As any touhou game, it is amazing for me. (especially knowing da lore) But THIS one? THIS is special. It is a player v player, split screen duels. This makes touhou 19 (aka this game) more on the easier side.
Especially because unlike your standard touhou game no matter how many retries you do during story mode you will always get the good ending (there are no bad endings), which in total are....a lot of em....like...19...i think
AND SUIKA MAKES AN APPEARENCE WHICH NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE IN A MAIN-LINE TOUHOU GAME.
It is a spiritual sequel to touhou 9, Phantasmagoria of Flower View (which itself is a spiritual succesor to Phantasmagoria of Dim Dream for the PC-98, or touhou 3). Yumemi pls come back my christian cross ahh university professor wahhhh-
What do I mean by 'spiritual succesor'? All of the above are your usual touhou shmup, but with a twist! In this game, there are 19 (you heard that right) playable characters! And considering that there are 6 'stages' (stages dont exist, you fight bosses and thats it since this is a player v player touhou game, the newest of the three in total), there are...let me check my notes...
114 stages. Like WHAT?
Of course, most locations are re-used, but still. That is to be expected
The music of this game is as always, top notch (thank you, Hakurei Kannushi!). I hope that the beer tasted wonderful, because this is a wonderful game!
STOP SCROLLING SPOILERS AHEAD ABOUT THE NEW TOUHOUS
Many characters return. You really have to play touhou 17 first(and 17.5 for that matter) and then this game, as the matriarchs of hell are the main center of the story, each trying to conquer the surface, that being Gensokyou.
That is because, after Chimata, the god of markets's defeat (from touhou 18) at the hands of the heroine, all land which was previously owned in Gensokyou (ALL of it), has been relinquished of its ownership. Basically, its up for grabs! And thats why the three families of hell wish to conquer the surface, that being Gensokyou.
Yachie, with her strategic planning. The Prince's horse (i will forever associate Saki with Miko lmfao sorry Saki), with her incredible, un-comparible strenght (..she has less 'smarts' due to this), and finally Yuuma..who is...Yuuma alright. I like her.
Everyone is involved in their own way, each of their stories being unique, with most touhous ending up in hell as the last stage. I wont go too in debt, but I know everyone's stories (Well, i have a good picture of them anyway)
I love the new characters. Zanmu, the human who went to hell, freaking CONQUERED it (somehow), became a human-oni, AND founded former hell? (like, huhhhh?? i was shocked when i first heard it)
She is a big shot huh. Also, Zanmu resolves the incident, not Reimu, the protagonist of Touhou Project. She battles all 3 matriarchs and defeats them.
Chiyari reminds me of Chiyuri from the PC-98 era (only name wise!)
She doesn't go outside, and is confused with a chupacabra, even tho she is a Tenkajin (lol), because both specialise with blood. Chupacabras are feared across gensokyou, so her being called one should mean respect, but oh well. At least she is friends with both Orin AND YUUMA MY GOAT! (literally..my...goat. She is..well..you get it. A goat with a COMICALLY LARGE SPOON! )
Also Yuuma literally has a Spork. A spoon that extends like a fork. How freaking cool is that?
Enoko is very interesting. She watched marisa run away (when marisa herself was very young) from her parents house, many years ago. New marisa lore is always a plus for me. Besides her design is freaking awesome, having bear traps on her hands and neck! She also is supposed to represent Cerberus, the being with 3 heads in greek mythology I believe.
Son BITENNN! THE ONE WHO THINKS SHE IS SON GOKU! HECK YEA MONKEEEEEEE- I love her. She used to be a regular monkey but she ate human monks (i recall), and thus she became a youkai.
Hisami is a freaky woman, she would do anything for Zanmu. She even disobeys her just to get punished by Zanmu, but as always, it was always 'a part of zanmu's plan', as in Zanmu predicts everything, but on that note, only Reimu and Hisami are the ones who Zanmu cannot predict. Because hisami wishes to be punished on purpose, and because Reimu's intuition is a part of her god-given, natural talents as the shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine. My goat!
And i guess SuIka is also a new touhou in this game but she has existed ever since touhou 7.5 , but its her first appearence in a mainline game! (we dont count SA. I mean she appears in SA but she has no portrait so..cmon) .Interestingly oni's are rare in Gensokyou, but Zanmu has been called a 'true oni' by Suika. Oni never lie (this is canon information), so hearing that from Suika, who literally shattered the moon (the heavens/Heaven to be precise, because we all know that the moon in the sky is an empty illusion {Without the lunar capital visible or anything}, set up by the lunarians so that nobody from Earth can watch them..right), is a veryyyy big deal.
Yuuma Toutetsu...is also a touhou that already appeared in another game, but a spin off one (17.5). She is the matriarch of the Gouyoku Alliance (the name of touhou 17.5), and she is freaking awesome! In one VS text, suika is actually afraid of Yuuma. As we all should know (We are touhous fans we read all the official 7 mangas and lore books and danmaku books and Merry and renko CD's. .yes?), Suika's gourd is a legendary item, and can produce INFINITE sake.
She is afraid that Yuuma would contain the infinity, and drink all of the sake, lmfao. I guess it IS possible, i just never thought about it.
Oh and everytime i mention 'matriarch', its hell related aight? Hell families...
Honestly i could rant so MUCH about this game, i love it. That's the case with touhou games for me, but this one i love a lot more than usual
I love the fact that more touhous return. ORINNNN, RAN, RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YESSSSSSS (oh and nazrin too i guess, and the matriarchs of Hell too)
Oh and the Prince's horse too which just so happens to be the matriarch of the Keiga family (hell)
I love this game so much.
Oh and there is even an in-canon reference to the PC-98 era! In versus mode, if u fight against Yachie as reimu and win, reimu mentions how yachie resembles a turtle.... and she says something along the lines of'a turtle flying..ugh..this brings back distant memories'. GENJI REFERENCE IN WINDOWS ERA HECK YEA! (ZUN already said that Genji is retired and is living in the pond at the back of the hakurei shrine but still im so HAPPY FOR ANY PC-98 CONTENT!)
I love this game. Like what? The innocent and cheerful Komaino, Aunn, outsmarts THE Yachie? THE Matriarch of the Kiketsu family herself who is really smart..? LMFAO. Details like these make me ecstatic, and uncharacteristically happy.
This is better than drugs. I will replay it one day
