Touhou 18 東方虹龍洞 ～ Unconnected Marketeers - Lunatic 1cc (Sanae, No-Actives)

[@paw-paddedcalamity216]

"Death skittles, I cannot fight the rainbow!" The game.

[@groudonsbest]

A raocow reference in the wild? A rare find.

[@adrianhendricks772]

One user on the _Maidens of the Kaleidoscope_ forums gave the final boss of this game the nickname *"Capitalist Jesus and the Amazing Technicolor Patchdress"...* 💰🌈 🤣🤣🤣

[@awe9217]

at last the stage 4 difficulty spike has reached its logical extreme, with all the difficulty concentrated in stage 4

[@rasmusmalmberg6468]

At least it's not DDC with the stage 3 difficulty zenith XDDD

[@psychicfire8232]

It was already pretty hard at stage 3, so it wasn't a sudden change

[@frdla4124]

Lmao the ying yang boss suffers from doremy syndrome

[@jofx4051]

WTF that orb in that stage 4 😂

[@kaos5633]

its PCB all over again

[@neitoxotien2258]

The Usual Stage 4 that will tell you that "This place is not what you are looking for!"

[@steveluvscows2490]

Friendship ended with Mike Goutokuji Now Touhou 18 Foxgirl is my best friend

[@minaly22]

Wow, that last boss's non-spells look like much nastier versions of Mokuou's non-spells.

[@sakesaurus]

thought they were easy

[@-ArdhaniChandra]

@@sakesaurus They ain't easy because the gap constantly change due to different height of the bullet location generation. On top of that a different speed may also close the gap which will guarantee your death unless you quick enough to slip through the gap before it's closed

[@PichyandPals]

"It's kind of a trend with newer Touhou games that counterstops happen much more frequently and much more earlier." To be fair the last three games have featured some form of insane mechanic that lets you do huge milks through otters, mallets or the season of Autumn. I like that ZUN's been getting wild with just tossing in whatever crazy mechanics he thinks will be fun. If you want to be some sort of dull purist MoF and UFO NMNB aren't magically uninstalled when a new game comes out.

[@notok8734]

honestly like the crazy mechanics in the newer games, it's just super satisfying to abuse them and kill stuff

[@Chivi-chivik]

And tbh, ZUN adding new wild mechanics makes the games look fresh. Imagine if we always had the same mechanics and systems through all of Touhou, it would get boring fast.

[@bifmun4233]

Funny you say that, UFO is actually my favourite out of all 18 games

[@Nickkelz]

Sure they're fun but there's no reason to make the game competitively dead on arrival. It's just bad and lazy design.

[@takeyourdamnmeds]

@@Nickkelz that's subjective, and touhou can be easily held up by its fans alone anyways

[@snowyarticuno]

The final boss has some really weird patterns. She kind of feels like an extra stage boss

[@JustSomeoneWhoLikesBears]

Her attacks were put into a blender honestly lol

[@mockou.4440]

Yukari + Mokou.

[@Pins30]

@@mockou.4440 Ngl, seeing final boss non-spellcard pattern looks like mokou

[@DeltaFrazzle]

i saw one of koishis spells in her nons tbh. one of her harder spells, forgot the name lmao.

[@benjaminbeneventi1154]

@@DeltaFrazzle Youkai Polygraph ?

[@MrRaui]

I'm a little surprised none of the enemies or bosses used those coin danmaku that Komachi had in Flower View and Shoot the Bullet

[@crustacean78]

I always thought Mike had some? Unless it's some strange mandela effect or it was in the demo only. I remember vividly she had a coin danmaku attack...

[@DevastatedLimes]

@@crustacean78 You're probably thinking of those bubble bullets she shoots in her Last word

[@tristar6118]

Touhou 18: the game where ZUN gave every character a "Yea right..." face in their dialogue interactions.

[@phonggun]

I can already see that Chimata is definitely the new Hecatia in term of "controversial design" lol

[@prizmastarz742]

it's like an endless cycle new things dropped, people got disappointed and saying zun's running out of ideas, days later they will love them and get excited for them rinse and repeat

[@anonymousanonymous8216]

@@prizmastarz742 hecatia's design is still trash though at least chimata looks kinda neat, sorta? like stained glass?

[@Smoketrees1969]

Her dress look like she just picked a romero brito paint and weared it

[@SKtheMage]

I mean her design kinda suit her story tho

[@kolskytraveller1369]

@@anonymousanonymous8216 Hecatia's design is brilliant, I dunno what're you talking about

[@diamenciory1439]

Cool to see my values for shots being used in the description and gg

[@StinkBugWizard]

ZUN's artistic skills are getting extraordinarily good, I could watch Unconnected Marketeers gameplay for hours if I wanted to, I'm excited to see what the next Bullet Hell game will look like, I swear Touhou is literally the video game kaleidoscope.

