Touhou Games are a Lot Better Than You Think

[@jewel-kun9730]

Touhou fans spending more time complaining about how hard the games are instead of actually playing the games...

[@dreadsoul9633]

You perfectly encapsulate the things I want to say in just a single line.

[@shikikan_kanchou]

Exactly

[@ducphatngo4567]

Cannot agree more

[@hawaiidkw1]

I can relate. That was pretty much my experience with Beatmania IIDX. And most XBox 360 games. And most PS4 games. And most Kongregate games.

[@akiradkcn]

lmao, these are people who only played one or two games, not 2hu fans Most of the community actually makes fun of the people you describe because the *actual* Touhou fans are very well aware that Touhou usually is much more forgiving than most Shump games

[@kubikim]

I think something that is kind of underrated in touhou is the world of touhou itself. there are so many insanely cool ideas and concepts in touhou that are just.. otherworldy. So fantastic. it's like going into a child's imagination. it's joyride in fantasy...

[@Mizuryryn]

not really underrated.. they're getting influenced by for example - Funky Friday (the songs) - FNF (failed to milk with these mixed garbage (for example: FNF Touhou Pibby Mod)) we'll call it "Toons" (bruh wtf they're getting "FNF Touhou Pibby" rn)

[@nekokoishi]

I've watched a video about explaining each otherworldy areas in touhou and I must say. They are all pretty impressive and has so much world building into them. Like having different hells for different things. A megapolis hell ruled by animals to punish animal abuser which is at war against an idol goddess that decides to liberate the tortured souls. There is also the lunar capital which is a super advance civilization that are pretty much racist to "impure" beings. An underground city filled with onis chilling. An insanely majestic heaven for those who are able to adcend there. A Netherworld where souls go. And there many more areas in the lore of the game that are just fascinating to learn about.

[@kubikim]

@@Mizuryryn that wasn't what I meant at all

[@kubikim]

@@nekokoishi I know right? It almost inspires me to create a fantastic world of my own.

[@nekokoishi]

@@kubikim same same

[@shikikan_kanchou]

As a Touhou player myself, Touhou shmups are really underrated and people avoided for a very understandable reason... IT'S HARD. But if we are talking about Touhou shmup popularity, Touhou is actually the most popular lol.

[@Nusoipoopie]

Touhou in general is considered as a relatively easy game series compared to other shmups. Maybe aside from LoLK. Not as crazy as something like Futari, DOJ WL or Stella vanity

[@blazi2293]

Touhou games are hard for the average gaming market standards, shmups/bullet hells are niche. But compared to other shmups/bullets hell, Touhou games are relatively easy, and for a good reason: unlike other shmups, Touhou isn't made for arcade machines (or arcade ports). Arcade games need to have a stupidely bullshit difficulty otherwise their machines are just expensive piece of junk that don't make money (or if they aren't difficult, they need to have amazing tech, just like arcade racing games. That's not the case with shmups, they are just 2D shooters, it's not as expensive as owning a full racing rig)

[@ephraimium6755]

⁠@@blazi2293This is such a biased claim that proofs you haven't even touched any of those "arcade" games. If anything those arcade shmups like the DDP series, Ketsui, R-Type series have much more polished gameplay than most of the Touhou titles, and no they aren't made bs difficult to consume your credits like a glutton. Many of these shmups usually seperate their difficulty into loops (with the 1st one being more lenient than even a Hard difficulty Touhou game albeits owning less resources and occasional difficulty spikes that are well-balanced while the 2nd one are optional difficulty only unlocked for the finest players who managed to fulfill the conditions in the 1st loop). And unlike Touhou where more than half of its hardest patterns and stage designs come from RNG bs (I'm looking at you PWG, Cat Walk, Greatest Treasure, the entire stages of EoSD, UFO S2 to S6, UM S4, etc), those arcade shmups were built with route optimizations for both survival and scoring in mind rather than abusing whatever broken mechanics in respective Touhou games from TD onward.

[@VaemaEX]

Honestly, people underestimate Touhou a lot of the time because of it being really hard to play. I played it for like two to three years ago, and I am really improving on my skills when it comes to this game. Good video!

[@BGDMusic]

i have been playing it for roughly 2 years i don't know but yeah it's really fun

[@God-ch8lq]

most touhou games are very forgiving when it comes to lives and bombs theyre a very good introduction to bullet hells as a whole once you 1cc lunatic, you can tackle CAVE games

[@evanmak7837]

Reasoning for Zun making games in the first place: he though the industry really watered down the diffucutly of the newer games in general and he wanted to make games that are challenging to the player. We gotta give him proprs for that, it actually makes the player think strategically.

