yuuka in her mansion, an occasionally-recurring character. The progression of the game in locations and characters is similar to ZUN's first Windows game, Touhou 6: Embodiment of Scarlet Devil.
This is where it starts to become a more standard Touhou series game. Grazing and focus were first implemented here, although focus will be missing the visible hitbox until the Windows games. Genji is absent from this point on, as Reimu has learned to fly on her own. It's hard on normal, what with Yuuka's fast Double Spark. However I did manage to clear it without continuing so it is doable for the less skilled.
Touhou 5: Touhou Kaikidan ~ Mystic Square
(東方怪綺談 ~ Mystic Square)
Again Reimu makes the trip to Makai, along with the other playable characters Marisa, Mima, and Yuuka after the shrine is overrun with demons pouring out of a cave.
This is where Alice, the doll-using youkai that appears later on, makes her debut as the fifth stage boss and later the extra stage boss.
Clearing Easy is doable for the unskilled.
(東方怪綺談 ~ Mystic Square)
Again Reimu makes the trip to Makai, along with the other playable characters Marisa, Mima, and Yuuka after the shrine is overrun with demons pouring out of a cave.
This is where Alice, the doll-using youkai that appears later on, makes her debut as the fifth stage boss and later the extra stage boss.
Clearing Easy is doable for the unskilled.
Windows
* The Windows continuation of the series is greatly improved in terms of quality. The graphics are greatly enhanced; the scrolling backgrounds are in one-point perspective and 3D-rendered instead of drawn from top-down (although it calls accuracy into question, as your sprite is still mostly top-down perspective). Everything is much more refined-looking, and the games became compatible with Western computers if one has Japanese locale. This is also where the plot becomes more in-depth and creative, as well as the game systems.
Touhou 6: Touhou Koumakyou ~ the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil
(東方紅魔郷 ~ the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil)
Someone is flooding Gensoukyou with a poison scarlet mist, killing most humans within minutes. Reimu and Marisa have a half hour to find the culprit and stop the mist.
This is where many of the major characters start showing up--Rumia, Daiyousei, Cirno, Hong Meiling, Patchouli Knowledge, Izayoi Sakuya, Remilia Scarlet, and Flandre Scarlet. This game is similar to Lotus Land story somewhat, particularly the resemblance between Orange and Hong Meiling, both mansion guards. There is also a lake before the mansion and a vampire within in both games. There is an extra stage boss that dresses like a maid in Lotus Land Story. Although Mystic Square's 5th stage boss Yumeko is basically a prototype Sakuya.
This game is difficult on Normal Mode, and Easy only goes to the 5th stage, but that is beatable for the unskilled. This is where death-bombing is introduced, albeit a very short window. Marisa says some weird and slightly awkward things in here for some reason.
(東方紅魔郷 ~ the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil)
Someone is flooding Gensoukyou with a poison scarlet mist, killing most humans within minutes. Reimu and Marisa have a half hour to find the culprit and stop the mist.
This is where many of the major characters start showing up--Rumia, Daiyousei, Cirno, Hong Meiling, Patchouli Knowledge, Izayoi Sakuya, Remilia Scarlet, and Flandre Scarlet. This game is similar to Lotus Land story somewhat, particularly the resemblance between Orange and Hong Meiling, both mansion guards. There is also a lake before the mansion and a vampire within in both games. There is an extra stage boss that dresses like a maid in Lotus Land Story. Although Mystic Square's 5th stage boss Yumeko is basically a prototype Sakuya.
This game is difficult on Normal Mode, and Easy only goes to the 5th stage, but that is beatable for the unskilled. This is where death-bombing is introduced, albeit a very short window. Marisa says some weird and slightly awkward things in here for some reason.
Touhou 7: Touhou Youyoumu ~ Perfect Cherry Blossom
(東方妖々夢 ~ Perfect Cherry Blossom)
Someone is stealing all of Gensoukyou's spring, and winter won't leave. Reimu, Marisa, and this time Sakuya set off to find out who's doing it and why, collecting spring in the form of cherry petals along the way.
Another popular cast is introduced--Letty Whiterock, Yakumo Chen, Ran, and Yukari, the Prismrivers Lunasa, Merlin, and Lyrica, Konpaku Youmu, and Saigyouji Yuyuko. Cirno and Alice make a reappearance.
The game system changes a little bit. Your hitbox when focused is now visible. You can now collect all items on the screen by going up to to the top above a certain point and tapping shift, where they are worth more as well. When you collect enough cherry points from killing enemies, you get a shield around you that shrinks over time. If you aren't hit before it's over, you get extra points. If you are hit, it clears all of the things on the screen.
(東方妖々夢 ~ Perfect Cherry Blossom)
Someone is stealing all of Gensoukyou's spring, and winter won't leave. Reimu, Marisa, and this time Sakuya set off to find out who's doing it and why, collecting spring in the form of cherry petals along the way.
Another popular cast is introduced--Letty Whiterock, Yakumo Chen, Ran, and Yukari, the Prismrivers Lunasa, Merlin, and Lyrica, Konpaku Youmu, and Saigyouji Yuyuko. Cirno and Alice make a reappearance.
The game system changes a little bit. Your hitbox when focused is now visible. You can now collect all items on the screen by going up to to the top above a certain point and tapping shift, where they are worth more as well. When you collect enough cherry points from killing enemies, you get a shield around you that shrinks over time. If you aren't hit before it's over, you get extra points. If you are hit, it clears all of the things on the screen.
Touhou 7.5: Touhou Suimusou ~ Immaterial and Missing Power (Twilight Frontier / ZUN)
(東方萃夢想 ~ Immaterial and Missing Power)
At the Hakurei shrine, feasts are being held every 3 days. During the feasts, a strange purple mist appears, but nothing seems to be happening. Regardless, several characters feel that something still isn't right, and go out to investigate why feasts keep being held, and what the mist is.