[@DJruslan4ic]

Especially with fangames, and a fanmade engine made for making danmaku games being made means that many could create bosses, stages and even full games means that there is more stuff to doge other than 18 games worth of danmaku

[@mrg2232]

32:17 Kanako : "Oh so you're blue now"

[@legeul]

This actualy reminds me of Len'en 4, where the more you play and unlock upgrades, the easier it gets. I'm quite liking the rogue like gameplay, although shesh it's hard as hell.

[@seanobrien276]

Just want to say, as a self-taught artist, writer, photographer, and aspiring game dev (will be studying game design in Japan, after studying Japanese at a language school in Chiba for two years), it's cool to see how ZUN started and how he's improved over the past 25 years or so. Since your videos are full playthroughs, I get to see all the various mechanics/gimmicks in each game and how it all works together (or doesn't, lol). I'm pretty experimental as a creative, myself--basically comes with autodidacticism, so yeah. ZUN is kinda like a kindred spirit to me, or something, hah. It's all good study material, so thanks for these vids, Jaimers.

[@LimeCultivist]

Stage 5 has some really cool backgrounds and attacks

[@the1337fleet]

i got flashbacks when i saw stars in the stage 5 boss's attacks

[@JcDizon]

Seems that this is the best Touhou game so far with all the ability cards and the fact that we can get more slots as we keep on playing. The game has a very high replayability rate

[@THRWOW]

I’ll say the replayability is only surpassed by Touhou 8

[@baldkiwi444]

misumaru will become the new clownpiece

[@kickglider]

I dont know know what I'm more surprised about, the full game being released early instead of in August or that Jaimers has already Lunatic 1cc'd it. Just kidding, we all know Jaimers had this in the bag!

[@mryurei8656]

The game will be up for retail on may 13th. He is playing the steam version which released at midnight of may 4th

[@francis_p]

There's a moon behind the final boss. Again. Yep, it's Touhou alright.

[@fl00fydragon]

Touhou incidents have 2 constants The moon Morya shrine

[@Mayhzon]

Incidentally, FromSoft also puts the MOONLIGHT greatsword in every game of theirs. I have a theory. Since the Japanese are a very busy workers, they hardly ever get to see the daylight. When they leave the office around midnight and finally see the moon, it's a sign their suffering is over for the day. So they put the moon everywhere. It's their symbol of freedom! ((Before you lynch me, yes it's a joke))

[@francis_p]

@@Mayhzon Could've been true though.

[@驯鹿的游研社]

Thanks for sharing the playthrough. Fighting against those bullets is definitely hell, but danmaku with the background is so beautiful to watch.

[@jshtng78]

So finally the fact that there's a conspiracy is actually canon to the plot of a main game instead of being part of an overused meme.

[@jadebayoba7073]

15:50 we returned to PC-98... Yey....

[@etopowertwon]

Still no Mima though

[@aihoshinoirl]

No mima :(

[@change9197]

OH YEA I FORGOT MIMA. Mima.....

[@MrThespyman]

ok thank god I wasn't the only one feeling that stage 4 was harder than the other two, but yes I agree. What the fuck is that mid-boss.

[@koishiwii8370]

This Touhou game has pretty much cured my depression caused by the death of flash games. It is the flash game I can play during free time at home. Also pretended that Sanae was the main character where she investigates the ability cards and meets up with the friendly fellow youkai and gods.

[@MaxArceus]

Okina's Ability card is brokenly overpowered against Chimata's spell at 27:40

[@raikaria3090]

This game really does feel like a bit of MoF 2.0 We have Green Nitori and Blue Aya [Although to give her some credit; the idea of Aya's superior having power over the starry sky when Aya controls the wind is really thematic; since the starry sky is well above the wind], and the final boss is basically Rainbow Kanako [The point of the incident is to gather faith to sustain her... just like Kanako]

[@alexyz9430]

enjoyed your review as usual :D can't wait to see your extra run if you're planning to upload that as well

[@bigmama828]

So is the little midboss fox the main villain then? Since she seems to be getting into everyone's head

[@modirufa6317]

the reccuring mid-boss, and bosses 5 to extra are all villain to an extent, but they're actively manipulating each others. That being said, I'd say the tube fox and the toxic centipede have the upper hand overall

[@anueutsuho7425]

Sorta. 5th boss Iizunamaru, chief of all crow tengu (so Aya and Hatate are her employees) starting selling cards to benefit the tengu's position in Gensokyo, the market god Chimata (the final boss) helps out in order to regain her lost strength, and the extra boss, Momoyo Himemushi, is mining the crystals needed to make the cards magic. The fox is a liaison between them, but she's screwing all of them over for shits and giggles. In the end, the cards are still being sold because they really aren't that harmful to Gensokyo, and because their distribution has gone beyond any control by the main antagonists.

