This was my first ever touhou game, which i played 3 years ago, hearing that it was a good game for beginners. I only got as far as stage 4 back then and then i didnt interact with the series until i discovered touhou 9 last year.
After playing the windows games in chronological order and reaching this one, i can say that this might be my least favourite windows game and i can see why it didnt hook me back then.
For the good things i can say about the game, yuyuko coming back is cool and her new theme is a banger. Youmu's shot type is also one of the most fun shot types in the series, even if it probably broke my shift key. Yoshika's theme is also really good and is the only one that was still in my memory even after i shelved this game for the first time. Her gimmick with Seiga is also funny.
And.. that's about it, really.
Firstly, i don't think this game is good for beginners. Sure it may be easier than its 2 preceding games, and i did reach stage 5 in my first playthrough after replaying the game, but, that's after i had already 1cc'd about 6 other touhou games.
The biggest flaw of this game is its gimmicks. Both the spirits and trance aren't well executed. The spirits don't come down the screen and don't get picked up when you reach the point of collection. You HAVE to personally come to pick them up, which is extremely annoying. It's also the vehicle by which you fuel trance and get resources.
For my second point, this game's resource system is abysmal. If you play the game normally, you barely get enough for 7 lives total. The way to get more resources is to use trance during stage sections with lots of spirits that drop life and bomb pieces. But, this is the problem. Trance is also a mechanic that isn't well executed.
Trance is supposed to be a mechanic to give you some invulnerability during a difficult section, or let you deal a bunch of damage to enemies after you get hit, but you get the resources for trance extremely slowly. Which means that you rarely have any decision making in when you want to use trance, as the most optimal way to play is to always save it for the aforementioned stage sections that drop resources. And if you get accidentally get clipped before one? Welp, gg now you lose 2 lives instead of one because you wont gain the double life pieces.
It also took me way longer to 1cc this game than some other touhou games like 7 and 8, which i consider way better games for beginners. I don't think it has the easiest bullet patterns in the series. Stage 5 in particular really socks up your lives. Sure "skill issue". But when talking about if the game is good for beginners, one which isn't actually all that easy with an extremely strict resource system (which i consider one of the biggest contributers to how easy a touhou game is) isn't one that's good for beginners.
Aside from gameplay, another thing i dont like about this game is its characters. Now this is really subjective but i really don't care about the new characters this game introduces. Why? Well, they all seem really comically evil. Seiga is seiga. Futo killed Tojiko because of clan rivalries and caused her to become a ghost, and also burned buddhist temples. And Miko exploited the population and kept her taoist beliefs to herself for selfish reasons to become "immortal". They are my least favourite cast in touhou by far. It probably doesn't help that i really like ufo's cast who are the natural rivals of the taoists.
Oh and speaking of, this game's story also heavily hinges on touhou 12's plot. Which isn't a bad thing per se, but is also another point against it being a good game for beginners as the story (alongside lots of returning characters that newcomers wont know who they are) would be confusing due to that. I certainly was confused when i first played it 3 years ago.
If you want to recommend a touhou game to a beginner, then 6, 7, or 10 are much better options.
After playing the windows games in chronological order and reaching this one, i can say that this might be my least favourite windows game and i can see why it didnt hook me back then.
For the good things i can say about the game, yuyuko coming back is cool and her new theme is a banger. Youmu's shot type is also one of the most fun shot types in the series, even if it probably broke my shift key. Yoshika's theme is also really good and is the only one that was still in my memory even after i shelved this game for the first time. Her gimmick with Seiga is also funny.
And.. that's about it, really.
Firstly, i don't think this game is good for beginners. Sure it may be easier than its 2 preceding games, and i did reach stage 5 in my first playthrough after replaying the game, but, that's after i had already 1cc'd about 6 other touhou games.
The biggest flaw of this game is its gimmicks. Both the spirits and trance aren't well executed. The spirits don't come down the screen and don't get picked up when you reach the point of collection. You HAVE to personally come to pick them up, which is extremely annoying. It's also the vehicle by which you fuel trance and get resources.
For my second point, this game's resource system is abysmal. If you play the game normally, you barely get enough for 7 lives total. The way to get more resources is to use trance during stage sections with lots of spirits that drop life and bomb pieces. But, this is the problem. Trance is also a mechanic that isn't well executed.
Trance is supposed to be a mechanic to give you some invulnerability during a difficult section, or let you deal a bunch of damage to enemies after you get hit, but you get the resources for trance extremely slowly. Which means that you rarely have any decision making in when you want to use trance, as the most optimal way to play is to always save it for the aforementioned stage sections that drop resources. And if you get accidentally get clipped before one? Welp, gg now you lose 2 lives instead of one because you wont gain the double life pieces.
It also took me way longer to 1cc this game than some other touhou games like 7 and 8, which i consider way better games for beginners. I don't think it has the easiest bullet patterns in the series. Stage 5 in particular really socks up your lives. Sure "skill issue". But when talking about if the game is good for beginners, one which isn't actually all that easy with an extremely strict resource system (which i consider one of the biggest contributers to how easy a touhou game is) isn't one that's good for beginners.
Aside from gameplay, another thing i dont like about this game is its characters. Now this is really subjective but i really don't care about the new characters this game introduces. Why? Well, they all seem really comically evil. Seiga is seiga. Futo killed Tojiko because of clan rivalries and caused her to become a ghost, and also burned buddhist temples. And Miko exploited the population and kept her taoist beliefs to herself for selfish reasons to become "immortal". They are my least favourite cast in touhou by far. It probably doesn't help that i really like ufo's cast who are the natural rivals of the taoists.
Oh and speaking of, this game's story also heavily hinges on touhou 12's plot. Which isn't a bad thing per se, but is also another point against it being a good game for beginners as the story (alongside lots of returning characters that newcomers wont know who they are) would be confusing due to that. I certainly was confused when i first played it 3 years ago.
If you want to recommend a touhou game to a beginner, then 6, 7, or 10 are much better options.