[@VaemaEX]

@@evanmak7837 I remember him working for an industry called "Amusement Makers" during the time he was creating PC-98 Touhou games as well.

[@evanmak7837]

@@VaemaEX Amusement makers was a student club in the University he was attending iirc. I assume the members had access to exclusive libraries/framework and was free advertisment for when they made solo projects, as they were allowed to use the brand name on release (as in, this was made by a student on the Denki uni, it's good quality). Zun's major connection to the industry was when he worked for Taito imo.

[@ephraimium6755]

Basically Touhou is like a 3x3x3 Rubik cube. It might look really hard and chaotic for outsiders but once you're into it you can see how beautiful it is.

[@sborealis]

touhou games deserve to be more popular and appreciated, especially since they're so unique unlike most games i've played. not many games can capture the experience and combined appeal of music, intense gameplay, sophisticated mechanics and pure challenge that touhou offers. you might like to check out the Touhou World Cup, since it's a tournament that's based on the official touhou games themselves. also, nice shoutout to WBaWC!

[@eterni561]

Y’all ever just end up randomly stumble upon a series and like years later after forgetting it, find out you your favorite character is the angry as fuck depression mommy

[@TheAstralWitch]

You mean Koishi or?...

[@Razzzlin]

@@TheAstralWitch Junko

[@TheAstralWitch]

@@Razzzlin Oh, I see. Thank you.

[@lennartti1784]

OR you find out that your favorite character is most well known for some of the most fucked up shit you can find on youtube

[@Razzzlin]

@@lennartti1784 Yeah, it sure is a adventure nearly enough to make your heart throb- or stop if that’s the case

[@ogami1972]

I got into touhou as a by-product of studying and collecting shmups for a home arcade. These are my most treasured acquisitions. Mountain Of Faith and 17wbwc are my absolute faves, and are totally playable by normies, lol. Welcome back, subbed.

[@sakesaurus]

Oh so you're not just collecting them but also playing? Based

[@Momijitheawoo]

Oh yo have you played pc-98 yet? Give it a try may be a bit weird and jank even by Touhou standards but it’s still amazing fun.

[@PerlDrop]

"Tis simply an issue of skill"

[@dreadsoul9633]

But how do you know?

[@Momijitheawoo]

@@dreadsoul9633 it’s called him being the current top Touhou tuber

[@Momijitheawoo]

Also hello Mr Perldrop loved the newest video

[@henryfleischer404]

The touhou project gave me purpose in life right after I lost any sense of it. Because of that, I think it is the best video game series.

[@ImmacHn]

I love the games, they get a rep of being super hard, but they are quite approachable.

[@breloom657]

I agree. As far as bullet hells go, Touhou is really tame.

[@fawful1461]

I wouldn't say touhou is super hard, there are more way difficult bullet hell games out there, such as dodonpachi saidaioujou, mushihimesama futari, or ikaruga.

[@its_venezianotvenice]

Found you, iMac

[@Drives31forhalo]

I was introduced to the series by the fangame Touhou Luna Nights. I looked into it more because of how much I loved it and discovered everything else about touhou. at that point I _had_ to see what started all this and I was not disappointed. I started with 6 and was worked my way up, skipping 11 and 12 as they were just kicking my ass at the time. It felt so satisfying each time I 1CCed another game, and I'm inching my way into the hard difficulty / extra stages finally. This is a game genera that I really didn't expect to be so fun.

[@Kyee124]

in my opinion, the main reason why I enjoy Touhou mainline game so much is because how the spell card rules are set, it is not for pure killing power(except Junko), but it is about showing the prettiness of the bullet pattern, it is beautiful to see spell card like koishi's last spell and also, for me I would probably recommend people to start with 8 or 14 because it is the easiest of all, or 15 for those want to experience pure pain but also don't want to restart everytime they die. or I would recommend the subline games like 17.5 or so

[@braxbro6674]

18 is also a decent starting point, as its mechanics allow you to get through as easily as you want, for the most part, because you can choose to use or not use cards.

[@ZinfulSD]

Touhou has always been a very inclusive series. It almost never punishes you for taking it easy. Everyone plays at their own pace, own style, own way, and Touhou does a great job at encouraging that. Easy mode is a perfectly acceptable way to play, just like Normal, Hard, or Lunatic. Some people want to enjoy bullet hell, but can't deal with too much at once. Some people are more casual players, who just want to experience what's in the game, rather than slaving away to grind it down to an artform. No matter how you play Touhou, that's the way you enjoy it, and that's the right way for you.