[@jambon2730]

@@anueutsuho7425 What about the stage 4 boss? Since her mine was exploited illegally by the centipede girl?

[@anueutsuho7425]

@@jambon2730 they weren't her mines. The centipede made the mines and she was complaining about the Izanagi objects belonging to the Gods

[@rosymuscovy7967]

The Rem Lazar rainbow lady has to be one of the most awesome character designs I’ve ever seen

[@mrg2232]

27:53 i like how it's always Sync everytime inculding other people too

[@prizmastarz742]

Stages and Bosses after Sannyo in here is just really...whatever the fuck just happened to them, god Maybe i'm not used to their patterns but damn they do be loving tight spaces and...homing, even in Normal it's quite harder than expected. Really good job as always like a madlad. Also, i like Chimata, i just think her design is one of the wildest touhou designs, and i Kin Her

[@crystaljon]

With all those zippers, I was wondering if Tetsuya Nomura had anything to do with her outfit.

[@prizmastarz742]

@@crystaljon i do wonder how cosplayers gonna put the zippers onto every fabric lol, and it seems they are only there for decorative purpose(unless there's symbolism behind the zippers as well www)

[@misery_shun]

Okay, even though I don't know what the hell danmaku is, I still think that difficulty is cranked up real time and at times (for example - Megumu's Lazer card, it's beautiful, but hella difficult). My personal theory is that ZUN is tired of all complaints about CAVE games being better or JynX's patterns being more difficult. About characters and their design... Well I got used to them. At the first time I was baffled by how ZUN decided it was necessary to put rainbows everywhere, it's ridiculous (I at first HATED the design of Chimata, plus didn't help the fact that everyone thought it was NECESSARY to spoil her). But at a later date I find the quite appealing, probably because my sense of what beautiful or not dropped since I saw Ryukishi07's Umineko art. So here are my impressions: Misumaru - Now we have a gem digging and creating Yago, similarities just make me ask more questions Megumu - The design I actually liked, not really much to say about her, I need to read her dialogue again to get who the hell created those cards, did she tell Chimata to create cards that are duplicates of characters' abilities or what? Tsukasa - The character that appears as a midboss in three stages in a row, quite refreshing to see a character that doesn't fight "directly" Chimata - Now her design doesn't appear as eye bleading as I first initially thought and I find her sky aesthetic quite nice, but still, too much rainbow for me to the point of looking like a parody of fan characters Momoyo - Now that's a design that I fell in love with, all hail da cave bug gorl. But seriously, her design is absolutely refreshing for me. Overall, I think that UM is alright for me, I suppose. I hope ZUN didn't include "if you play it on easy mode, you suck" kind of thing and doesn't lock you in the bad ending for that

[@tanjimmy125]

@@misery_shun I think the requirement to clear the game on higher difficulties for getting a good ending has been gone for quite a few main releases already. Clearing the game on Easy without continues gives you the good ending and unlocks Extra. There is also a special ending for each playable character in UM that can also be seen when purchasing the "Blank Card" for the final stage, which can be done on any difficulty.

[@misery_shun]

@@tanjimmy125 Huh, it's just when I played on easy mode in 16, I got bad ending, but maybe I have bad memory and I used continue

[@ApolloHoaxTheory]

Chimata is the weirdest final boss so far in all aspects: battle, music, design. Not _bad_ (in fact I quite like them), but definitely weird.

[@Cosmicdaydreamer]

Well, it's touhou, weirdness is aways welcome

[@blue_the_boy_kisser]

Her theme slaps so hard...

[@StrawberryCocoaPowder]

THE GAME IS ALREADY OUT?!?! Oh my...I must get to playing >,

[@LobaoMC99]

Very nice Tenkyuu very much

[@kanata_harumi]

I must say... I didn't expect this game to be so brutal... every danmaku battle is as unfair as ever...

