Touhou Meijinka ~ Song of Divine Tempest

(UPDATE: This review has been edited to correct some factual inaccuracies. I apologize for any accidental misinformation.) This is a typical Touhou fan game that features a largely original cast and a playstyle that attempts to emulate a console re-release of an arcade title, which is a unique approach for a Touhou game. The developers did a good job imitating this type of format; the title screen allows you to change settings and listen to the OST in the music room (complete with artist commentary like an official touhou game), but when you press start you're sent into a simulation of an arcade experience complete with an attract mode and the ability to insert coins as if you're in MAME. There's even an intro cutscene that tells the story, something ZUN's own games never do (though lately the in-game manuals tell all the story) This works well, but I feel there's a good bit of QoL missing from this structure: The thing that makes modern releases of arcade titles special are the options given. If you go to the options screen you're given only music/sfw selection (which is displayed as a vertial list of integers to choose from), fullscreen toggle, language select (only EN/JP), the…

Yeah, the dialogue is a bit odd. I find it hilarious, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't meant to be. Would Reimu ever call anyone a heretic? Well, this Reimu does. Also, I feel like I'm looking at Deviantart OC's with a lot of these characters. I can see why people think this game is weird but the whole thing is totally charming to me. The gameplay is completely solid, and if you use their special health bar mode it's incredibly easy to beat. I could recommend this to people who are casual about the bullet hell genre. I enjoy the retro aesthetic. A couple of the levels even have a bit of a PC98 feel to them. The soundtrack is basically perfect in my eyes. There's also a "Fork on GitHub" option on the main menu. Most devs would put a Discord link. I like this better.

Hitboxes are broken

A quite fun fangame. This looks like an unpolished PC-98 Touhou game, maybe a beta. Some fairies attacks really needs work (Jane's too). Beat it with continues, and I have to say that Reimu was completely busted, maybe even too much? Except the last stage I could defeat the minor enemies even before they could throw danmakus at me for the most part. + I have no idea if its true, but I found out that Reimu's hitbox is SLIGHTLY bigger than normal, like some tiny pixels in front of her get hit before the projectile hits your body which made me lose against the Stage 6 boss because she throws A LOT against you. The movement is way too slow, I searched for a way to move faster but couldn't find it. Also, bombs are useless because they make you lose power, which is a terrible choice. It makes me rather lose a life than trying to launch a bomb because I lose power which you need to break the game. Anyway, I can see potential in this demo and even found it kind of adorable in a way. This is a nice foundation.

peak

dis ♥♥♥♥ boring damnn