Where to start in Gensokyo? (Touhou question)

[Frenetic]

Am relatively new to Touhou and would like to know which game to start with and which level? I've 1cc'd Espgaluda and Mushi 1.5 original...and scored an OK score in Mushi Futari Black. I stood up and took notice of many of this year's STGT top teams play a lot of Touhou and really wanted to pick their brains on which Touhou games were the best of the best!

Thanks in advance,
--the F-man

[Op Intensify]

I'm no expert, or even a fan of Touhou at all, but I'm pretty sure the quintessential game is Imperishable Night.

[Giest118]

Out of the Windows games:

6: The one with the most simple mechanics and bullet patterns. It's quite a bit of fun with a good level of difficulty.
7: Gives you the most resources; would be the easiest if not for 13.
8: Many people think this is the best. I'm not sure I agree, but I can see why they think so; its mechanics are very fun.
9: A rather unconventional game in that it's somehow a PVP danmaku game. You could probably call it a sort of black sheep, since it's so unlike all of the others.
10: Uses a lulzy and very abusive bomb system that gives you infinite resources if you use it right. Its scoring mechanics are fun and involve a sort of chaining.
11: One of the hardest. Uses the same bomb system as 10, but with better balance so as to maintain challenge. Scoring is based mostly around grazing bullets.
12: In my opinion the hardest in the series. Uses very strange mechanics in that in order to get extra bombs or lives, you need to collect items of specific colors in triplets: Three red ones gives you part of an extra life, for example.
13: Many people found this game disappointing. Its scoring system is open for hilarious abuse, and its difficulty is generally not that high.

I personally like 7 the most. I'd say start with 7 or 8. Begin with Normal modo.

[Formless God]

Start with 12, 10, 6, 11. Normal, then Extra, then try to 1-ALL Hard and immediately move on to Lunatic.
9, 9.5 and 12.5 are great for practice.
12.8 is for whenever you need a change of pace.
13 is actually not a bad start as long as you're not planning to play for score in that game.

7 is slow and easy but also has silly hitboxes and bad contrast.
8 has a cool Practice system that is both helpful and devastating. It also pulls a Thread.Sleep(300000); every time you get hit.
The PC-98 games aren't exactly friendly to the newcomer's eyes.
So save those for later.

the fightans suk diks, don't bother

[cj iwakura]

Start with 6, IMO. Easiest point of entry, some very tough boss fights. 7 and 8 add more flexible mechanics, which'll make it all the more enjoyable after 6 not spoiling you.

[Erppo]

Every integer game from 6 to 13 (the mainline shmups) is worth playing and they are all different enough from each other in their mechanics that there's really no definitive game everyone should start with. 6 gets really wonky at higher levels of scoring, 9 is a Twinkle Star Sprites clone instead of a normal shmup and some people dislike 13 because the system gets a bit silly in the levels of abuse.

In any case, every game is really easy on Easy and hard on Lunatic, so it doesn't really matter which one you pick, all should have something suitable to play.

[Zengeku3]

I recommend 10, Mountain of Faith, for it's simple yet rewarding score system and generally fun boss patterns but really, just about anywhere in this series is a good start.

[Aliquantic]

Everybody should experience UFO Lunatic (#12) It will... change you.

[Meseki]

I'm seeing some opinions/statements of difficulty that contradict what I'm aware of, so I'll assume that's because they're referring to Normal difficulty. I don't know if you'd need to play on Easy, but even if you don't, someone else reading might.

I haven't played many of them for a while, but one of the easiest for me was 11 on Easy (especially with MarisaA/C, as bombing is easier/more useful for survival), though 8 might be easier as long as you make sure to collect Point Items (for extends) by focusing/being at Max power at the top of the screen. I had some trouble with 7 recently (only got to stage 6), but I was using a PS2 controller, which I found I couldn't even beat 11 with, but I think 8 might give you more resources (or maybe I don't know how to get them on 7, since I didn't read up anything on it). I also remember getting to the stage 6 boss of 13 a while ago, so that's probably an easier one as well (in fact, I intend to try to clear it today).
As for harder ones, I remember 10 being very annoying on stage 6, though that was partly due to the newly changed continue mechanic (unlimited continues and stage restart instead of limited continues and pick up where you left off). However, I never even made it to stage 6 on 12, even with continuing, so I'm inclined to believe that one is the hardest on Easy.
For 6, it's been much too long since I've played it to remember much of anything (as it didn't like booting on Vista when a joystick was plugged in, and I've only recently stopped using joysticks for shooters). I do remember that it doesn't have hitbox display and that Easy difficulty doesn't have stage 6, so if that would annoy you, you might want to avoid that one.

[yushin]

If I may :



I really think you should stick to normal as long as you haven't cleared it.
For the starting point question, I also recommend the 8th. It was my first shmup 1CC. Try to get as many point items as you can for extends, then bomb/deathbomb your way through.

