So I played the new TouHou game

bsidwell · Post by **bsidwell** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 8:13 pm

moozooh wrote:"which Touhou character would you sleep with"

Considering they're all at best dangerous sociopaths and at worst god-powered omnicidal maniacs I'm a bit mystified why someone would want to sleep with any of them.

I'd worry about waking up with all my organs.

Post by **Icarus** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 8:28 pm

bsidwell wrote:Considering they're all at best dangerous sociopaths and at worst god-powered omnicidal maniacs...

Just like every normal female then.

Kaspal · Post by **Kaspal** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 8:41 pm

i've been playin shmups since gradius 1 and life force where released in america on the nes... found out about touhou about 2 months before PCB was released, and since then im hooked... i dont care about the lolis nor shit in the game, im impressed with th ebullet patterns and stuff.

most expert players here say touhou its easy... wont deny that playin for survival iys easy enough for you to beat touhou 1CC and shit... but like moozoo said, playin for score its a whole different world...

i haavent played the latest installment (which by theway its in its 11th, not 10th installment) past from the level 3 (meaning, i've only tried the demo... but i already have the full version here with me), but i really like what ZUN is doin with his game... maybe they're a lil stale and shit, but they're still a lotta fun.

i dont know, but i think every shmup player should give'm a go, a serious go, and then decide if they like it or not... stop caring about the fandom and shit, cuz i've read a lotta threads about them, and i really hate them... but im still inlove with the series.

gennss · Post by **gennss** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 10:37 pm

what's a tahou game, and are there any demos of any out there? PC? or what systems?

Observer · Post by **Observer** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 10:41 pm

Kaspal wrote:i've been playin shmups since gradius 1 and life force where released in america on the nes... found out about touhou about 2 months before PCB was released, and since then im hooked... i dont care about the lolis nor shit in the game, im impressed with th ebullet patterns and stuff.

most expert players here say touhou its easy... wont deny that playin for survival iys easy enough for you to beat touhou 1CC and shit... but like moozoo said, playin for score its a whole different world...

i haavent played the latest installment (which by theway its in its 11th, not 10th installment) past from the level 3 (meaning, i've only tried the demo... but i already have the full version here with me), but i really like what ZUN is doin with his game... maybe they're a lil stale and shit, but they're still a lotta fun.

i dont know, but i think every shmup player should give'm a go, a serious go, and then decide if they like it or not... stop caring about the fandom and shit, cuz i've read a lotta threads about them, and i really hate them... but im still inlove with the series.

What he said. Too many prejudices. For the 1 million time I'll repeat I found about Touhou thanks to Bloodflowers' Imperishable Night review so it only left me a really positive impression. To each their own I guess.

Playing this one for score turns to be quite challenging after all. Some may say the bullets are slow but we have to keep in mind there is no intended slowdown here and when the bullets decide to go fast, they go fast.

Did anyone notice you also need to be a bit more alert than usual? You can't just go mindlessly holding the fire+slow button. Even on easy there is quite a lot of change in pacing.

I said this before but shooting at the wrong moment can trigger a chain reaction of bullshit fast bullets that'll get you owned. Like Parsee's cloning spellcard, Yuugi's energy rings card, the will-o-wisps from Stage 4 onwards or the zombie fairies that release small bullets.

Personally, I'm thinking the game is a step forward that will sadly get overlooked by other facts like the replay bug or whatever people can find to complain about.

People might look only at the characters but if you take into account this madman known as ZUN gives names and meanings to every freaking spellcard... that the scenery, the stage names and the music tracks also bear some obscure reasons/meanings behind (even if it's an engrish reason.) He also seems to have a good sense of humour which, sadly, might get lost in translation.

spongdangly · Post by **spongdangly** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 10:53 pm

gennss wrote:what's a tahou game, and are there any demos of any out there? PC? or what systems?

Everything you could want to know is at the Touhou Wiki. There are demos for most of the games. The games were originally started on the PC-98, the 6th touhou and up are for the PC though.

orange · Post by **orange** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 11:12 pm

holy shit how do u dodge all those bullets

Post by **Icarus** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 12:52 am

Yo, ZUN, if you're going to put Option control in your game, at least put it on a dedicated button or something.