[@ScileSc]

One more thing I can praise about the gameplay is the power system. It give as sense of progression without interrupting the gameplay with an upgrade menu or just starting the player off op from the start. Plus a good incentive to not waste a single life as it makes you weaker.

[@sorayazamora6445]

I'm an intense Touhou player, so i can confirm that Touhou... is a game.

[@triny2128]

I agree

[@NapoleChan]

I work in a Network Operations Center (aka a NOC, pronounced "knock") and a buddy installed some of the older Touhou games deep in our server storage because it takes literally no resources and are mega small programs. So when work is slow or if there is some outage outside of our center and had nothing to do it was our go-to thing to kill time our favorite of the old games was Perfect Cherry Blossom. My buddy was the real fan of the series, I don't even want to admit how long I went not knowing that the neat music video Bad Apple wad even about Touhou. And with me getting to work from home more often I have been upping my game and went from playing the old school games to jumping right to Hidden Star in Four Seasons (16). And I definitely have been having my butt kicker but having fun in the meantime while getting more into the lore. I say if I get any deeper into the series I'll be like my buddy going crazy every time a new fumo comes out he "needs". Oh well a couple fumo's on my desk probably would look alright...

[@Binod-man]

Someone should show this to all touhou meme creator, cause some of them are actually missing out on this good stuff

[@shikikan_kanchou]

Dude true

[@yogsothoth915]

It looks scary but it's actually on the easier end of schmup difficulty. The patterns being pretty generally takes priority over difficulty. Whenever i play another shmup I always find myself missing Touhou's mechanics. Especially Spellcards, both their fun names and the breather their bullet cancels give you.

[@sakesaurus]

It's not true. Some games are made to be as hardcore as possible. You can't rest in some of these stages. That being said, the challenge could be implemented a bit better than saying "if you don't bomb this rng bs, you get a bonus".

[@yogsothoth915]

@@sakesaurus ZUN himself said it shouldn't be about difficulty in the Omake.txt for EoSD. Additionally, I was talking about the breather you get from the bullet cancel after completing an Enemy Spellcard.

[@sakesaurus]

@@yogsothoth915 oh fine. You know, in this sense touhou is very lenient. When I play Crimson Clover, every time the game gives me downtime I must, absolutely must deal as much damage to the boss or enemies as I physically can (the lock on mechanic benefits damage from short range). Most boss phases feature an additional attack at the end, that is so obnoxious you must skip it with damage. Otherwise you rack up your bomb bar so high you are doomed to die at some point

[@synthetic5437]

The little "You will die" on LoLK made me laugh and cry

[@akiradkcn]

yeah, that one is one of the harder 2hu games

[@AnimeBarLounge]

I played touhou 8 for the first time over a decade ago; I enjoyed it quite a bit but never fully got into the series... Until about a couple months ago, because I kept listening to the banger music for years and finally said it was time to fully get into the series so I've slowly been working on playing them all from 6 onwards.

[@blazi2293]

My history with Touhou be like >Hear about it because U.N owen was Her was a big thing in the 2000's/early 2010's >Still don't know what Touhou is about and I didn't care. >Play the first two stages of Touhou 10 at an anime convention, seems really fun, might download this at home >I download the game, it was hard at first but amazing. I had a hard time against Kanako but it was the most epic boss I have ever fought in a game >Finally beat the game >Download ALL the games >Download all kind of Touhou-related content, like Touhou mods for other games (example: Civilization V)+fangames >I became interested in making music. I buy a MIDI keyboard and software >Starts learning japanese because there are so many cool Touhou stuff that don't get translated Yeah, once you get into the rabbit hole, it only gets deeper. And sadly I am one of the few who became a Touhou fan thanks to the actual mainline games

[@dreadsoul9633]

Nice story

[@lobbywww]

Thank you for making this video and shedding more light on Touhou games. Long live ZUN ^_^

[@gsunfoxes]

It's so nice to see a video like this, i feel like its very rare to see people appreciate touhou's amazing game design The way that pretty much every spellcard and attack is not just designed to be diffuclt, but also to be visually appealing and to have meaning that fits the characters personalities, their abilites, and their lore is just the coolest thing ever to me. And almost every stage and fight being designed to sync with the music is just the best feeling ever tbh it'll always amaze me how Zun manages to tell the stories and give the characters so much personality and lore just through great music and spellcard design. Again, this was a really great video! I hope it'll make more people see that touhou games are a lot more approachable and fun for beginners than people think!

