RitaMagazine
1988
this is the archetypal mario game for me. it's a good challenge, but it gives you tools to overcome the challenge [you can always say "fuck it" and use a p wing to just skip a level]. as a child i never made it past the ice world, but as an adult i've beat the game twice. i like how it's a stage play. i hate you giant fish.
what else can i say. it's mario. wahoo!
what else can i say. it's mario. wahoo!
not the strongest touhou game for me, but not the weakest either. mechanically, the gathering spirits mechanic is almost something and i don't mind how punishing it is to get hit when you consider the relative ease of the danmaku, but the requirement to obtain exponentially more life pieces to get extra lives feels really really bad, as does having optimal resource collection be connected to smart use of the trance meter.
that being said, the music here is some of the strongest in touhou imo (faves include Legend of the Great Gods, Shoutoku Legend~ True Administrator, Let’s Live in a Lovely Cemetery and Old Yuanxian), and there are so many great girls here (Miko, Seiga Kaku, Yoshika Miyako, etc). there are some especially fun spell cards as well, such as Saint Girl "Oomonoimi's Banquet", Hermit Sign "Taoist of the Land of the Rising Sun", and Path Sign "Tao Fetal Movement".
that being said, the music here is some of the strongest in touhou imo (faves include Legend of the Great Gods, Shoutoku Legend~ True Administrator, Let’s Live in a Lovely Cemetery and Old Yuanxian), and there are so many great girls here (Miko, Seiga Kaku, Yoshika Miyako, etc). there are some especially fun spell cards as well, such as Saint Girl "Oomonoimi's Banquet", Hermit Sign "Taoist of the Land of the Rising Sun", and Path Sign "Tao Fetal Movement".
2012
I found it pretty clunky and disappointing, but there's some good horror here if it's your vibe.
2004
It means a lot to me. Nothing I could say could compare to the experience of playing it for yourself.
I don't think it's a horror game. To me, it's a tender-hearted, beautiful game about loneliness and alienation. In all the emptiness, you can put whatever you want there. It's a work of art.
I don't think it's a horror game. To me, it's a tender-hearted, beautiful game about loneliness and alienation. In all the emptiness, you can put whatever you want there. It's a work of art.
Touhou 12: Undefined Fantastic Object has as its strengths what I love most about Touhou: intense treat collection and hard danmaku, and it's my personal favorite Touhou game. the crowd boos, throws tomatoes, a comically large crook appears from offstage to drag me off wait!!! no!! let me finish!!
I will start by saying that the difficulty level is pretty high, the resources that it gives you can frustrating to obtain and the danmaku is among the most difficult in the series imo (like, Kogasa are you kidding me with Monster Sign "A Forgotten Umbrella's Night Train"?? you're a stage 2 boss!) so I wouldn't recommend it to beginners of the series. But if you know your way around a Touhou game (or a shmup in general) you shouldn't let the difficulty intimidate you.
That being said, I love the UFO mechanic, you have a wide variety of shot types to choose from according to your preference, and mechanically it feels responsive and comfortable to maneuver. The UFO mechanic keeps the stages feeling fresh and engaging, contributes to a sense of replayability, and rewards you for skill and courage. It also gives you a great deal of flexibility and agency in stage routing according to whatever resources you might need at the time. And UFO does really throw resources at you, as long as you play with focus, restraint and courage. Honestly, nothing feels as invigorating as collecting the UFOs just right and getting those screen clears and all those sweet, sweet treats. To me, the gameplay is just the right amount of punishing (imo it could even be more punishing).
Music-wise they aren't all winners, but there's some excellent tracks here. Personal favorites include "Captain Murasa", "The Tiger-Patterned Bishamonten" and "Interdimensional Voyage of a Ghostly Passenger Ship". Girls-wise there's some great designs all around and every single boss fight keeps you on your toes (I always say that dying to Nazrin is just burning off bad karma). I also enjoy the overall flavor and the Buddhism of it all. Magic "Mystic Fragrance of a Makai Butterfly" is one of my favorite spell cards to do and it's very beautiful.
You can also really feel the Buddhist theming through the gameplay. For example, attachment (trying to collect the slippery goddamn ufos) leads to suffering (running right into a bullet). And then you have the impermanence of all phenomena (the goddamn ufo changed color right before i grabbed it).
The Buddha himself once said that bombing for treats is just like sweeping sand off the banks of the Ganges river.
I will start by saying that the difficulty level is pretty high, the resources that it gives you can frustrating to obtain and the danmaku is among the most difficult in the series imo (like, Kogasa are you kidding me with Monster Sign "A Forgotten Umbrella's Night Train"?? you're a stage 2 boss!) so I wouldn't recommend it to beginners of the series. But if you know your way around a Touhou game (or a shmup in general) you shouldn't let the difficulty intimidate you.
That being said, I love the UFO mechanic, you have a wide variety of shot types to choose from according to your preference, and mechanically it feels responsive and comfortable to maneuver. The UFO mechanic keeps the stages feeling fresh and engaging, contributes to a sense of replayability, and rewards you for skill and courage. It also gives you a great deal of flexibility and agency in stage routing according to whatever resources you might need at the time. And UFO does really throw resources at you, as long as you play with focus, restraint and courage. Honestly, nothing feels as invigorating as collecting the UFOs just right and getting those screen clears and all those sweet, sweet treats. To me, the gameplay is just the right amount of punishing (imo it could even be more punishing).
Music-wise they aren't all winners, but there's some excellent tracks here. Personal favorites include "Captain Murasa", "The Tiger-Patterned Bishamonten" and "Interdimensional Voyage of a Ghostly Passenger Ship". Girls-wise there's some great designs all around and every single boss fight keeps you on your toes (I always say that dying to Nazrin is just burning off bad karma). I also enjoy the overall flavor and the Buddhism of it all. Magic "Mystic Fragrance of a Makai Butterfly" is one of my favorite spell cards to do and it's very beautiful.
You can also really feel the Buddhist theming through the gameplay. For example, attachment (trying to collect the slippery goddamn ufos) leads to suffering (running right into a bullet). And then you have the impermanence of all phenomena (the goddamn ufo changed color right before i grabbed it).
The Buddha himself once said that bombing for treats is just like sweeping sand off the banks of the Ganges river.
2018
probably the archetypal 3-star game. it can be a lot of fun with the right group and you can give them little hats :)
incidentally i believe that among us is probably the only property right now that is absolutely ripe for a "babies" remake like muppet babies or baby loony toons. amongus babies cartoon.
incidentally i believe that among us is probably the only property right now that is absolutely ripe for a "babies" remake like muppet babies or baby loony toons. amongus babies cartoon.
TBD
I was already not very good at tetris but at least with bastet i can blame the game instead of my own ineptitude
2019
i honestly don't see the appeal at all.
genuinely one of the most perplexing and frustrating video game experiences i had as a young child playing the gba