[Naut]

Don't play easy. Start on normal, if that's too boring jump to hard, it should be reasonable with a mushi 1.5 original 1cc under your belt. 7 or 8 are the usual starting points, I didn't stick with them, but I know people who have and they're very challenging when played for score. 10, 11 and 12 are the better touhous in my opinion, 11 and 12 being the more challenging ones on any difficulty. 12 is the best. The extra modes of most games are worth clearing if you're looking for some fun content to 1cc. Unlock them via a normal or greater 1cc of the main game.

[Chaos Phoenixma]

Yeah, you should definitely try UFO Lunatic.

Then play EoSD, IN, MoF, and SA cause those ones are actually fun.


But then I don't think that Zun has made a good game since SA.

[chum]

6-8 are always safe answers, but they are not the best.

Fairy Wars, Shoot the Bullet and the two Phantasmagoria games needs more love. (that's 12.8, 9.5, 3 and 9)

Actually, I think Shoot the Bullet could be a good starting point, or at least it could be a good "secondary" game to use as a diversion from your main one. You can progress entirely at your own pace with it.

Best to start with depends on if you want fast gameplay or not. 8 is overrated but that's just me. 6 or 7 is the way to go if you don't mind the games being slow. Otherwise you should check out the games mentioned above as well as 12, since they are faster and better for the most part.

Regarding modes, there's no reason to start with easy unless you're new to the genre. Normal is for getting a feel for the game, clear it to unlock extra for toying around further, and if you thought it was easy to clear then move up to hard and then lunatic, since Hard/Lunatic corresponds better with arcade difficulty

[PedroMD]

I always thought 6 was the best one, in spite of being the simplest of the bunch (or maybe because of it). It's a little harder than 7 and 8, but a good place to start nonetheless, although any of these three can do. 13 is by far the easiest of them, and could be a good starting point because of this, but it's not as good as any of the others and you seem experienced in shmups, so difficulty shouldn't be a big factor.
It seems people here like 12, but I definitively hated the system in this game. It's confusing and hard to manage even when you know what you're doing, so I say you should leave 12 for later.

[Obscura]

Of the three I've played, the only one I would highly recommend is Imperishable Night.

Mountain of Faith, when played for survival, basically boils down to "bomb absolutely everything". Subterranean Animism is a bit more functional, but I just couldn't get into it at all.

[Zengeku3]

But then I don't think that Zun has made a good game since SA.

Lol, whatever might you be talking about? At least one great main game and two nifty spin-offs have been released since then.

Mountain of Faith, when played for survival, basically boils down to "bomb absolutely everything".

True enough. That's why the true survival experience in any Touhou game is to clear it without bombs. And that's still in the forgiving department but alas what I need to restrict myself to because I suck. The truly hardcore will go for the no-miss no-bombs clear.

But yes, players looking to play Touhou for survival, at least in the case of MoF and SA, would probably want to do it without bombs since that will actually require you to learn and dodge difficult bullet patterns.

[powersoul]

13 seems pretty good for me, but that's because its the only one I have completed so far. Try 6 and work your way up

[J_Taishu]

I like 6-8, but feel that starting with MoF the mechanics become unnecessarily complicated, though the games themselves aren't particularly different. So yeah, start with 6-8 in order on Normal difficulty, if you can get through ESPgaluda, Touhou shouldn't really be that hard.

[O. Van Bruce]

13 seems pretty good for me, but that's because its the only one I have completed so far.

Don't even mention that game in this sacred place

[Kraq]

some people dislike 13 because the system gets a bit silly in the levels of abuse.

13 seems pretty good for me, but that's because its the only one I have completed so far.

Don't even mention that game in this sacred place

13 is actually not a bad start as long as you're not planning to play for score in that game.

Why is that?

[To Far Away Times]

Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (06), Perfect Cherry Blossom (07), and Imperishable Night (08).

Best three games in the series right there.

[AntiFritz]

some people dislike 13 because the system gets a bit silly in the levels of abuse.

13 seems pretty good for me, but that's because its the only one I have completed so far.

Don't even mention that game in this sacred place

13 is actually not a bad start as long as you're not planning to play for score in that game.

Why is that?

Because its broken

[Deca]

7 was actually the first shooter I ever played seriously, working toward a 1cc back in like 06 or 07. I ditched Touhou for a long time in lieu of arcade games, but these guys (you know who you are) got me back into it :p

7 is definitely a logical starting point and a great game all around. The others I've put a decent amount of time into are 6 and 12. I can understand why people love 12 as much as they do, but I don't think it's a great game to recommend as a starting point. Gaining resources forces you to dodge in (usually riskier) ways that you wouldn't need to other games, which might not be the best for someone who just wants to start getting used to Touhou style patterns and work on basic streaming and all that. On the other hand the trial by fire approach can work if you're serious enough.

I've noticed the biggest skill increases after playing 6. Bigger hitbox, some odd bullet hitboxes and very straightforward scoring all facilitate building basic skills and pattern recognition. When you go to something newer afterward it'll be like taking of training weights, that's how I feel anyway