[@dreadsoul9633]

Thanks

[@nekokoishi]

I started touhou for the games. I stayed for the lore, world and waifus.

[@WomanSlayer69420]

Simp

[@ivysclique]

hey this video is great, im glad you made this as a touhou fan. i always enjoy people attempting to get into the games and i encourage anyone i meet to do so. its kind of upsetting considering a lot of people consider these games too "niche" or jarring (probably for the art and unique style of music) but its always worthwhile! id also recommend getting people into other SHMUPS especially the CAVE produced ones, theyre amazing and tons of fun! im definitely not a good player, by any means, i actually barely 1cc'd SA but i digress. still always fun to me. so yeah i appreciate this video a lot, if you're a new touhou fan, play the games!

[@azurill_sun]

“I recommend any of the games” people starting with 6, 11, and 15 crying rn

[@dreadsoul9633]

6 is great if you can get that shit running. I mean Touhou 15 on easy mode feels great.

[@azurill_sun]

@WinterFrostarian and was it worth it to get your ears blasted by greatness

[@azurill_sun]

@@dreadsoul9633 oh yeah definitely. It just feels too reactionary to start with. Then again, I started on 2 so what do I know

[@dreadsoul9633]

@WinterFrostarian Touhou 11 fans explaining why you should start with Touhou 11.

[@uboa8060]

@@dreadsoul9633 I'm a touhou 11 fan, think that 7 is a reasonable point to start, but would argue that 8 is the best game to start with

[@MythicalWiseNab]

Touhou Games are Good If You Hate Yourself

[@Pins30]

I hate myself 'plays touhou'

[@epicgamer7579]

a lot more people hate themself than you think

[@FenexDragonis]

It's all about pattern recognition and precision

[@azurill_sun]

As someone who’s finished the first games, I agree

[@Hakurei_Reimu_lostword]

Ye I hate myself for getting hit by a bullet for the 999999th time

[@dreadsoul9633]

Status update: Almost 4 and a half months have passed since the last time I uploaded. I have been quite for that period of time, leaving very little information on why I disappeared and upon returned I just uploaded a Touhou video out of nowhere. Time for some explanation. The last few months have been an experience for me. It was felt with hardships, many new memories, work, burnout, rekindling of a new life, and even depressing moments. The last few months have been quite the ride for me. I have done many things in real life that I should have done sooner and I felt the gratifying importance on focusing on what matters the most: my life. Admittedly, I did get burned out on making content and Terraria as a whole. I spent my last few months gaming career mostly playing Touhou but I have been silent a lot about Terraria. I figured now that the best thing that works for my own self is to just do the things I enjoy, let the pressure go. I will upload Terraria videos again quite likely since 1.4 tmod release has been an exciting one for me since I like how 1.4 plays out with so many QoL changes. The drama and some traumas from the early 2022 sometimes still haunts me, but luckily overcoming my past and learning to move on is some of the most important things I have learned so far. Anyways, I hope you are not too upset about anything, especially when I just uploaded something that is not Terraria. I still highly recommend you to give this video a watch since I have put a lot of effort into it (It is also tailored for dummies). I promise you, I am not gone and I will do things that do either best for me or just things I enjoy the most. tl;dr: I have been silent for months, basically I got a lot of important things to do irl and I also still got that trauma from that drama before. But I have learned many teachings and wisdom in life to move on and just move on and become a better me. Video update wise: I am not dead, I will still try to upload though I will do the things I enjoy as there should be no pressure about it on the first place. Watch my new video, even though it is not Terraria I put a lot of effort into it.

[@deaklauer]

Yes

[@miksonpl2283]

What drama are you talking about?

[@jimboanimations4041]

@@miksonpl2283 I called him out for leaking stuff and it started a domino effect.

[@dreadsoul9633]

@@jimboanimations4041 Yeah, I did end up forgiving myself and I went through a redemption arc.

[@jimboanimations4041]

@@dreadsoul9633 which is good, loving yourself is the key to happiness. I love myself a lot, even if it can come off as egotistical.

[@xb70valkyriech]

The people who need to see this vid the most are Touhou fans 💀

[@R8Spike]

Like 25% of the fan base never played a game once

[@xb70valkyriech]

@@R8Spike more like 75% lmao

[@Embenefet]

@@xb70valkyriech make it higher

[@lpfan4491]

I wouldn't consider myself a fan because I am barely surface level, but I interact in the fanbase a good bit. And yeah, I probably need to play them again. I only really did one relatively short attempt at the official games a few years ago and only managed to beat one of them...Touhou 1(on the Hell route), due to unlimited continues.