This is the first fighting game in the series, of which there are 4. It works considerably differently from the later ones. A new character is introduced by the name of Ibuki Suika.
I don't know the specifics very well, because most people don't play it multiplayer anyway like they do the later ones. There are special moves, blocking, flying, and grazing (dashing through bullets), which take down a spirit meter, and supers in the form of spellcards. This would be similar to the later fighting games.
(東方萃夢想 ~ Immaterial and Missing Power)
At the Hakurei shrine, feasts are being held every 3 days. During the feasts, a strange purple mist appears, but nothing seems to be happening. Regardless, several characters feel that something still isn't right, and go out to investigate why feasts keep being held, and what the mist is.
This is the first fighting game in the series, of which there are 4. It works considerably differently from the later ones. A new character is introduced by the name of Ibuki Suika.
I don't know the specifics very well, because most people don't play it multiplayer anyway like they do the later ones. There are special moves, blocking, flying, and grazing (dashing through bullets), which take down a spirit meter, and supers in the form of spellcards. This would be similar to the later fighting games.
Touhou 8: Touhou Eiyashou ~ Imperishable Night
(東方永夜抄 ~ Imperishable Night)
There is something wrong with the moon, and the night never ends. The human characters pair up with youkai to solve the problem.
The characters introduced here are Wriggle Nightbug, Mystia Lorelei, Kamishirasawa Keine, Inaba Tewi (pronounced Tei; although Tewi still has stuck for me because it feels like it fits), Reisen Udongein Inaba, Yagokoro Eirin, Houraisan Kaguya, and Fujiwara no Mokou.
This game is rather unique, and I wish ZUN would do something similar again. Each human--Reimu, Marisa, Youmu, and Sakuya--pair up with a youkai--Yukari, Alice, Yuyuko, and Remilia, respectively. When you focus, you change to the youkai, which is still slower. Unfocused you're the human. You get more "time" to continue if you stay human more often and collect the tiny purple powerups. If you lose all your lives, you can continue until 4:30 AM--it goes a half hour ahead every time you continue, and each time you pass a stage. The death bomb time window is the longest in this game, for Reimu especially. It is the easiest game in the series, and it's quite doable for an unskilled player to beat the game with several lives left over on Easy, and even beat Normal.
(東方永夜抄 ~ Imperishable Night)
There is something wrong with the moon, and the night never ends. The human characters pair up with youkai to solve the problem.
The characters introduced here are Wriggle Nightbug, Mystia Lorelei, Kamishirasawa Keine, Inaba Tewi (pronounced Tei; although Tewi still has stuck for me because it feels like it fits), Reisen Udongein Inaba, Yagokoro Eirin, Houraisan Kaguya, and Fujiwara no Mokou.
This game is rather unique, and I wish ZUN would do something similar again. Each human--Reimu, Marisa, Youmu, and Sakuya--pair up with a youkai--Yukari, Alice, Yuyuko, and Remilia, respectively. When you focus, you change to the youkai, which is still slower. Unfocused you're the human. You get more "time" to continue if you stay human more often and collect the tiny purple powerups. If you lose all your lives, you can continue until 4:30 AM--it goes a half hour ahead every time you continue, and each time you pass a stage. The death bomb time window is the longest in this game, for Reimu especially. It is the easiest game in the series, and it's quite doable for an unskilled player to beat the game with several lives left over on Easy, and even beat Normal.
Touhou 9: Touhou Kaeidzuka ~ Phantasmagoria of Flower View
(東方花映塚 ~ Phantasmagoria of Flower View)
Flowers keep blooming in Gensoukyou like crazy...although, some of the older residents of Gensoukyou know the reason behind it, but aren't doing anything about it. Reimu and co. set out to discover what's going on.
Enter characters Lily White, Shameimaru Aya, Medicine Melancholy, Onozuka Komachi and Shiki Eiki (Title:)Yamaxanadu. Yuuka makes a reappearance.
This is like Touhou 3, except it is multiplayer. You usually have to use another program to host though, such as adonise. You basically have 4 levels of charge, and if you use up 4 you send a boss to the opponent's side. If they use 4 they can send it back. 1st level of charge is a free special attack. Level 2 sends an attack to the opponents screen, and level 3 is a stronger attack. You also kill spirits to send small attacks. Score will also send your boss over (and get rid of their boss if it's on your side). You have a bomb, but it takes your charge level to 0 and you can't get any charge for a little while. It's usually a last resort.
(東方花映塚 ~ Phantasmagoria of Flower View)
Flowers keep blooming in Gensoukyou like crazy...although, some of the older residents of Gensoukyou know the reason behind it, but aren't doing anything about it. Reimu and co. set out to discover what's going on.
Enter characters Lily White, Shameimaru Aya, Medicine Melancholy, Onozuka Komachi and Shiki Eiki (Title:)Yamaxanadu. Yuuka makes a reappearance.
This is like Touhou 3, except it is multiplayer. You usually have to use another program to host though, such as adonise. You basically have 4 levels of charge, and if you use up 4 you send a boss to the opponent's side. If they use 4 they can send it back. 1st level of charge is a free special attack. Level 2 sends an attack to the opponents screen, and level 3 is a stronger attack. You also kill spirits to send small attacks. Score will also send your boss over (and get rid of their boss if it's on your side). You have a bomb, but it takes your charge level to 0 and you can't get any charge for a little while. It's usually a last resort.
