TLDR- It's so INCREDILBLY difficult but there's a lot to enjoy here.

Undefined Fantastic Object is truly a turning point in the series. This is the first step the series took into solidifying and becoming it's own weird self that it is today. This game was the first to take real, important risks in the series and it pays off. I had said before that Subterranean Animism was weird, but that was in more of an awkward fashion, this game is weird in the facet that it really tested what this series could become, pushing new mechanics, new patterns, new relationships, new main characters, everything. This game was willing to take risks and step out of the wheelhouse that the series had never dared to do before, making each character even more individualized and pushed what you could call a bullet hell.

Firstly, there are 3 main characters in this game, shaking off the phase of settling into the second windows generation of only having Reimu and Marisa, as this game adds Sanae, who sticks around. The two most important facets of this game's development, individualization and quirkiness are shown here. Each character has two shot types which are vastly different from each other; thankfully this game does not have the problem of some of the types feeling extremely weak in comparison to the others (only Marisa B sorrrrrrta feels this way). Compare this to SA, for if you were trying to Lunatic 1CC (which I have been for every game) it was Reimu A or bust. In UFO, there are arguably 3 shot types that you can make work to 1CC. This is a welcome change and can give the player more freedom to choose something more akin to how they like to play. These shot types individually though, are all pretty quirky and unique, Reimu now has an extremely interesting bomb on A, which felt wrong for her having that powerful of a bomb at first. Sanae is the star in this aspect, both of her shot types utilizing the Moriya gods and making her shots feel super unique and both are fun to use. Unfortunately Marisa normally gets the short end of the stick in shot types in this series (except like DDC) and doesn't have much interesting in her kit. Also the bad continue system is back from SA, this system makes your knowledge of the game extremely front heavy, which personally I don't like but alas. The sheer amount of unique and viable options you have in this game show the effort put into the characterization of all of the main cast and are extremely appreciated.

This game has the main mechanic of UFOs, which if collected in a certain order spawn survival tools or score, the entire soul of the game revolves around this mechanic, good and bad. For the good, it is probably the most unique mechanic in the series, even going on to be reused (albeit modified) in WBaWC. The constant mini game the player has to keep track of during the normal Touhou gameplay makes playing this game extremely unique, and the best mechanic in the series. The mechanic is dynamic in you can "order what you need" for the situation. Got a tough pattern ahead? Make a few green UFOs and spam your way through it. Need to keep the run alive? Go for some reds. The sheer fluidity of the mechanic leads to some great on the spot decision making that really takes the front seat of this game gameplay wise, it is overall fantastic. The game will expect you to abuse the UFOs though, they are the most abusable mechanic in the series so the game will throw some absolute garbage patterns and stage segments that require you to be on it UFO wise to keep up. One problem I do have with the mechanic however, is having to memorize the spawn locations of each UFO and where it drops. You end up forming a rather samey route for the first 2 or 3 stages and just stick to that. Memorization of spawns isn't a horrible thing for an overall 30 minute game, and you pick it up pretty quick, but I have feeling there's a slightly better alternative in there somewhere. The game demanding you playing this new sort of constant mini game makes it feel quirky too, you feel like you're playing Undefined Fantastic Object more than you are playing a Touhou game.

I said before that SA was my pick for hardest Touhou, that was before I put 67 hours into getting one 1CC on Lunatic. This game is exhaustingly difficult, to the point where I dreaded grinding it at points. You will memorize every spawn by the time this game is done with and be forced to make snap decisions to keep your runs alive. Stage by stage, the difficulty curves in every which way with stage 3 being extremely hard and stage 4 and 6 being the easier ones in the game, it's a mess of balance frankly. All bosses do get unique bullets that only they use themselves which does add to the individualization of bosses that was obviously a focus of this game.