[@toro2812]

​@@lpfan4491Unlimited continues or not, beating touhou 1 is an achievement That game is the definition of hell

[@PraiseHeavyLobster]

I like to play Touhou to dodge the bullets for fun, even if I’m not exactly good at bullet hells lol. It feels really satisfying and great when I actually do dodge the bullets. _DDC my beloved_

[@sphereoffice7789]

I'm preeeeeetty sure half of the game I've played in my entire life gave me TouHou vibes

[@-Archant]

I've recently started practicing LoLK's stage 5 because I hate myself but I feel that once I get the grasp of Clownpiece's fight I'll feel more motivated to play the games more often again. Managed to 1CC a couple of games and since then just been playing around with THPrac practicing individual stages because of a handful of roadblocks. Maybe getting past one of them will be the push I need haha.

[@TASTEGROUND]

i like the stupid nuclear bird but anyway i met alot of people calling it an anime

[@dreadsoul9633]

Many sinners have populated this world.

[@jno7]

Beautiful Video!

[@hikari9513]

I love Touhou, but the thing is, I have skill issues

[@dreadsoul9633]

Thou has to cometh forth and embrace thy fear.

[@ericwijaya2119]

Same

[@ericwijaya2119]

@@dreadsoul9633 ok but if I get mentally unstable you're covering my therapy expenses

[@GitGudWO]

touhou is good for masochists

[@dqafq514]

i wouldn't say thats exactly the case

[@sorayazamora6445]

Can confirm.

[@mayysleeping5843]

Ture

[@TheAstralWitch]

You'd think to be a true warrior you'd need to be a masochist. To like feeling pain, just to endure whatever attack was flung at you. You poor, poor soul... We don't always like pain. That's why we train. That's why we learn to dodge attacks and strike with even more powerful ones. Yes, there are people who do this just to torture themselves, but if there's no motivation for progress, there won't be much progress in the first place. You have to have the willpower to always learn from failed attempts, always get up and always, even if the last attempt hurt as hell like dying on Supreme Calamitas right before she finally stops attacking, jump back into action to try again. We may not be warriors in real life, but be aware, some of us conquer games you wouldn't have thought of even trying.

[@tarragon112]

touhou 19 is perfectly balanced

[@PaukKsta]

Each Touhou game is one hell of an experience, and it leaves so many good memories..

[@vipersniperpiper6093]

From what I know,Touhou is probably the most biggest indie franchise that’s out there right now. There so many groups dedicated to one of many parts of Touhou. The characters,the games,the music,the memes,the fan games,the lore,the doujins and some other thing’s too. There is a lot to Touhou and there is a lot to enjoy about it.

[@PepeDanyee]

I've been playing Touhou for a little over a year and a half and its games are super enjoyable, it's true that at first you can get bored and frustrated at losing but the satisfaction of making progress is always comforting, it's a shame that most of the fandom itself from Touhou avoid them, without a doubt the work done by ZUN deserves more love

[@koishiwii8370]

Yeah, my father has found the Touhou main games to be fairly challenging like the good old TMNT beat 'em ups and Super Mario World. He also has enjoyed watching me play these just like he has done with some flash games. He's nice like Irma Langenstein (the 1987 one) when it comes to my enjoyment with the Touhou series unlike most other people I've met.

[@purplehaze2358]

Touhou players going out in the rain without an umbrella (they can just dodge the rain).

[@RuneOfNever]

Me after Utsuho's spell clip shows up: *internal scream* Btw Touhou games are just awesome The gameplay, the music, the story all just great and I'm in love with this universe How I got into playing Touhou are very funi story actually I was watching Touhou memes at 4am for no reason even without understanding them, on the next day I played Touhou Luna Nights and after that I just decided that I should complete all official games from 1 to 18, including those with .3, .5 and .8 Since then I completed 15 games and now at part 12.3(which I haven't started yet), hardest one was Touhou 11 where I spent like 3 hours trying to beat final boss Favorite one is part 8, the only one I completed without continues and where I've beaten extra just because it's my favorite part xd Sooo "Today you are watching Touhou memes without even understanding them, tomorrow you already playing Touhou"

[@eddwithsauce525]

I found Touhou because of the funny PVs and animations back then on KZbin. Upon learning it was a game, my interest on it only grew further as I loved the bullet hell genre. The satisfying feeling of a 1cc and beating Extra Stages are things I would never forget

[@Probably_CLOUD]

While watching this video, I knew I heard a familiar song in there and then I thought about it more and was happy to know that it’s a Oneshot song (My Burden is Light). Ah Oneshot, such a criminally underrated masterpiece…

[@dreadsoul9633]

A few days before I started editing this video I played OneShot with my sister. It was quite nice.

