Touhou Bunkachou ～ Shoot the Bullet.

this game made me consider bringing a photography camera to a gunfight 9/10 because alice's spellcards are straight up insufferable

As much as I love the mainline games, you do need to invest time into them to beat. Figuring out the enemy spell cards, stage patterns, resource management, etc. can be a bit too much some days. Sometimes you just want to challenge your dodging skills, without the meta level strats. This game's the perfect pick for that! :D You choose the spell cards you try to beat, and can't bomb your way out of. Better yet, the addition of needing to take pictures of the boss is SOOOO COOL! I need to push forward, and think wisely where and how to take the photos. And since these spin-offs are places for ZUN to also show off his more experimental ideas, you get quite a fun blend of novel mini-experiences! Hate some spell card? SKIP IT! Love the level structure for giving multiple ways to progress - either in enough spell captures from the prior stage or accumulating enough total captures from all stages. Really makes me feel challenged to just try a [i]liiiiiittle bit more![/i] All in all, this is a very condensed version of the mainline shmup games. Still loads of fun, with its own neat twists to make it a unique experience! And you get a smaller, but still banger music album on top. Chef…

This game is such a fun, interesting departure from the main Touhou games. It keeps the dodging and the intimidating danmaku, but you have to play more aggressively, staying close to the boss while slowing to charge your camera to get the perfect shot. This game is tough though. Even by Touhou standards. Since each level is just a single spell card (for the most part), it's a lot more focused and difficult to dodge. It's really really rewarding when you get a good shot though.

Very interesting (and underrated) entry in the Touhou Project official games! The game is about Aya taking photos of Gensokyo's residents rather than about solving an incident. As such it ditches the classic structure of the usual touhou games in favor of something totally different. You basically face 1 spellcard per level that you need to take pictures of. You have no life and no bombs so you can only take 1 hit before you need to retry. But you have your camera that can erase bullets! This formula is great as it allows ZUN to create unique spellcards that could never be used in mainline games and emphasizes on the more puzzle-solving aspect of defeating a spellcard (as you can't just bomb them). The way the game is built with you only being able to take 1 hit but you can retry the spellcard with no punishment whatsoever for failing makes the experience way less stressful than every mainline touhou games. I'm currently on stage 6-1 which is most likely not very far in the game but I've been having a lot of fun experimenting with the spellcards and discovering my own solutions (tho I had to look up some on YouTube). Keep in mind that this game is harder than mainline entries…

I really like this game and how it uses the gameplay mechanics in a new context. It still feels very fresh and unique, and I would love to see a new game like this.

good game. havent played in years, but still peak.