Touhou 9.5: Touhou Bunkachou ~ Shoot the Bullet
(東方文花帖 ~ Shoot the Bullet)
Aya is looking for new scoops for her Tengu newspaper. She tries to interview many characters, but they, knowing Aya, want none of it. It is your job to take pictures of the various characters as they shoot their danmaku.
Your camera charges slowly, and you can hold down the shoot and focus button to get your camera ready faster. You can hit the shoot button to start taking a picture. You can move the camera around within a short time frame and everything goes slow-motion, but the camera window gets smaller over time. Bullets disappear when you take a picture, so sometimes, even if you can't get the boss in the shot, you can use it to defend yourself. You need a certain number of acceptable pictures to win. You only have to win a certain amount of scenes in a level to be able to do the next levels scenes.
This game is weird and very hard for an unskilled player past the first couple levels (within which are Scenes). Aya is very fast unfocused, still fairly fast when using focused movement (compared to most characters), and extremely slow while charging, so it's hard to get used to switching between 3 different speeds.
(東方文花帖 ~ Shoot the Bullet)
Aya is looking for new scoops for her Tengu newspaper. She tries to interview many characters, but they, knowing Aya, want none of it. It is your job to take pictures of the various characters as they shoot their danmaku.
Your camera charges slowly, and you can hold down the shoot and focus button to get your camera ready faster. You can hit the shoot button to start taking a picture. You can move the camera around within a short time frame and everything goes slow-motion, but the camera window gets smaller over time. Bullets disappear when you take a picture, so sometimes, even if you can't get the boss in the shot, you can use it to defend yourself. You need a certain number of acceptable pictures to win. You only have to win a certain amount of scenes in a level to be able to do the next levels scenes.
This game is weird and very hard for an unskilled player past the first couple levels (within which are Scenes). Aya is very fast unfocused, still fairly fast when using focused movement (compared to most characters), and extremely slow while charging, so it's hard to get used to switching between 3 different speeds.
2nd Generation Windows
Touhou 10: Touhou Fuujinroku ~ Mountain of Faith
(東方風神録 ~ Mountain of Faith)
Reimu has discovered that there is another shrine at the top of the mountain threatening to take away any potential visitors to her shrine there could have theoretically been. She journeys to the top of the mountain to give the shrine maiden and her god a piece of her mind, while Marisa goes to investigate for the heck of it.
New characters here are Aki Shizuha and Minoriko, Kagiyama Hina, Kawashiro Nitori, Inubashiri Momiji, Kochiya Sanae, Yasaka Kanako, and Moriya Suwako. Shameimaru Aya makes a reappearance.
This is where the game system starts to change more. It was built from scratch again like the first Windows games, for one thing. Green Faith powerups fill a Faith Gauge that makes other powerups and Spell Card bonuses worth more, thus giving you lives and bombs faster. There is also a bug that ZUN never fixed with Marisa's B shot type, where between 3-3.95 power level, it does a ton of damage unfocused--just a warning for those who don't want to accidentally cheat.
Kanako is really hard even on Easy for an unskilled player, although beatable. There is a Youtube video comparing Easy and Normal Mode Kanako's spells, and they are almost the same, except Normal is ever-so-slightly faster.
(東方風神録 ~ Mountain of Faith)
Reimu has discovered that there is another shrine at the top of the mountain threatening to take away any potential visitors to her shrine there could have theoretically been. She journeys to the top of the mountain to give the shrine maiden and her god a piece of her mind, while Marisa goes to investigate for the heck of it.
New characters here are Aki Shizuha and Minoriko, Kagiyama Hina, Kawashiro Nitori, Inubashiri Momiji, Kochiya Sanae, Yasaka Kanako, and Moriya Suwako. Shameimaru Aya makes a reappearance.
This is where the game system starts to change more. It was built from scratch again like the first Windows games, for one thing. Green Faith powerups fill a Faith Gauge that makes other powerups and Spell Card bonuses worth more, thus giving you lives and bombs faster. There is also a bug that ZUN never fixed with Marisa's B shot type, where between 3-3.95 power level, it does a ton of damage unfocused--just a warning for those who don't want to accidentally cheat.
Kanako is really hard even on Easy for an unskilled player, although beatable. There is a Youtube video comparing Easy and Normal Mode Kanako's spells, and they are almost the same, except Normal is ever-so-slightly faster.
(東方緋想天 ~ Scarlet Weather Rhapsody)
The shrine has been destroyed by an earthquake. Many characters are noticing that the weather is acting strangely as they encounter each other.
The new characters introduced here are Nagae Iku and Hinanawi
(pronounced Hinanai) Tenshi.
This is a fighting game that is similar to Touhou 12.3: Hisoutensoku because it is the non-expansion version (hence the name similarity). The mechanics are very similar, although there are similarities. Mechanics would be better explained under Hisoutensoku.
Touhou 11: Touhou Chireiden ~ Subterranean Animism (東方地霊殿 ~ Subterranean Animism)
Evil spirits are spouting up from out of the earth around Reimu and Marisa's new hot spring near the shrine. With prodding from the youkai, Reimu and Marisa, aided with powers from said youkai above ground, go to investigate.
New characters in this game include Kisume, Kurodani Yamame, Mizuhashi Parsee, Hoshiguma Yuugi, Komeiji Satori and Koishi, Kaenbyou Rin, and Reiuji Utsuho. Sanae makes a reappearance as an extra stage midboss.
Reimu's helper youkai are Yukari, Suika, and Aya. Marisa's are Alice, Patchouli, and Nitori. Each gives a different shot type and bomb, as well as dialogue. None of the helper youkai are actually present like in Imperishable Night, because for some reason that isn't really explained, they just won't go underground. They talk to Reimu and Marisa via walkie-talkie type things.
There are the same green point items from mountain of faith that increase value.