[@ThisWillBeTheDay]

I've always liked shmups, but Touhou was the first time I thought they could be pretty. Truly pretty and not 'just' pretty. The songs synchronizing with every bullet or stage, the _songs,_ the _bullets._ Eirin and Kaguya's last spell on Eiyashou is orgasmic. So is the traversing through Okina's backdoors as the music amps up on Tenkuushou.

[@videogamescoverftw]

I think disregarding the PC-98 games because of their age is a bit unfair, Lotus Land story is probably my favorite game in the series due to its amazing soundtrack in the last half of the game. It was also the second extra stage i beat after Imperishable night. Mystic square is also pretty good but i do thing LLS deserves a place among the windows games as a true masterpiece that has withstood the test of time.

[@dreadsoul9633]

I do understand the appeal. It is just that I never find them to be a good “entry”. They also require emulators and shit and for newcomers I just recommend something that can simply be played and done.

[@reddark6282]

Great video!

[@CelestialReturner]

Touhou Eiyashou ~ Imperishable Night is my favorite Touhou game because this is the only time that I get to play as my favorite Touhou characters: Yukari and Yuyuko!

[@marcar9marcar972]

Honestly, well put! Great video!

[@Aeroxima]

I only played one of them, and didn't finish it. I feel like this video should have a lot more views.

[@Embenefet]

I love bosses in touhou, The patterns are fun to recognize and find how simple it really is, Stages are kinda unfun though definetly my least favorate part in the GamePlay

[@dreamleaf552]

Touhou is one of the most satisfying game series out there. It contains what is easily one of my favorite gaming experiences of all time. I feel bad for people who don't know the joy of fighting Yukari or Koishi, or the sheer horror of facing Clownpiece for the first time.

[@GenericMcName]

I believe that the hardest barrier of entry to cross to play Touhou is actually getting a hold of the games. If ZUN would just put them up on steam or something so people in the west wouldn't have to jump though hoops to play them, more people would get into them.

[@dreadsoul9633]

They ARE on Steam

[@GenericMcName]

@@dreadsoul9633 The only thing I can find when I look at Steam is a bunch of fan games and a few spinoffs. There isn't a mainline game on the store on my end.

[@dreadsoul9633]

@@GenericMcName try to search “mediascape”

[@GenericMcName]

@@dreadsoul9633 oh my fucking god, there they fucking are. These games don't show up when I search for Touhou but now they're suddenly there?? Steam what the fuck

[@dreadsoul9633]

@@GenericMcName steam is not to blame. It is just bad advertising really. Also they are on Japanese so maybe that plays a role too.

[@EndermanBoss]

I sometimes forget how many Boss design choices are Touhou inspired in Fargo's mod. Terry is an absolute madman.

[@jvts8916]

Touhou gameplay videos got me into bullet hell schmups when I wanted to play a "proxy" on my switch. One of those games, Game Paradise, is one I'd greatly recommend for its charm and wide variety of playstyles. Sadly, my favourite schmup Dodonpachi Resurrection is much harder to recommend because I doubt "ultra-hard bullet hell fan that's also attracted to giant robot girls big enough to crush ships with one hand and doesn't mind early 3D models" is anything but a niche market... And Hibachi and Zatzuda give me sensory overload.

[@sakesaurus]

Daifukkatsu is one of the easiest Cave games to get into. You shouldn't disregard it. I hate how people keep bashing on this game.

[@jvts8916]

@@sakesaurus I'm not bashing it, I just thought not everyone was going to meet the criteria like I did.

[@sakesaurus]

@@jvts8916 ok I guess I got triggered But yeah, I'd shill this game all day to novices as well as Saidaioujou's xbox port, novice difficulty. Game's too punishing on arcade difficulty.

[@thecheezepirate340]

I can indeed confirm that losing all my lives to a singular boss is very fun👍

[@Skywalker2016GD]

Touhou is very simple compared to other shmups. You don't need to have insane dodging skills (Imagine dodging in a shmup) to beat the game. The game is very forgiving in it's mechanics and resources and it becomes really fun to play, and normal is actually pretty chill. It's a good start for playing shmups if you want to get used to the genre. It's like rhythm games. You suck at first but it becomes really fun the more you play it.

[@television3272]

hi im in the comments to recommend pc98 sure the games are definitely different from windows and their age does show but they have their own unique charm to them that i'm sure a lot of people can enjoy :) besides touhou 2 we dont talk about that one

[@dreadsoul9633]

I wouldn't recommend an abandonware that requires emulator to play, at least for "starting point".

