I'm familiar with Touhou Project
but unfortunately i can't get into Zun's (original author of Touhou Project)
original game. Well, except one: Touhou Project 12.8 Fairy Wars. That's because
i'm neither shmups big fans nor shmup type gamer. But i'm interested to any
game with Touhou Project element on it, like Groove Coaster and Aqua Style's Touhou
Genso Wanderer -Reloaded- (2018).
That's the main protagonist throughout the series: Reimu Hakurei. Not all the series but she often appears nonetheless. Oh my! Not only her hair is messy, but also her cloth is in terrible shape: her shirt has unnecessary holes near her stomach or perhaps they're for extra ventilation, her ribbon is too big, and her sleeves twine all around her arm. Reimu has lots of problems. But she doesn't have time to mend them because -as usual- there's incident for her to solve. So what's magic incident happen in Gensokyo this time?
It all happens in rainy day at Rinnosuke Morichika's shop named Kourindo. Reimu pokes around with any item on that shop when usually Marisa Kirisame does that. Reimu curious about this golden Bomberman that can shoot bullet which misinterprets by Rinnosuke as for Danmaku (means bullet-hell which is the genre of vertical shmup of Touhou Project) plays. If you don't know anything about Touhou Project, you probably asks "Why there's Bomberman toy in the place that looks like old Japan?". That's because Gensokyo (the world where Touhou Project takes place) is parallel with our real world. There's Japanese myth of " a person is hidden away by God" when someone mysteriously disappear. In this setting, that persons are whisked to Gensokyo. The same thing also happens to inanimate object such as traffic sign or radio tower. Thus explains why there's modern toy in this shop.
Somehow Reimu becomes hypnotized by golden ball that Rinnosuke Morichika hold. She want to get a hold on it while he insists that it's not for sale. They fight and suddenly thunder strikes really hard and the ball emits giant beam. Why the story starts with giant beam like in Aliens versus Predator (2010), huh?
After that CGI, the prologue
becomes this dialogue scene akin to Visual Novel or what have you, complete
with option to skip dialogue or dialogue log. Anyway Rinnosuke becomes weird and
says that he has power to make his dream comes true. He replicates citizens of
Gensokyo so he has his own harem more people become costumer of his shop
or at least increase the chance of more costumer. But before he does that he
has to get to rid of Reimu first!
Thus first battle ensues and he unleashes vengeful spirits. It's kind of hard especially when i don't know anything about the control and there's no tutorial yet. I try the usual "W", "A", "S", and "D" button, one of the makes Reimu shoot 3-way projectile. It sounds good but as you can see one of the projectile misses. Sniper_jeers04.wav
Turns out casting spells cost me "P" icon which is power up icon on the shmup games. I'm out of "P" and HP against Rinnosuke which -i remind you- supposed to be pacifist character in series. Rest in peace, Reimu Hakurei. Now that you're gone, Sanae Kochiya will be the only shrine maiden that exposes her armpits in Gensokyo.
By the way, i spot television, Playstation 1 console, and slot machine (with "Las Vegas" name on it) on bottom part of the screen. That's funny because officially there's no electricity in Gensokyo.
Alrighty then. Reimu able to escape just in time to this area and now the game decides to give me proper tutorial this time. I assume that 1st fight is scripted defeat so i can't complaint further.
I don't own recent Playstation but i believe the face button supposed to be shapes and not alphabets like that. Also i know that XBox controller has "X" symbol on the center so what controller is that? I can only think it's Steam official controller. That means i'm in quite trouble. Thankfully, there's bit hint that tell the keyboard button on top of the instruction. Very helpful, really.
Wow! That's lots of movement control for top down genre. Even too much for me. But i reckon hold position is important. Because the game runs by turns and not in real time, so you want to make good use of every turns. Changing face direction while hold still doesn't cost turn so i can aim at enemies more efficiently. There's also command to walk in one spot ("Tab" button by default) to waste turn so i can lure enemies to my attacking range without risking myself unnecessarily.
"Z" button to execute normal attack with equipped weapon. The game could tell me that before, preventing my "P" bar goes dry. I left my gohei (Japanese exorcist staff) and other equipment at Kourindo. But luckily i got my hand on Momiji Inubashiri's (copy) sword. It's good enough to defeat anyone in my way back to Hakurei Shrine including Kisume and Yamame who are supposed to be in underground part of Gensokyo.