[@technicolormischief-maker5683]

> Player character starts to suffocate during stage 4 dialogue > All of Misumaru’s patterns are designed to feel claustrophobic > Based Zun makes the player empathize with the PC through pattern design alone

[@hoyitsmiguel]

Me and my gay @$$ getting distracted/awed by the amount of rainbow colors/bullets used, and then we got to the final boss who looks like a rainbow pride superhero and honestly? I lived for it. The rainbow lasers on the Stage 5 Boss looked insane though to be honest. I really love the customizable options of getting to pick cards with this one, definitely giving you the option between basic resources like Lives/Bombs, or to go with something that can add/change to your playstyle in a run

[@abrahamtellez592]

8I love how, for the most part, the spell cards and all the patterns in general have a Touhou 7 ~ 11 vibe to them, 8 in particular (my all time favorite), but with a little twist. It's the perfect game for us who loved that era but wanted something new.

[@funnyfroggiealert1816]

stage 4 boss is just a condensed form of the "but stepmother! ball is life!" vine

[@vuhaitran4429]

While stand alone, this game's tracks hard to compare against old masterpieces but together they seems surprisingly good. I'd say they shine silently

[@SKtheMage]

Just wait like 10 more years and they'll feel like the old touhou games

[@Cox15]

>new touhou game >has new mechanics >1st time playing >goes for lunatic This guy is a chad touhou player

[@eclipsor7080]

29:18 "Danmaku Free-Market" I'm speechless

[@sap9377]

After 10years,the dodge strong style are back

[@StinkBugWizard]

I bet ZUN has been watching a lot of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure judging by his newest character designs.

[@tweekzcraig5026]

Can't wait to get this game, I have the demo and it's amazing so far.

[@AzureRT456]

Last spell card for the final boss seemed pretty cool as fuck.

[@CorpseTongji]

the binding of hakurei reimu

[@sakesaurus]

more like, darkest shrine

[@neitoxotien2258]

I have been waiting for you to play.

[@vaantsy]

reminds me of Imperishable Night stage 4 spike, shit went hard

[@change9197]

22:46 That Sync

[@rasmusmalmberg6468]

Are you sure the stage 6 boss is easy? The gimmick spells are easy to learn, but the nons look downright nasty.

[@ezzyshian]

I think he means the overall difficulty. Stage 4 and 5 have some nasty nons AND spells while stage 6 mainly have nasty nons overall but learnable spells (this also goes for stage 5 as well but stage 5 is kinda harder to learn) stage 4 is pure nightmare, the nons and especially the spells are straight up hell lol

[@Cosmicdaydreamer]

Chimata's last spell is hard af to learn but it's fun to dodge. She may be not one of the hardest bosses in touhou, but is one of the funniest (the hardest boss title in this game goes to Misumaru or Momoyo)

[@kaorich.lunacutegames]

I love this game

[@UCwTyR]

I can't even pass easy mode. my life is a misery

[@baldkiwi444]

lol same

[@ari7rin]

just wait for fujiwara's ability card it literally gives 4 or 5 lives I don’t know

[@salt.io257]

3 lives, to be exact.

[@sakesaurus]

dragon pipe broken

[@ari7rin]

@@sakesaurus dragon pipe? broken???

[@mrblackjacker32.03]

This game seems to be forcing people to get that pair of passive cards and also (Maybe this was already added since HSiFS or in WBaWC) there's now a sound effect when reaching a decimal power value and another when reaching Max Power. Small details that can help players focused on the main screen

[@audenetanaudenetan8648]

It's the full story. And the colour to rainbow

[@fluury]

he does it again

[@etopowertwon]

Ff. My fat fingers still cant 1cc on easy. I reached final boss once, but that's as far as I went (

[@ihavenojawandimustscream4681]

Cheer up man,i cant even go past stage 4

[@Pakkens_Backyard]

Stage 2 boss is pretty much the same as Normal with like slightly more density lol

[@haydarinna631]

I don't know if this is just me but I think Sanae did get more powerful, it feels like she does more damage on low power now compared to the demo. I also feel like the Alice doll card gives more damage output than the wolf card. I'm not sure about this but I think the wolf card powers your default shots and not the ones that come from your options?

[@consumeproduct]

Remember, this series started as a breakout/pong type game

[@koishiwii8370]

Yeah, a breakout/pong type of game starring a human shrine maiden.

[@The_Vible]

Big yin yang oh god

[@anonymousanonymous8216]

maybe it's just me but the final boss themes for the past few games feel like they're focused more on sounding big and flashy and powerful than having a distinct melody. like, go listen to any of the themes before TD (lolk's is fine too) and they all sound like something you could hum, at least mostly. like yea these new ones are fun and menacing but they don't really sound like they have a lot of character to me? idk good run

[@yatsuhashiwho]

The only final boss theme that sounds like what you described it to be is Okuu though really

[@Cosmicdaydreamer]

@@yatsuhashiwho I heard this theme so much times and still can't hum it. You are f right

[@davidli6931]

I feel like Sanae rn is only good for clearing the stages.