This one is doable on Easy, but is very difficult on Normal for the unskilled. As with most games, the difficulty ramps up at stage 3. Despite Utsuho's really weird-to-deal-with spells, she seemed to have less complicated danmaku and I personally actually found her somewhat easier than most bosses.
Evil spirits are spouting up from out of the earth around Reimu and Marisa's new hot spring near the shrine. With prodding from the youkai, Reimu and Marisa, aided with powers from said youkai above ground, go to investigate.
New characters in this game include Kisume, Kurodani Yamame, Mizuhashi Parsee, Hoshiguma Yuugi, Komeiji Satori and Koishi, Kaenbyou Rin, and Reiuji Utsuho. Sanae makes a reappearance as an extra stage midboss.
Reimu's helper youkai are Yukari, Suika, and Aya. Marisa's are Alice, Patchouli, and Nitori. Each gives a different shot type and bomb, as well as dialogue. None of the helper youkai are actually present like in Imperishable Night, because for some reason that isn't really explained, they just won't go underground. They talk to Reimu and Marisa via walkie-talkie type things.
There are the same green point items from mountain of faith that increase value.
This one is doable on Easy, but is very difficult on Normal for the unskilled. As with most games, the difficulty ramps up at stage 3. Despite Utsuho's really weird-to-deal-with spells, she seemed to have less complicated danmaku and I personally actually found her somewhat easier than most bosses.
Touhou 12: Touhou Seirensen ~ Undefined Fantastic Object
(東方星蓮船 ~ Undefined Fantastic Object)
There's a giant ship in the sky over Gensoukyou, and Reimu, Marisa, and Sanae go to investigate for various reasons.
New characters are Nazrin, Tatara Kogasa, Kumoi Ichirin, Murasa Minamitsu, Toramaru Shou, Hijiri Byakuren, and Houjuu Nue.
The way to get stuff in this one is to collect 3 UFOs of the same color. Red is lives, green is bombs, and Blue are points. There's more to it than that, but that's the basic gist.
I never really liked this game. Most of the new characters didn't have a whole lot of personality, and the UFO gimmick was really annoying. I know the point is to take risks to get a reward, but it was incredibly distracting trying to both dodge danmaku and then follow this drifting UFO around the screen. And then you have to get 3 of them to get a benefit. Even on Easy this one is hard for the unskilled, especially by stage 4.
(東方星蓮船 ~ Undefined Fantastic Object)
There's a giant ship in the sky over Gensoukyou, and Reimu, Marisa, and Sanae go to investigate for various reasons.
New characters are Nazrin, Tatara Kogasa, Kumoi Ichirin, Murasa Minamitsu, Toramaru Shou, Hijiri Byakuren, and Houjuu Nue.
The way to get stuff in this one is to collect 3 UFOs of the same color. Red is lives, green is bombs, and Blue are points. There's more to it than that, but that's the basic gist.
I never really liked this game. Most of the new characters didn't have a whole lot of personality, and the UFO gimmick was really annoying. I know the point is to take risks to get a reward, but it was incredibly distracting trying to both dodge danmaku and then follow this drifting UFO around the screen. And then you have to get 3 of them to get a benefit. Even on Easy this one is hard for the unskilled, especially by stage 4.
Touhou 12.3: Touhou Hisoutensoku ~ Choudokyuu Ginyoru no Nazo o Oe
(東方非想天則 ~ 超弩級ギニョルの謎を追え)
Reimu, Cirno, Sanae, and Meiling notice a giant figure walking around in the mountains and go to investigate.
This is the expansion for Scarlet Weather Rhapsody. The weather mechanic remains, in which the weather changes, giving different effects, like increased damage, speed, certain attacks also cause knockdown, etc. There is grazing, double-tapping a direction or holding the fly key, melee attacks, weak shots, strong shots, and super cards. My boyfriend wrote a very good guide to the mechanics for new people, I would highly recommend it:
(東方非想天則 ~ 超弩級ギニョルの謎を追え)
Reimu, Cirno, Sanae, and Meiling notice a giant figure walking around in the mountains and go to investigate.
This is the expansion for Scarlet Weather Rhapsody. The weather mechanic remains, in which the weather changes, giving different effects, like increased damage, speed, certain attacks also cause knockdown, etc. There is grazing, double-tapping a direction or holding the fly key, melee attacks, weak shots, strong shots, and super cards. My boyfriend wrote a very good guide to the mechanics for new people, I would highly recommend it:
soku_summary_pack_v1.8.zip |
The zip contains a picture and document form of the summary (depending on which way makes it easier for you to find what you want / make it less daunting), as well as a weather guide.
There are many people who still play Hisoutensoku. I would recommend Soku Lobby to find people to play. Netplay works pretty well most of the time, and there are features in place on this lobby to make the gameplay smoother.
There are many people who still play Hisoutensoku. I would recommend Soku Lobby to find people to play. Netplay works pretty well most of the time, and there are features in place on this lobby to make the gameplay smoother.
Touhou 12.5: Double Spoiler ~ Touhou Bunkachou
(ダブルスポイラー ~ 東方文花帖)
A new character, Himekaidou Hatate, uses her ability, thoughtography, to do her research from home for her Kakashi newspaper. Wondering what makes Aya's Bunbunmaru newspaper so popular, she watches Aya cover news stories in person. Hatate then confronts Aya, and tries to best her using Aya's own method.
This game differs from Shoot the Bullet as one can rotate the camera orientation. You start as Aya, then you can unlock Hatate. Characters from games since Shoot the Bullet are included as well.
This game is quite difficult like its predecessor, but for someone slightly less unskilled, unlocking Hatate is possible.