A_Civilian · Post by **A_Civilian** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 1:22 am

CStarFlare wrote:I think of Touhou kind of like Pokemon - really good games that whose images are harmed because they are normally associated with the kinds of people you don't want to be associated with (8 year olds and creepos for Pokemon, irritating otaku and loli fans for Touhou). Both series have been going on long enough to start to seem "stale" if you're not a die-hard fan.
The analogy works well with DDR, too.

Funny. My thoughts with Touhou is to note it like FF7. Average game, very messed up fanbase that screws it up by doing various things to it that don't have anything to do with the actual game.

Maybe it's the whole "it's not spaceships for once, it's a bunch of girls" thing that gives the series this kind of "attention". Well...try to ignore it. A game's a game, and other people shouldn't affect your opinion of it.

MathU · Post by **MathU** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 3:59 am

Icarus wrote:Yo, ZUN, if you're going to put Option control in your game, at least put it on a dedicated button or something.

Yo, ZUN, let me customize my controls.

Pixel_Outlaw · Post by **Pixel_Outlaw** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 4:28 am

They are fine games.

Kaspal · Post by **Kaspal** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 4:44 am

MathU wrote:
Icarus wrote:Yo, ZUN, if you're going to put Option control in your game, at least put it on a dedicated button or something.
Yo, ZUN, let me customize my controls.

w00t?... the controls have been custimizables in touhou since... forever?
[/sarcastic mode OFF]

customizin controls options are kinda scarce nowadays... i wonder why?.

Arvandor · Post by **Arvandor** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 4:49 am

Kaspal wrote:most expert players here say touhou its easy... wont deny that playin for survival iys easy enough for you to beat touhou 1CC and shit... but like moozoo said, playin for score its a whole different world...

The problem isn't that they're easy, because on Hard mode (the technical "arcade" difficulty), they're certainly not easy. Not really hard, but not easy. Particularly in scoring.

The problem comes in the nonsensical weird scoring systems like what you find Perfect Cherry Blossom; and the fact that while difficult, the slow ass moving bullets just don't give you the sense of urgency and panic that other shooters give you. The games feel sedate... Even when things are getting hellishly difficult, it's just not as exciting as it should be.

With that said though, I still love the music and the bullet patterns ^_^ Those alone are enough to get me to play them every once in a while.

Post by **system11** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:31 am

GrimoreLibrarian wrote:Guessing TouHou isn't well liked here?

I think they're great, underrated - I gave Imperishable Night a 10/10 in a review.

honorless · Post by **honorless** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 12:13 pm

A_Civilian wrote:My thoughts with Touhou is to note it like FF7. Average game, very messed up fanbase [...]

Agreed. Though I'll say that I'd probably adore Touhou if ZUN knew what he was doing with color, and the spritework was less of an anti-aliased mess. (Is this actually a problem with my video card? I don't see it with other doujin soft, but there's always the possibility.)

I'd point out the also-bad character artwork, but if that was improved I think the fanbase would get even crazier so I hope it doesn't.

Sure do like them bullet patterns though!

Observer · Post by **Observer** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 1:35 pm

bloodflowers wrote:
GrimoreLibrarian wrote:Guessing TouHou isn't well liked here?
I think they're great, underrated - I gave Imperishable Night a 10/10 in a review.

I am still thanking you for that review. Personally, a review like yours is the best introduction to the series. It worked for me and from there I began researching about all the arcade games I used to play and other stgs in general.

I also think that besides the music, ZUN's artwork (while not the best) is what makes it different if you compare it to the troupe of generic japanese little girls designs in general so I agree with honorless.

Momijitsuki · Post by **Momijitsuki** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 1:53 pm

Observer wrote:
bloodflowers wrote:
GrimoreLibrarian wrote:Guessing TouHou isn't well liked here?
I think they're great, underrated - I gave Imperishable Night a 10/10 in a review.
I am still thanking you for that review. Personally, a review like yours is the best introduction to the series. It worked for me and from there I began researching about all the arcade games I used to play and other stgs in general.

I also think that besides the music, ZUN's artwork (while not the best) is what makes it different if you compare it to the troupe of generic japanese little girls designs in general so I agree with honorless.

I actually like ZUN's artwork. I'm not sure why.

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 2:56 pm

While the graphics in TH11 are lovely, the character portraits are pretty awfull.

Then again, I'd rather play something that looks like this than another grim dark 'space shooter' any day of the week. I also like the fact that in most of the ending sequences of the games, you sit down and have a cup of tea with the final boss. Awesome.