[@moon.8359]

Finally someone who said this, the games were the reason why I liked touhou even more than before

[@theeskrungly]

I don't know what om getting into, all I know is that the red one is terrify.

[@ozzypuff8957]

"Touhou is easier than you think!" proceeds to use lunatic and extra footage.

[@paranthesisism]

thanks for the anime recommendation, gonna check it out later. looks cool! this is satire

[@TheEpicPancake]

Strangely enough, I love bullet hell but really don't care much for shmups. Touhou is one of the few shmups that feels like a bullet hell first, and I dig it for that.

[@FCTouhou]

After more than a year of play I'm practicing to 1cc my first lunatic

[@Adrot]

As a Danmaku Unlimited player I'll sleep on it cause am tired from all the grind to get Ace level

[@characharayong]

I can somewhat clear easy mode but always failed at normal mode. this game is very hard for me and i feel ashamed for not being able to do well compared to others

[@dreadsoul9633]

It is ok to be bad. You can definitely get there with time.

[@characharayong]

@@dreadsoul9633 thank you kindly. i tried for many times but kept failing thats y i'm starting to lose hope. i feel like i didnt make any improvements

[@Hakurei_Reimu_lostword]

@@characharayong success takes time. Even if you don't see yourself making progress you must keep trying because one day you can achieve that normal mode 1cc

[@characharayong]

@@Hakurei_Reimu_lostword i will try again after taking a long break. its mentally exhausting to keep failing with 0 improvements orz

[@Fishnberg]

Even though Touhou games are extremely hard for me, I still enjoy playing it. For me, I wasn't really into bullethell at the beginning. But after I really get into the games, I found that they are actually pretty fun!! Thats why, Canon 2hu has best experience ;D

[@postilaatikko2349]

people need to see this

[@martinxxcz2919]

Ngl i like to play touhou when im bored, its pretty fun even on the lower difficulty levels

[@TASTEGROUND]

0:37 bro is that real?

[@dogburgle5378]

Yes it is

[@AllVoiceHowdy]

amozun

[@marx4538]

PC-98 > Windows Visuals > Music good video though, even if not all Touhou games manage to do well with how their difficulty is balanced, especially when going from one game to another.

[@audigamer8261]

6:05 this pattern reminds me of "the worlds hardest game"

[@cutman3931]

Touhou 4 is a really good touhou game to start with actaully. Only Issue is that you also need a PC-98 emulator for these old touhou games, preferably without lag and input lag

[@kehsjdjbdjeidhdjsk2370]

Another issue is that we don't have visible hitbox, so new players will take longer to get used to the actual size and placement of the hitbox since they have to learn it from trial and error But yeah, needing an emulator won't motivate people to play a game, especially a PC-98 emulator that they're probably not going to use for anything else

[@cutman3931]

@@kehsjdjbdjeidhdjsk2370 there isn't a visible hitbox in eosd either

[@baf__]

STG stand for ShooTing Gamble

[@metalwolfzx]

I feel like UFO... Isn't as bad as you're making it out to be, I still feel it's tough don't get me wrong, but I feel like it's easier to obtain more extends in it than other shmups.

[@metalwolfzx]

I've recently managed to reach Byakuren TWICE on normal mode on a single continue, and I'm hoping to keep practicing the game so I can (hopefully) pull off a 1cc on normal mode! (The biggest roadblocks are Murasa's final spell card, Shou's battle overall, and of course, Byakuren herself.)

[@gnixreal]

10:48 I feel like many touhou games can be described that way

[@atomic1581]

Most people come from a clown, certain songs, doujins or those types of doujins

[@Dukstless]

"18 mainline bullet hell games" you mean, 17 bullet hell games and an Arkanoid/Breakout-like with shmup/bullet hell bosses. (I mean I guess main stages become bullet hell on Lunatic, where tiles shoot bullets at you when you hit them. On side note, fuck Sariel's opener, holy shit.)

[@lpfan4491]

The game gives infinite continues and a 1cc is barely diffrent from a casual run because the endings are all memetastic anyhow. So lunatic may as well just be the game.

[@mythito5120]

Since no one asked ill do it. Who is your Touhou waifu? (I cannot give an awnser to that, cause i like a lot of them)

[@dreadsoul9633]

Nue and Keiki

[@mythito5120]

@@dreadsoul9633 I know i am late (I totally forgot i even commented), but another Keiki fan POG (I really like Momoyo and Sanae myself)

[@AllVoiceHowdy]

i would, but moriya shrine was decimated by the hakurei shrine :((

[@lpfan4491]

Sanae getting punched in the face be like.

