SA (Normal) or EoSD (Hard)

[Simon150999]

So, i have completed EoSD, PCB, IN and MoF.
Should I beat subterranean animism or move onto Hard for the other games since it is hard as shit?

[Kimidori]

If your goal is beating SA on normal then I don't see much point in going for EoSD hard.

[Simon150999]

I wanted to know what to aim for first, what is easiest.

[redlakitu]

You might want to go for the other games. I personally have beaten both PCB and IN on Hard a long time ago, while I still haven't cleared SA on Normal (somehow). EoSD Hard feels a bit easier than SA Normal as well. But the topic of relative difficulty of Touhou games is a highly subjective one anyway. Here's a better argument: you probably don't want your progress to be blocked by a single mode of a single game. Trying various Hard modes before clearing all the Normal modes is never a bad idea. Another good idea is going for score in something you've already cleared.

[Szayelaporro Granz]

You might want to go for the other games. I personally have beaten both PCB and IN on Hard a long time ago, while I still haven't cleared SA on Normal (somehow). EoSD Hard feels a bit easier than SA Normal as well. But the topic of relative difficulty of Touhou games is a highly subjective one anyway. Here's a better argument: you probably don't want your progress to be blocked by a single mode of a single game. Trying various Hard modes before clearing all the Normal modes is never a bad idea. Another good idea is going for score in something you've already cleared.

For a second, I thought you're my clone or something

OP's question is also my question. What I'm currently doing is following my "mood". If you don't feel like playing SA at all (which is my current state thanks to Orin), then it's better to try EoSD Hard.

[Simon150999]

You might want to go for the other games. I personally have beaten both PCB and IN on Hard a long time ago, while I still haven't cleared SA on Normal (somehow). EoSD Hard feels a bit easier than SA Normal as well. But the topic of relative difficulty of Touhou games is a highly subjective one anyway. Here's a better argument: you probably don't want your progress to be blocked by a single mode of a single game. Trying various Hard modes before clearing all the Normal modes is never a bad idea. Another good idea is going for score in something you've already cleared.

I am almost able to beat EoSD on hard, always finds myself having only 1 or 2 lives when i face Remilia though.

[Andrew]

I wanted to know what to aim for first, what is easiest.

In that case, you could also try 1ccing some of the other games on Normal. TD, DDC and UFO on Normal are all easier than SA, and TD in particular is one of the easiest games in the series. PoFV is easier than SA as well, but being a vs shmup, it's quite a bit different from the other games. You could also try clearing Extras. Extra is generally between Normal and Hard difficulty in most games. PCB and MoF Extra are probably good places to start if you go for that. Just keep in mind that Extra stages are generally more about figuring out tricks than raw dodging. So they might overwhelm you at first, but get easier with practice.

[redlakitu]

I am almost able to beat EoSD on hard, always finds myself having only 1 or 2 lives when i face Remilia though.

This doesn't sound too bad. I mostly use ReimuA and her bomb is so powerful in this game that with this amount of resources you can probably trivialize almost everything Remilia has by bombing at the right moment, then capture Scarlet Gensokyo (the Hard version is much easier than Red Magic).

[Karisa]

SA and EoSD involve pretty different gameplay styles for first 1ccs, in my experience.

SA gives you more bombs and lives, and has the graze-autocollect that can help you recover power if used well, so memorization helps more with SA. Meanwhile, EoSD is more about random dodging-- memorization helps too, particularly in stage 4, but planning your bombs isn't as effective in my experience (due to fewer resources, the rank system where patterns get easier if you've recently died, and bosses' more random movement meaning patterns take a more variable amount of time).

[Jirachi]

SA is memorization.

EoSD is dodging.

[Simon150999]

In that case, you could also try 1ccing some of the other games on Normal. TD, DDC and UFO on Normal are all easier than SA, and TD in particular is one of the easiest games in the series. PoFV is easier than SA as well, but being a vs shmup, it's quite a bit different from the other games. You could also try clearing Extras. Extra is generally between Normal and Hard difficulty in most games. PCB and MoF Extra are probably good places to start if you go for that. Just keep in mind that Extra stages are generally more about figuring out tricks than raw dodging. So they might overwhelm you at first, but get easier with practice.

Thank you, will try it.