Take this famous spellcard of mine "Fantasy Seal" that can eliminate everyone in same room with me! Spellcard in this game is like magic scroll that will diminishes after each use but useful nonetheless.
Other thing that i found is: Gaps, courtesy of Yukari Yakumo. This preserve gap allows me to store and also retrieve my items thus preventing them from being stolen/ destroyed by trap or to make room for your inventory because there's limit on how many items that i can carry. There's other type of gaps such as the one that can sucks item on the field from distance or trap enemy.
I get some P and the tutorial wants me to use it to throw sealing needles that can pierces through those Sunny Milk(s). They may have cute sleeping face but once awaken they will pull prank at me very bad. By that, i mean they want me dead by their own tiny fairy hands. Trust me!
I reach a cave and i'm just in time to save Mononobe no Futo from drowning by the swamp that she incanted. She's silly, sure. But not many ludicrous character like to talk in old style (which translated as Shakesperian here). Later she decides to join me. In (most) series, Reimu's partner is Marisa Kirisame but i don't mind with Futo because she's more preferable than the black white magician. Besides i can't say no to innocent smile.
Note: Don't be confused by the difference of how i pronounce her name there! It's common for old Japanese noble to put their clan/family name before their real name and put "no" in between, for example: Minamoto no Yoshitsune. By the way, yes! Futo is from noble familiy.
Futo's role as my assistant is really appreciated especially when she conjures flame all around like this but it doesn't hurt me though.
After more tutorial part. I return to Hakurei Shrine in one piece. Also i brought a sage/hermit with me. Spy_goodjob02.wav.
Speaking of hermit. I like to introduce you to The Wild and Horned Hermit: Kasen Ibaraki who's #1 on my list of favorite Touhou Project character, while Reimu is #4. Kasen kind of acts as Reimu's supervisor. Yukari Yakumo also her supervisor but Kasen who's the one appears more often. Anyway, Reimu tells the story so far: Rinnosuke wouldn't show Reimu his ball so she had to use force to touch it. But right as her touched it, it shinned and he started acting weird. Because of that, she tried to beat him up but he ended up beating her up instead.
Stop Giggling! That's what written there. I swear! Anyway, Reimu is too tired to do something further about this incident so she take a break for the day.
Next morning...
Kasen did investigation a bit and she reveals that Kourin shop turn into a giant tower (dubbed as Kourin tower) and there's replicas of Gensokyo's character everywhere that like to attack anyone in their sight without any question. Also the terrain of Gensokyo is totally changes. I kind of questioning why Rinnosuke want to be like Demon Lord in any JRPG or Magic Sword especially with "giant tower" cliché. Kasen will goes on another investigation while i resolve this incident. Hey there, Hieda no Akyuu! You want me to record every defeated enemy? I can't say "No" to that, can i?
I find training dojo that built by Kasen's pet in one night! I recognize that giant eagle. That small strange animal on desk appears in the manga if i remember correctly. As for the dog, i have no idea whether it's Kasen' pet or not. Maybe it's just stray dog that follows Kasen because of her high affinity toward animals.
The novice trial is advanced tutorial, pretty much. I find out that there's "Eye Drops" item that not only cure blind but also allow me to see hidden traps. They're symbolized by the face of Gensokyo's characters. For example: "FB" which stands for Falling Bucket (and not Facebook) represented by Kisume, or "Bur" which stands for burning represented by Fujiwara no Mokou who's adept at fire magic and my least favorite Touhou Project character.
There's also Blow Away trap that when triggered, Hong Meiling comes in and kick me in the opposite direction of my facing. But i need to trigger it so i can get across that water. That's funny because i reckon everyone in Gensokyo can flies freely except for some human such as Rinnosuke and Hieda.
The trial tells me that i can throw money on the floor at the enemies to deal damage that depends on how much money that i throw. I also learn that enemy's level is indicated by their honorific title: -Chan < [none] < -San < -Sama. There's also "Big" title which indicates the highest level. Different appearance can also indicates enemy's level. Like here where Cirno now has dominant color pink while the normal ones is usually in blue.