[@Wavy667_]

Very good video, but may I ask where 9:01 came from?

[@Norveyboy17]

Nah.. I'll keep playing easy so i can enjoy the game with fair and non stressing difficulty. The way zun actually intend it to be ENJOYABLE

[@kaymonster3840]

i've played them quite recently and there fun ngl

[@AuraArondight]

I'd play the games, but the shooters overwhelm my visual senses and I'm not a fan of fighting games.

[@ck-kc2903]

i wish i could play this game again i just dont have the money to buy a laptop. sad

[@yousefslimani99]

I Was Nearly died there cause I have no idea where to dodge and she shooting bullets! 3:04

[@yousefslimani99]

Yeah and I'm Doing touhou gameplay videos

[@moved_...]

I rlly love playing the games. They are really fun to play. However I play over stgs then touhou. But I love all stgs .even touhou. My most favourite ones are dodonpachi daifukkatsu and touhou 8 and 18. Also will do CAVE games in the future? Like dodonpachi and mushihimesama

[@ignoremycringecommentslol.8274]

Touhou was like one of the first shmups I have ever played but after a while I got bored because I had thought that it was going to be like one of those arcade bullet hells, for example Mushihimesama, and after that I moved onto arcade bullet shoot em ups which are around lunatic mode if not harder on their normal difficulty. I do occasionally play Touhou if I want to cool down after the onslaught of arcade shmups tho, still fun. Also, ZUN does take patterns from other shmups and tone them down a bit and add them to Touhou. He is a fan of games developed by CAVE.

[@JustSomeoneWhoLikesBears]

Just posting a comment so the algorithm blesses you

[@dreadsoul9633]

I am also a Keiki fan and this comment makes me happy.

[@annefrank125]

It depends. If you're talking about the shmup official games, then not really. Most Touhou games are regarded as average or below average shmup experiences. It's a good entrance to the shmup genre, but most players will deviate from the Touhou games once they start playing more well made shmup games, like the games developed by Cave, psikyo games, etc. Touhou games also aren't the hardest games of the shmup genre, they're more or less around the middle ground of the bullet hell subgenre. I think many Touhou gamers fail to realize that people aren't playing Touhou because it's a Touhou specific problem, but actually because Touhou belongs to a gaming genre that is extremely niche. Shmup players in general are very difficult to find, and Touhou is actually one of the most popular series in the shmup spectrum. While I understand the concern of Touhou players why they have the idea that Touhou is a underrated game, I still can't deny that most people only think that way because they don't have a solid idea of the bigger picture Touhou belongs in.

[@dreadsoul9633]

Very well worded. Hence why I put the disclaimer of “the things I say here is most likely applicable to most shmups”. Though I honestly don’t have too much experience with the other games but I have seen some really fun ones.

[@akiradkcn]

we are just talking about difficulty right?

[@annefrank125]

@@akiradkcn Not necessarily. We're talking about actual game experience, how good the game design is. Touhou is average game design and slightly above average bullet hell in terms of difficulty. It also depends on what Touhou game we're talking about, because Touhou games range from being very badly designed to actually well designed. In difficulty terms it ranges from easy bullet hell to extremely hard bullet hell. UFO and IN are regarded as the best Touhou games, if you're wondering.

[@akiradkcn]

@@annefrank125 I'm pretty familiar with the games, was just curious about you

[@Cyril86]

0:50 Hey now if you say PoFV doesn't exist, what about PoDD?

[@Pins30]

How did you manage to get that th8 finala bg damn that looks cool

[@dreadsoul9633]

@Pins30 Where are you right now? I miss you.

[@Pins30]

that's not answering my question !1!1!!1

[@dreadsoul9633]

@@Pins30 You going missing is more important. WHERE ARE YOU?

[@Pins30]

@@dreadsoul9633 i'm in another country that ends with -sia

[@dreadsoul9633]

@@Pins30 Why are you gone from Discord? We miss you so much. I am mourning your death rn 😭😭😭

[@ASE-PRL]

shmup

[@slayer4531]

dreadsoul video

[@abarette_]

AMANG ASU AMANG ASU

[@dreadsoul9633]

Apa lu ajg?

[@Stitastic]

I just want to play eosd and I can’t find where to play it anywhere please help

[@bakamita]

Is time to go *Gensokyo* no more *Brazil*

[@ICEMAN-]

What is Touhou 18 called on steam