i've never really been super into boomer shooters but dusk is a rootin tootin good time. short, fairly simple by modern standards, but still feels great to play.

i LOVED the movement in this one. zipping around at a million miles and hour and firing off rivets is 10/10, as does quickly forcing your way through tighter levels with the shotgun. there's definitely a bit of variance in how much i liked each weapon (hunting rifle and super shotgun felt way better than the crossbow, for example, but the latter still saw plenty of use), but i guess that's to be expected. and while not every level is a winner (most of the early ones are REALLY slow), there's a ton that i loved. whether it's picking off enemies from afar or juggling 5 different wendigos, dusk has a ton of great moments.

i didn't really have many issues with this one, other than getting used to the weird save menu (which is mostly just me being stupid) and how secrets are mostly just tiny ammo stashes and usually not worth the effort of seeking them out. also i didn't realize there was a weapon wheel until the last level of the game, nor did i realize that morale was your armor until just a minute ago. whoops! big dummy moments lol

definitely not the best shooter i've played, but not bad by any means. the little frog dudes are very scary though :(

ufo is fucking DOGSHIT dude. easily the worst gimmick they've ever added to touhou - having to take massive risks to gather ufos just to get bombs/lives feels absolutely terrible, especially when you have to juggle the ones that switch colors while you're already trying to avoid everything. nothing about this one feels fun.

on top of that, idk if its just me being a wuss but what the hell is up with some of these bosses? shou and byakuren were so absurdly frustrating that i wanted to light myself on fire - i've never had this much trouble with this franchise before. sure, there were a few that were satisfying difficulty-wise (murasa was very funny) but damn!!! this one didn't feel good to play or satisfying to improve in. i think i'd recommend literally any PC entry over this pile of shit. i'm very glad to finally be done with this one.