Mortificator · Post by **Mortificator** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 5:07 pm

I've only played Shoot the Bullet. It was pretty good.

jonny5 · Post by **jonny5** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 5:54 pm

shoot the bullet was the only touhou game i really enjoyed because it was quite original......gasp

and it took advantage of the pretty boss patterns and cut out the filler....

and of course immaterial and missing powers was fun as well......but other than the characters it has very little to do with the stg's in the series

Twiddle · Post by **Twiddle** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 6:53 pm

Icarus wrote:
bsidwell wrote:Considering they're all at best dangerous sociopaths and at worst god-powered omnicidal maniacs...
Just like every normal female then.

anime female

dmauro · Post by **dmauro** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:23 pm

jonny5 wrote:shoot the bullet was the only touhou game i really enjoyed because it was quite original......gasp and it took advantage of the pretty boss patterns and cut out the filler....

I can't really get into the other ones (I think it's the way the levels are like filler between the bosses it seems), but Shoot the Bullet is one of my top shmups. It plays like a time attack game they way you just play a very short bit over and over again until you get it just right. And it's a great challenge too. I still haven't beat it (just got to level 7 going sequentially).

gennss · Post by **gennss** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 10:49 pm

I lol'd at the art direction they took, but it plays well, i need to get a gamepad for my pc though to be truly comfortable.

P_HAT · Post by **P_HAT** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 11:00 pm

PCB and IN are still the best Touhou games.

And StB

Taylor · Post by **Taylor** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 1:11 am

Do you mean the stages are filler because the boss fights are so long? Because the stages themselves are very well laid out and have plenty of room for route optimisation. I don’t think this would be the impression if the backgrounds were bespoke.

gennss wrote:I lol'd at the art direction they took, but it plays well, i need to get a gamepad for my pc though to be truly comfortable.

There's no "they," it's just one guy and he runs entirely off alcohol. There’s no denying one of the reasons I like the series is seeing some guys pet project bloom into this freaky phenomenon. Even if the western side of it is mainly just after the Japanese fanworks (porn) and characters more moe than diamond.

gennss · Post by **gennss** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 5:44 am

Taylor wrote:
gennss wrote:I lol'd at the art direction they took, but it plays well, i need to get a gamepad for my pc though to be truly comfortable.
There's no "they," it's just one guy and he runs entirely off alcohol. There’s no denying one of the reasons I like the series is seeing some guys pet project bloom into this freaky phenomenon. Even if the western side of it is mainly just after the Japanese fanworks (porn) and characters more moe than diamond.

I wonder if he makes a living off this. Pretty fun game... payday coming up so gamepad here i come!

moozooh · Post by **moozooh** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 6:19 am

gennss wrote:I wonder if he makes a living off this. Pretty fun game... payday coming up so gamepad here i come!

He's actually a programmer for Taito. Touhou is more of a hobby to him, although he has a schedule on it.

Observer · Post by **Observer** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 1:41 pm

moozooh wrote:
gennss wrote:I wonder if he makes a living off this. Pretty fun game... payday coming up so gamepad here i come!
He's actually a programmer for Taito. Touhou is more of a hobby to him, although he has a schedule on it.

I wonder if we'll ever see ZUN as a guest in ZUNtata...

Sorry, I had to. *sulks in a corner*

Not sure if he makes a living off this but he pretty much sells out everything whenever he pops at Comiket or Reitaisai so that has to leave a decent amount of bucks since he also has music CDs for sale, many with great chiptunes. (I'm a fan of chiptunes so I'm biased here)

Enhasa · Post by **Enhasa** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 3:57 pm

ZUN definitely at least used to work for Taito, but he hasn't been in any credits since Exit AFAIK, so who knows if he still does. I wanted to say that Exit is the best game he's made, to be funny, but he did make Shoot the Bullet so I can't say that truthfully.

He makes enough money off Touhou that it could be his full-time job if he wanted. Maybe that's the case now.

For Taito connections, Graffiti Kingdom (the sequel to Magic Pengel) has Reimu in it, and of course Reimu is an homage to Pocky from Kiki Kaikai/Pocky and Rocky.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 4:17 pm

What is Magic Pengel? Grafitti Kingdom is kinda fun to play with.

Edit- Never mind, Google is my friend