(ダブルスポイラー ~ 東方文花帖)
A new character, Himekaidou Hatate, uses her ability, thoughtography, to do her research from home for her Kakashi newspaper. Wondering what makes Aya's Bunbunmaru newspaper so popular, she watches Aya cover news stories in person. Hatate then confronts Aya, and tries to best her using Aya's own method.
This game differs from Shoot the Bullet as one can rotate the camera orientation. You start as Aya, then you can unlock Hatate. Characters from games since Shoot the Bullet are included as well.
This game is quite difficult like its predecessor, but for someone slightly less unskilled, unlocking Hatate is possible.
Touhou 12.8: Fairy Wars
Yousei Daisensou ~ Touhou Sangetsusei
(妖精大戦争 ~ 東 三月)
The Three Fairies of Light destroyed Cirno's house in winter in an attempt to rile up fairies to work together (Fairy logic is bad logic). Cirno forgot until she found a flag with the Three Fairies on it in her new house. She considered this a declaration of war, and decides to attack them, even though it is now spring. However, she thinks she is the strongest, even if she doesn't have winter on her side.
The Three Fairies of Light, introduced in the Eastern and Little Nature Deity manga, are Sunny Milk, Star Sapphire, and Luna Child. This game is a continuation of the Strange and Bright Nature Deity manga. The characters are of the same design as that manga (Personally, I think Cirno is looking a little too much like Naruto). The mechanics are that Cirno can charge up her icicle shot by shooting enemies and grazing to freeze a portion of close-together bullets by holding shot and letting go. Frozen bullets will disappear. Bullets can hit the ice that has already formed and become included as long as the ice is out. The less charge you have, the less time your ice is out. The bomb is called "Perfect Freeze", and, as expected, freezes all the bullets on the screen. The more bullets you freeze, the more you get towards power, your bomb, and lives. Your freeze can also hurt enemies. "Lives" is actually a gradual meter of "Motivation", where you get a life each 100%. Fireball bullets cannot be frozen expect by bombing. You can also choose your own stage order.
This game is hard, but doable for the unskilled player on Easy, for each route, but Normal is challenging on pretty much any route. They say B is usually the easiest.
Yousei Daisensou ~ Touhou Sangetsusei
(妖精大戦争 ~ 東 三月)
The Three Fairies of Light destroyed Cirno's house in winter in an attempt to rile up fairies to work together (Fairy logic is bad logic). Cirno forgot until she found a flag with the Three Fairies on it in her new house. She considered this a declaration of war, and decides to attack them, even though it is now spring. However, she thinks she is the strongest, even if she doesn't have winter on her side.
The Three Fairies of Light, introduced in the Eastern and Little Nature Deity manga, are Sunny Milk, Star Sapphire, and Luna Child. This game is a continuation of the Strange and Bright Nature Deity manga. The characters are of the same design as that manga (Personally, I think Cirno is looking a little too much like Naruto). The mechanics are that Cirno can charge up her icicle shot by shooting enemies and grazing to freeze a portion of close-together bullets by holding shot and letting go. Frozen bullets will disappear. Bullets can hit the ice that has already formed and become included as long as the ice is out. The less charge you have, the less time your ice is out. The bomb is called "Perfect Freeze", and, as expected, freezes all the bullets on the screen. The more bullets you freeze, the more you get towards power, your bomb, and lives. Your freeze can also hurt enemies. "Lives" is actually a gradual meter of "Motivation", where you get a life each 100%. Fireball bullets cannot be frozen expect by bombing. You can also choose your own stage order.
This game is hard, but doable for the unskilled player on Easy, for each route, but Normal is challenging on pretty much any route. They say B is usually the easiest.
Touhou 13: Touhou Shinreibyou ~ Ten Desires
(東方神霊廟 ~ Ten Desires)
Reimu, Marisa, Youmu, and Sanae all notice strange spirits appearing. They go out to investigate.
The new characters in this game are Kasodani Kyouko, Miyako Yoshika, Kaku Seiga, Soga no Tojiko, Mononobe no Futo, Toyosatomimi no Miko, and Futatsuiwa Mamizou. Yuyuko, Kogasa, and Nue make a reappearance. The gimmick of this game is to kill enemies quickly so that they drop Divine Spirits which you use to fill your trance gauge. When the gauge fills, you can use it to enter the "spirit world", where the music actually changes, becoming more bassy and downplaying the melody. It firstly acts as a bomb, and for a short time, it makes the spirits you gather worth more, which is useful for gaining bombs and lives, with green and purple spirits, respectively, which give you bomb and life pieces. You also enter the "spirit world" when you are hit, and after the trance timer runs out, you explode.
This game is almost as annoying as Touhou 12 as far as risk goes. Often, to get spirits, since you have to kill them quickly, that means a lot of spirits end up at the top of the screen. Only Reimu can actually gather them well though; you can't focus them at the top of the screen. Naturally they will shrink and disappear if you don't get to them fast enough too. This is supposedly one of the easier games, and I would agree. At least on Easy an unskilled player won't get too much grief if they're careful.
(東方神霊廟 ~ Ten Desires)
Reimu, Marisa, Youmu, and Sanae all notice strange spirits appearing. They go out to investigate.
The new characters in this game are Kasodani Kyouko, Miyako Yoshika, Kaku Seiga, Soga no Tojiko, Mononobe no Futo, Toyosatomimi no Miko, and Futatsuiwa Mamizou. Yuyuko, Kogasa, and Nue make a reappearance. The gimmick of this game is to kill enemies quickly so that they drop Divine Spirits which you use to fill your trance gauge. When the gauge fills, you can use it to enter the "spirit world", where the music actually changes, becoming more bassy and downplaying the melody. It firstly acts as a bomb, and for a short time, it makes the spirits you gather worth more, which is useful for gaining bombs and lives, with green and purple spirits, respectively, which give you bomb and life pieces. You also enter the "spirit world" when you are hit, and after the trance timer runs out, you explode.