[@epiccow288]

tbh stage 2 is the hardest with the exception of the final bosses survival spellcard (with the rotating safe spot and all the little bullets coming into the center). also the the death avoidance elixir is broken.

[@tristar6118]

See, ZUN actually wanted another Reimu and Marisa boss battle, but instead replaced it with the current stage 4 and 5 bosses. just kidding, but come on, the stage 4 yin-yangs and stage 5 star bullets and lasers?

[@metalmagerin3]

Ah, so it's Slay the Spire: Touhou Edition.

[@angryvind5824]

Amazing

[@UnalloyedMalenia]

So no Mima i guess... One day. One day for sure.

[@packpock4369]

It's crazy Cave developed this.

[@carlabezerraartero]

2021 and touhou still 4x3 screen

[@Post98w]

Jaimers you fucking legend

[@alexhndr]

Wow.. this game is NOT JOKING on the difficulty spike. Welp, here's hoping my Easy 1cc is doable ;-;

[@King_of_Fools]

We get it Cereal, you like making fun of people playing on easy mode.

[@xpoisonthefakeone]

man megumu looks like the cooler aya

[@kikuribot4316]

Megumu kinda looks like Marth, too.

[@bamshablam5977]

Megumu looks like she needs to dye her hair and get a new haircut if she wants to cease beign blue aya lol.

[@BatterMontaguemusic]

The danmaku in this game is really awesome. Character designs still wack tho

[@StinkBugWizard]

Takane looks awesome.

[@penjamin1479]

32:18 KANAKO?

[@博麗霊夢-d8e]

Stage 3 like snow halation by U's

[@miizit641]

I don’t even play Touhou and yet Misumaru’s spell cards look agonizing to avoid.

[@Ren_ch1231]

Don't play the ending in the videoPromise from the priest

[@Ramsey276one]

An interesting Touhou ...

[@hannes2211]

gaming

[@penjamin1479]

gaming

[@cannedcobras2893]

stage 6 is just fashion disaster mokou

[@Combust90]

Is it just me or is the last spellcard on lunatic not much harder than on normal?

[@belluh-1huey102]

bad boy you showed the ending

[@AndrewBlechinger]

Ouch. Looks like you have a long way to go before you get LNN. Might have to resort to actives.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh awesome!! What's the verdict? Did zun deliver?

[@bamshablam5977]

@@CerealKiller Agree card mechanic is that fun.

[@AsianRailgun]

Pretty sure there is already a counterstop patch for TH18.

[@s0meRand0m129]

why this video give me anxiety

[@yuyurtrtrt2160]

stage 4 boss stealing Reimu's patterns

[@crystaljon]

Well, she DID create Reimu's Yin-Yang orbs.

[@yuyurtrtrt2160]

@@crystaljon i can't read japanese :v

[@ssjcrafter8842]

@@marinaaguas9219 TH01 was barely canon to begin with, even in PC98 era I believe. It doesn't even follow with a Reimu, just "shrine maiden".

[@e5a]

my brain can’t even keep up with this, much less any chance of moving my hands...

[@ZackLikesBreadAlot]

ngl tho stage 4 is harder than stage 5 in my opinion

[@somerandompersonomg]

blue aya

[@山田太郎-z4f8j]

いえ〜い！見てる〜？？

[@User-gk1yi]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the Centipede and Wolf card conflict each other? They're both damage multipliers so one ends up overwriting the other.

[@fourheadde4988]

33:08 ＣＯＣＡ－ＣＯＬＡ

[@junkolover9518]

>Enemies are really tanky, and power is a really huge problem, might be the worst ever actually. Cough, touhou 2, cough.

[@flandrescarlets8619]

Full version stage

[@lib6194]

No Bombs, No Cards clear when? Since this game is insanely bullshit without those. I think that this game gives you around 6-7 lives without cards, which is definitely not ok for a hard game like this at all

[@sakesaurus]

ufo level I think

[@lib6194]

@@sakesaurus neh, this is worse At least UFO gives you around 10 lives or something. This shit only give you 7 at most

[@thatonepersonnoonecaresabo3163]

Yea, including the power loss thing, makes it so that you absolutely cannot afford to die in this game.

[@sakesaurus]

@@lib6194 dragon pipe

[@lib6194]

@@sakesaurus without cards at all

[@miraclepotum]

Cool