Going to the Extra, it feels pretty quirky and out there, it feels like pure chaos caused by Nue, being expressed through the patterns of the stage enemies, Kogasa randomly showing up, the music, Nue's patterns herself, it's honestly a great time but isn't stand out enough to be up in talks of best Extra's like SA's or LoLK's.

With all of that, this game does feel relatively foreign to other installments in the series, it's still obviously a Touhou game, but it makes you exist inside its own universe, you're playing a rather familiar concept under it's' domain, its rules. The gameplay is quirky because you rarely use normal dodging techniques in this game, tried and true streaming is hardly present in this game's stage sections and it reiterates that feeling of foreign familiarity.

The environments of this game do not disappoint either, going from the, bluntly said, lackluster environments of SA to the sprawling skies of UFO is an amazing step up. The shadow of the ship being cast over you when you go into Nazrin's first non on stage 1 shows the effort put forth into making storytelling part of the stage and environments in this installment. Boarding a ship and then going to another dimension, one that is familiar and eerie to fans of the series is a genuinely unique and interesting progression of environments and this game excels at that. Leading up to Hokkai, one of the most beautiful areas in the series where you find a final boss you can sympathize with ties the environment being essential to this game perfectly.

The plot of this game feels uniquely its own too. While SA felt like it relied heavily on MoF and was practically MoF 2 story wise, this game uses SA as a stepping stone to kick it's plot into gear, but hold its own story wise and is self contained outside of the starting conditions which makes it feel more special. Byakuren is also a very convincing villain who can easily be sympathized with which is also a bonus.

Music-wise, this game is solid too, with Emotional Skyscraper, Heian Alein, Kogasa's theme, Fires of Hokkai being some personal favorites. All themes are fitting and add even more atmosphere.

In all this game marches to the beat of its own drum, and it does that to creating the most unique game in the series, and one of the better installments in the franchise.

Touhou, by and large, is something im not a huge fan of. Its a series of wildly varying quality that suffers from sameyness, a terrible fanbase and some general gameplay issues that pervade from game to game.

Most notably of these, Touhou stages are shit. The games are always defined by their fantastic boss battles, but the other half of the game is always, always, forgettable and nothing special. And this is where UFO really shines.

UFO's key is in its eponymous system, where collecting
3 UFO items of the same colour or of all different items spawn a UFO, a docile enemy that sucks up drops, and when it's sucked up enough and killed, drops additional items such as life fragments, bombs, or a shittonne of score. More importantly than this, on death, they cancel all enemy bullets, which is absolutely massive. It is frankly, a Genius system, mostly because of how it interacts with the existing Touhou item drop formula, how it encourages both clever stage routing and on-the fly adaptation, and encourages the player to be far more active in movement as UFO items are so important to both scoring and survival, and therefore it rewards weaving through bullets and take risks to make the most out of it. It is exactly the sort of thing Touhou stages need, and it turns the worst part of the EOSD-onwards Touhous into the best part.

Well, maybe. I think it's fair to say UFO also has incredibly rock solid bosses. Touhou never really falters on the bosses, and whilst I can hardly call myself an authority on them, they're great here, particularly Stage 6's boss.

The music is also just lovely. ZUN spices this one up a bit more than the other Post-EOSD games i've played, with the latter stages including some more varied instrumentation and styling to his traditional faire, which really works well. Stage 4 and the Stage 6 boss track are clear standouts for me and just make the game that little bit more special.

It's still a Windows Touhou, so the art is bad, it looks very similar to other games from the time, and frankly you have to jump through some hoops to get it in english and you're stuck with awkward compatibility and resolutions going up to the mighty 1280x960. Fuck you if you want it fullscreen, by the way.

But yeah, ZUN did it. This is by far the best Touhou i've played and just a top-tier STG in general. A fantastic gimmick accompanied by a Touhou game of high quality in the first place. As far as I'm concerned, this is his Magnum Opus.

I hope the money I unneccessarily spent on the Steam version of this game gets ZUN a nice beer. I almost forgive him for Violet Detector.