This game is almost as annoying as Touhou 12 as far as risk goes. Often, to get spirits, since you have to kill them quickly, that means a lot of spirits end up at the top of the screen. Only Reimu can actually gather them well though; you can't focus them at the top of the screen. Naturally they will shrink and disappear if you don't get to them fast enough too. This is supposedly one of the easier games, and I would agree. At least on Easy an unskilled player won't get too much grief if they're careful.
Touhou 13.5: Touhou Shinkirou ~ Hopeless Masquerade
(東方心綺楼 ~ Hopeless Masquerade)
The humans in the village are despairing. Thinking that religion will help them, the three most prominent religions, Shinto, Buddhism, and Taoism duke it out to increase their influence with the townspeople.
There is an innovative flying mechanic, as the fights are entirely in the air. However, there is almost no control and you pretty much bounce around, unable to have any real precision. I like the idea, but there should be less buoyancy (Byakuren's chest included) and more static hovering where you can move up and down more precisely. Certain attacks increase faith in one of the 3 religions, and changes the properties of your attacks. Being hit decreases your popularity.
The style is much more modern that the previous fighting games, with better sprites and 3D backgrounds. It's a shame the control is so wild that I don't play it.
(東方心綺楼 ~ Hopeless Masquerade)
The humans in the village are despairing. Thinking that religion will help them, the three most prominent religions, Shinto, Buddhism, and Taoism duke it out to increase their influence with the townspeople.
There is an innovative flying mechanic, as the fights are entirely in the air. However, there is almost no control and you pretty much bounce around, unable to have any real precision. I like the idea, but there should be less buoyancy (Byakuren's chest included) and more static hovering where you can move up and down more precisely. Certain attacks increase faith in one of the 3 religions, and changes the properties of your attacks. Being hit decreases your popularity.
The style is much more modern that the previous fighting games, with better sprites and 3D backgrounds. It's a shame the control is so wild that I don't play it.
Touhou 14: Touhou Kishinjou ~ Double Dealing Character
(東方輝針城 ~ Double Dealing Character)
Youkai that are normally peaceful are getting riled up. Reimu's gohei, Marisa's Mini-Hakkero, and Sakuya's knife are acting on their own. The three heroines decide the investigate.
New characters are Wakasagihime, Sekibanki, Imaizumi Kagerou, Tsukumo Benben and Yatsuhashi, Kijin Seija, Sukuna Shinkyoumaru, and Horikawa Raiko. Cirno makes a reappearance. You can choose to either take your weapon or not. The way to get bomb and life pieces (aside from acing spell cards) is to auto-collect more than 20 of any power/point items at the top of the screen. A bomb piece (or every 5 bomb pieces, a life piece) will then drop from above the screen. If you have more than 60 items you will also get a life piece.
I actually like this bomb/life collection system better than the last few games. It's kind of a perk to what you have to do anyway to be efficient. It's risky, but it's not much more risky than normal, and if you're still careful, you can potentially stock up a lot of lives and bombs before the 4th stage and then play much more defensively to get through it. Easy is not too difficult for the unskilled.
(東方輝針城 ~ Double Dealing Character)
Youkai that are normally peaceful are getting riled up. Reimu's gohei, Marisa's Mini-Hakkero, and Sakuya's knife are acting on their own. The three heroines decide the investigate.
New characters are Wakasagihime, Sekibanki, Imaizumi Kagerou, Tsukumo Benben and Yatsuhashi, Kijin Seija, Sukuna Shinkyoumaru, and Horikawa Raiko. Cirno makes a reappearance. You can choose to either take your weapon or not. The way to get bomb and life pieces (aside from acing spell cards) is to auto-collect more than 20 of any power/point items at the top of the screen. A bomb piece (or every 5 bomb pieces, a life piece) will then drop from above the screen. If you have more than 60 items you will also get a life piece.
I actually like this bomb/life collection system better than the last few games. It's kind of a perk to what you have to do anyway to be efficient. It's risky, but it's not much more risky than normal, and if you're still careful, you can potentially stock up a lot of lives and bombs before the 4th stage and then play much more defensively to get through it. Easy is not too difficult for the unskilled.
Touhou 14.3: Danmaku Amanojaku ~ Impossible Spell Card
(弾幕アマノジャク ~ Impossible Spell Card)
Kijin Seija has become a wanted criminal for her disruption of Gensoukyou in the previous game. Therefore everyone is allowed to use illegal (undodge-able) spellcards to assist in her capture.
You get items to aid you in making it through these otherwise-impossible spellcards, each having an active and passive ability.You only start with one item usable at a time, but on Day 6 you get to dual-wield for extra effects. The items you use you can level up by using them.
This game is really interesting, actually. Some are more widely useful than others, especially on the first few days. This game is similar in format to Shoot the Bullet and Double Spoiler, but isn't nearly as difficult and soul-crushing. You get to pick how you want to beat a scene, and the game is easy enough that you can use several different items on some scenes even later on. There are a couple frustrating scenes early on, but once you figure it out, it's not terribly difficult to beat them.
(弾幕アマノジャク ~ Impossible Spell Card)
Kijin Seija has become a wanted criminal for her disruption of Gensoukyou in the previous game. Therefore everyone is allowed to use illegal (undodge-able) spellcards to assist in her capture.
You get items to aid you in making it through these otherwise-impossible spellcards, each having an active and passive ability.You only start with one item usable at a time, but on Day 6 you get to dual-wield for extra effects. The items you use you can level up by using them.
