Chuhou Joutai

Cute game! Just like you!

The Chris-Chan of STG's.

Oh boy, what a game it is. In my first run through, I found myself wheezing at just how... Eccentric the game really was. The artstyle, for one, looks like if you commissioned a local middle school for every design in your game. The writing too, is frankly awful. No seriously, it reads like an issue of Sonichu more than any Touhou game I've ever played. With this, a plot that doesn't exactly know if it wants to be a parody of. Although, the gameplay itself was decent, and in a vacuum, would be a fine place to start if any Touhou games seem too intimidating. I will however, note that the amount of health available make some fights feel rather cheap to win, especially the fight against Fred Fawkes, which I found legitimately challenging, but while in a Touhou game it would've meant having to spend a precious continue, the resources available allowed me to brute-force my way through the boss. The soundtrack, however, is probably the saving grace to anyone who is looking for a serious danmaku experience, with a catchy main theme and some parts of the OST I came coming back to, the game's soundtrack became a beacon of light into any of what the game let down. If only Driller was a full-…

[h1]First Look[/h1] On first appearance, I was adamant to play this game. The arcade style sold it for me, and because I'm a fan of Drillimation's music, it added to the recommendation of playing it. [h1]Gameplay[/h1] Similar to Touhou, the game is a bullet hell shooter that utilises the same mechanics from Touhou. However, there are some deviations to the game that gives it a unique experience. One addition, is the advent of a health meter in game. Instead of one hit deaths, your character can take a good amount of bullets before they get KOed. While this adds to the uniqueness of the game, it dumbs down the difficulty heavily, as health can be replenished with powerups in game. Another addition that adds to the unique aspect is the addition of a two-player co-op mode, which is unheard of in shooter games of this genre. This game mode adds replayability and more fun to the game when you play along with a second player. The game's bullet patterns are unique and have a lot of variety, ranging from generic, to colourful, to shapely, to disorderly and to familiar ones, With this, it's certain you won't get bored of this game's 8 stages. One gripe however, is that Stage 7 and 8'…

This Touhou AU style game is a good start up to see the story and learn about the characters. This game has a feature to have a health system that gave me the motivation to get to the end of the game on Lunatic mode. The levels are lengthy and the in jokes and memes come at the right time.

It's really easy to dunk on Chuhou Joutai: the character art is contorted and disproportionate, the dialogue is meandering and full of lame references, the gameplay is consistently easy and bosses can be cheesed by the sheer amount of hitpoints you are given. That being said, once I sat down and played through it I actually started liking it? Like it's not on the same level as most other, better-regarded shmups (like the Touhou games it strives to be), but it's a fun experience. The core engine is not bad in my opinion, and the game itself plays fine. I also like the soundtrack, and the option to change the "sound chip" the game uses is neat. What I think Chuhou Joutai suffers from is A. a lack of play-testing and B. relying on a solo developer for aspects which they do not excel at. This results in a game which takes shortcuts in the wrong places and turns into a strange product that I think only the creator can fully understand. That being said, I've shown this to several groups of friends who have really enjoyed watching me play it, so if you want a fun time, go get Chuhou Joutai.