Haha! Look at that Shoshinsha mark on Kisume-sama's barrel which reminds me of Private 2nd class Tamama from Keroro Gunso/Sgt. Frog! I use shelter gap to hide myself temporarily on the spot so Kisume-sama passes through me but once i'm out from the gap she immediately breaks my teeth. Turns out, i have to throw shelter gap to trap her instead use it on myself. Clearing all the novice trial, i'm rewarded with Preserve Gap (9). The number inside parenthesis indicate how many times i can use the item before it's totally vanished.
My previous equipment somehow gone but luckily there's weapon and shield that i can pick up nearby. Believe it or not, that Marisa's with hat is supposed to be shield. Weird, isn't?
Aw! Get the hell out of my way, Futo! I try to strike Sunny behind her but initiate a chat with her instead. Fine, you get that Sunny there!
God damn it, Ibuki Suika! How dare you pour your sake on me furthermore you put your gourd in rather revolting way. Can't you put it over your shoulder or something? So i get drunk from Suika's trap that supposed to make my attack miss more often but luckily i equip gourd plant as my weapon that not only nullifies the accuracy penalty from "drunken" status but also increases my accuracy when i'm drunk. Demoman_battlecry06.wav
I find mini shrine that does nothing at all despite my button mashing. In case you're wondering. Yes, Futo wears red ribbon as shield.
What's with this item description? Why they put some sick delusion on it? It's just Bamboo shoot for God's sake! You can make bit reference to Monster Hunter (which serve as selling item) about it but no.
On better subject, i have lots of Yatsuhashi that drop from Yatshuhasi Tsukomo funnily enough. It looks good. I like to take a taste of that for real. Food items are useful to fill the tummy meter which is fullness (as opposed to hunger) meter. Reimu regenerates health over turn. Every action except changing face direction, will cost 1 turn. But tummy meter goes down every turn so you need to fill it. The main method to do so is: eating red bean cake and its variant. Drinking healing drink and eating Yatsuhasi also fill the meter but not much only by 5 or so. I don't want to take a risk to find out what happen to Reimu if her hunger get the best of her. Probably, damage over turn and not something more ludicrous like having illusion to eat her partner or whatnot.
I move to 6th "floor" and we get some rice fields view around. There's slight of change on enemies here. There's less (but none) fairies and there's Chen Yakumo who's threatening enemy so far. She scratches our face pretty quick and she can dodge our attack as well.
After passing other rice field path, we arrive Youkai village. We're greeted by Keine Kamishirasawa who's the teacher at human village. Somehow she own inn in this village. If you know her first time, she's half-human and half-youkai that will grown horn and tail (also turns her cloth from blue to green for some reason) only when night of full moon. The reason why her look change, it's because it was just costume. If she's in human form, Youkai(s) most likely look down on her or so she said.
The first shop that i attend to is this Kappa's workshop. Kappa in Gensokyo are into science and high technology. Think of them like Donatello from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle albeit their domain is in fresh water river and not sewer. Those Kappa repairs a device called "Nito Fusion" (made by Nitori Kawashiro) that i got from Futo, for free. But while repairing, they study it so they can make their own. Those sleazy gits. Anyway, with Nito Fusion repaired, i can combine items or equipment at the cost of material points (that can be obtained in the wild or by dismantling items).
Next stop is general shop managed by Mamizou Futatsuiwa, the tanuki (or often translated as "raccoon dog") youkai. Tanuki youkai are known to pull trick on human plus Mamizou is from Myourenji Temple which is the rival of Shikaisen where Futo come from. Thus Futo plan to burn the shop. Mamizou begs Reimu to stop the arson but she see this as opportunity to extort the poor shopkeeper for some item reward. Mamizou are forcefully obliged to that and Futo decides to put more faith on the tanuki youkai. Poor lady.
But she ran away from your place,
Toyosatomimi no Miko! You should take care more of your family member because you're
the head family! Fine. You entrust her to me because i'm the famous Hakurei
shrine maiden. Whatever.
I met Reisen Udongein Inaba as traveling pharmacist, and Hina Kagiyama runs Curse Lifting service. But i'm mostly impressed with the Aki (which means "Fall season" in Japanese) Sisters: Minoriko & Shizuha, run a cake shop especially one of them can converts any item into Red Bean Cake. I think i accidently tell her to convert Preserve Gap that i got from finishing Novice Trials but i don't care. I get lots red bean cakes here!
To be continued on part two...
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