This game is really interesting, actually. Some are more widely useful than others, especially on the first few days. This game is similar in format to Shoot the Bullet and Double Spoiler, but isn't nearly as difficult and soul-crushing. You get to pick how you want to beat a scene, and the game is easy enough that you can use several different items on some scenes even later on. There are a couple frustrating scenes early on, but once you figure it out, it's not terribly difficult to beat them.
Koumajou densetsu
There are many fangames based on the Touhou series, and the Koumajou Densetsu series is a quite professional one. Created by Frontier Aja, it includes 2 Castlevania-type platformers. The characters now look totally hardcore and are designed very well in a sort of vampire hunter/gothic style. The music is good too.
Koumajou Densetsu: Scarlet Symphony
(紅魔城伝説 緋色の交響曲)
You play as Reimu as she investigates another Scarlet Mist Incident. Naturally, she assumes that Remilia is behind it. Instead of finding the Scarlet Devil Mansion, however, it is now a Scarlet Devil Castle.
Marisa, Cirno, Meiling, Alice, Suika, Patchouli, Sakuya, Remilia, Rumia, and Flandre are included in this game. This game is very difficult, as most Touhou games are (I can't speak for other fangames much). You can jump, shoot, attack, and fly indefinitely by holding the jump button. It's better to melee attack with your whip, as your tags have ammo and do little damage. Flying has momentum so it's hard to dodge danmaku while flying, although it's often necessary. Some characters will join you as attacks you can do.
(紅魔城伝説 緋色の交響曲)
You play as Reimu as she investigates another Scarlet Mist Incident. Naturally, she assumes that Remilia is behind it. Instead of finding the Scarlet Devil Mansion, however, it is now a Scarlet Devil Castle.
Marisa, Cirno, Meiling, Alice, Suika, Patchouli, Sakuya, Remilia, Rumia, and Flandre are included in this game. This game is very difficult, as most Touhou games are (I can't speak for other fangames much). You can jump, shoot, attack, and fly indefinitely by holding the jump button. It's better to melee attack with your whip, as your tags have ammo and do little damage. Flying has momentum so it's hard to dodge danmaku while flying, although it's often necessary. Some characters will join you as attacks you can do.
Koumajou Densetsu II: Stranger's Requiem
(紅魔城伝説Ⅱ 妖幻の鎮魂歌 (ストレンジャーズ・レクイエム)
This time you play as Sakuya. She returns from running an errand and finds the mansion empty. She finds the Scarlet Devil Castle has been rebuilt after Yukari pops in to give her a clue.
The characters here are Meiling, Komachi, Patchouli, Flandre, Alice, Chen, Youmu, Marisa, Reimu, Yuyuko, Ran, Yukari, and Remilia. The Three Fairies are voiced as well. It plays similarly, although flying now has a meter, so you can only stay airborne so long.
Yukari is dressed less than modestly, but luckily she doesn't show up very often as far as I remember.
(紅魔城伝説Ⅱ 妖幻の鎮魂歌 (ストレンジャーズ・レクイエム)
This time you play as Sakuya. She returns from running an errand and finds the mansion empty. She finds the Scarlet Devil Castle has been rebuilt after Yukari pops in to give her a clue.
The characters here are Meiling, Komachi, Patchouli, Flandre, Alice, Chen, Youmu, Marisa, Reimu, Yuyuko, Ran, Yukari, and Remilia. The Three Fairies are voiced as well. It plays similarly, although flying now has a meter, so you can only stay airborne so long.
Yukari is dressed less than modestly, but luckily she doesn't show up very often as far as I remember.
touhou puppet play
Touhou Ningyougeki
(東方人形劇)
There is a game series called collectively"Touhoumon" in English. Initially some people in Japan hacked Pokemon FireRed and put in Touhou characters as dolls instead, with different attacks, but same world, and it is called Touhoumon 1.5. The plot is loose, along the lines of "Patchouli made these dolls, but they ran rampant, so catch them". You can play as Renko or Maribel (from the CD stories). Touhoumon 1.8 is a completely redone game with a different world and draws from several other game concepts, but is currently in Japanese only.
Several different groups have since made hacks of different games, so there many variants and it gets quite confusing. There is more info here:
Touhou Wiki: Touhou Puppet Play
Aichiya Sanae's Net Word
(東方人形劇)
There is a game series called collectively"Touhoumon" in English. Initially some people in Japan hacked Pokemon FireRed and put in Touhou characters as dolls instead, with different attacks, but same world, and it is called Touhoumon 1.5. The plot is loose, along the lines of "Patchouli made these dolls, but they ran rampant, so catch them". You can play as Renko or Maribel (from the CD stories). Touhoumon 1.8 is a completely redone game with a different world and draws from several other game concepts, but is currently in Japanese only.
Several different groups have since made hacks of different games, so there many variants and it gets quite confusing. There is more info here:
Touhou Wiki: Touhou Puppet Play
Aichiya Sanae's Net Word
Commercial games
100% Orange Juice
This is one of my favorite games. This is a game that's available on Steam, courtesy of Fruitbat Factory (translation/localization). The original creator is Orange_Juice. It's a cheap buy with cheap DLC characters.
This is basically a crossover board game. Most of the characters are from Orange_Juice's other games, save Tomomo, Kai, and Marie Poppo I believe.
It's a rather simple game to get the hang of. You go around the board and land on panels with different functions. The object of the game is to win by achieving 5 levels by means of goals. You choose between gaining stars or gaining wins. You start on your home base, and then you land on it again with the required stars/wins to get your "norma". For level 1 is always 10 stars, but then after that you can choose stars or wins. So when you land on your (or an opponent's) base, if you chose 30 stars for your norma but you have 10 stars and 2 wins, you cannot get norma until you get the stars, so you have to choose wisely based on what you think you can get. If you go for stars, you can lose them from blue panels, or they can be stolen from you if an opponent/boss/wild defeats you in battle or certain cards are used; however, you can also gain them each chapter and from yellow panels as well as kills. Wins are harder to get usually, but they cannot be taken from you. You get 2 wins per player, 1 per wild, 2 per boss. You get cards from green squares to influence your game. Movement and battling is done with dice rolls to determine damage. Your character's individual Atk, Def, Eva stats and cards can influence your roll numbers. There are also events that happen every certain number of chapters that have different effects.
This game is also admittedly adorable.
One more thing I'd like to mention: One player on Steam called Kyle has made a FieldMod, different maps to play on. Actually my boyfriend has created his own map design program called "Orange Juice Board Designer" as well. He has a fully-functional map-creating version as well, but has not publicly released it. However, should you want to design a map to have the files created for, you can get the designer here . If you want to get the files created, by all means contact Striker on Steam (he should have a 100% Orange Juice Icon with Fernet and Poppo), or shoot me an email and I'll pass it on to him ASAP.
This is one of my favorite games. This is a game that's available on Steam, courtesy of Fruitbat Factory (translation/localization). The original creator is Orange_Juice. It's a cheap buy with cheap DLC characters.
This is basically a crossover board game. Most of the characters are from Orange_Juice's other games, save Tomomo, Kai, and Marie Poppo I believe.
It's a rather simple game to get the hang of. You go around the board and land on panels with different functions. The object of the game is to win by achieving 5 levels by means of goals. You choose between gaining stars or gaining wins. You start on your home base, and then you land on it again with the required stars/wins to get your "norma". For level 1 is always 10 stars, but then after that you can choose stars or wins. So when you land on your (or an opponent's) base, if you chose 30 stars for your norma but you have 10 stars and 2 wins, you cannot get norma until you get the stars, so you have to choose wisely based on what you think you can get. If you go for stars, you can lose them from blue panels, or they can be stolen from you if an opponent/boss/wild defeats you in battle or certain cards are used; however, you can also gain them each chapter and from yellow panels as well as kills. Wins are harder to get usually, but they cannot be taken from you. You get 2 wins per player, 1 per wild, 2 per boss. You get cards from green squares to influence your game. Movement and battling is done with dice rolls to determine damage. Your character's individual Atk, Def, Eva stats and cards can influence your roll numbers. There are also events that happen every certain number of chapters that have different effects.
This game is also admittedly adorable.
One more thing I'd like to mention: One player on Steam called Kyle has made a FieldMod, different maps to play on. Actually my boyfriend has created his own map design program called "Orange Juice Board Designer" as well. He has a fully-functional map-creating version as well, but has not publicly released it. However, should you want to design a map to have the files created for, you can get the designer here . If you want to get the files created, by all means contact Striker on Steam (he should have a 100% Orange Juice Icon with Fernet and Poppo), or shoot me an email and I'll pass it on to him ASAP.
QP Shooting ~ Dangerous!!
This is a game that's available on Steam, courtesy of Fruitbat Factory (translation/localization). The original creator is Orange_Juice. It may also be available sometimes from Humble Bundle for cheaper, as that's how I obtained it.
This is a very silly danmaku shooter. As an unskilled player, I would gauge Easy Mode as fairly easy, although I haven't beaten it through on Arcade yet. There is a Conquest Mode where you can go through each stage and save, starting over from where you left off later, or if you botch your run that stage, you can start at the beginning of that current stage. So Easy Mode is pretty easy if you do your best one level at a time and accumulate enough lives to take on the final boss.
There are also R-Points. You get these from playing, and you can buy new formations for your R-Bits, which are little rotating bunny options. You can somehow import them from QP Shooting as well. You have 3 different formations that you can switch through at any time. Some of them have a longer switching time, and a lot of them can be difficult to use but give you more stars from enemies killed with it, which give you more points and thus more lives. There are also 3 modes QP can use: Defensive, Orthodox, and Offensive. It basically means the amount of time your Hyper Gauge stays on vs. your shot power. The Hyper Gauge is filled by killing enemies. It goes up to 150%, and you can use it before it reaches that, I'm not entirely sure what minimum percentage though. If you are hit while it's on, your Hyper will turn off, but you will not lose any lives. You can get extra stars by finishing off enemies/bosses with your Hyper.
This is a game that's available on Steam, courtesy of Fruitbat Factory (translation/localization). The original creator is Orange_Juice. It may also be available sometimes from Humble Bundle for cheaper, as that's how I obtained it.
This is a very silly danmaku shooter. As an unskilled player, I would gauge Easy Mode as fairly easy, although I haven't beaten it through on Arcade yet. There is a Conquest Mode where you can go through each stage and save, starting over from where you left off later, or if you botch your run that stage, you can start at the beginning of that current stage. So Easy Mode is pretty easy if you do your best one level at a time and accumulate enough lives to take on the final boss.
There are also R-Points. You get these from playing, and you can buy new formations for your R-Bits, which are little rotating bunny options. You can somehow import them from QP Shooting as well. You have 3 different formations that you can switch through at any time. Some of them have a longer switching time, and a lot of them can be difficult to use but give you more stars from enemies killed with it, which give you more points and thus more lives. There are also 3 modes QP can use: Defensive, Orthodox, and Offensive. It basically means the amount of time your Hyper Gauge stays on vs. your shot power. The Hyper Gauge is filled by killing enemies. It goes up to 150%, and you can use it before it reaches that, I'm not entirely sure what minimum percentage though. If you are hit while it's on, your Hyper will turn off, but you will not lose any lives. You can get extra stars by finishing off enemies/bosses with your Hyper.