Alright, I've played around with every character, read up the story for each part and I think I'm ready to say my impressions.
I think, Marisa B bomb abuse aside, this has the makings of a very solid touhou game and could be a high tier one, depending on the later stages. The music is good most of the time and great occasionally so far, the gameplay is pretty tight and enjoyable, and the bosses and their patterns are pretty fun and challenging.
(All of the below are simply my own opinion, based off of my own experiences)
Reimu A: Decent shot type. The focused mode with the auto-homing stick is pretty neat and adds an extra bit of damage to bosses and a good chunk of damage to stage mobs. Unfocused charms are slow but pretty reliable. The bomb is kinda...eh.
Reimu B: Narrow range, but simple. Unfocused seems the same, focused are persuasion needles. I personally don't mind the narrow range and the damage they do is good enough for me. Awesome bomb, you can't beat Fantasy Seal or Heaven, whichever it is.
Marisa A: Love it. Flamethrower has a good range and does good damage. Unfocused lasers go pew pew. Dark Spark is amazing.
Marisa B: (Still) Love it. AoE bombs are a good thing and splash damage never hurts for stage enemies. Not as great for bosses, but eh, whatever. More lasers pew pew. Her bomb is broken, but it's still really a neat concept, like a modified Reimu B bomb from SA to collect power items instead of deal additional damage.
Sakuya A: The best shot type. Why is that? Unfocused damage is kinda blah, but the focused attack shines. Homing knives that slow the damage AND explode for splash damage? Yes please. SA Marisa C bomb cannot be beat, short term invincibility, auto-collection AND you can survive a hit (or get 3 bomb pieces back)? Yes please, it's nearly as broken as Marisa B.
Sakuya B: Eh...doesn't do it for me. The Unfocused damage is still blah and I'm not feeling any power behind the focused attack. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. Bomb is ok (short-term invincibility, an auto-collect and a screen clear) but just feels like a subpar shot type.
Stage 1: Music is great (reminds me of Bad Apple a bit) and the pacing of the stage is fine. Cirno as the S1 midboss pleases me and it's totally in character for her spellcard to just be an amped version of her non-card. Mermaid boss (I'll learn her name eventually) was alright, her 2 non-cards and first spellcard didn't do much for me but her last spellcard is really fun, if a bit easy.
Stage 2: Stage themes are 2 for 2. Once again, the pacing of the stage is good, although it feels a bit easy, even on Lunatic. Sekibsnki's midboss appearance is hit and miss, the non-card is challenging and fun but her spellcard is very, very easy. What's up with that, S1 midboss cards being easier than the S2 midboss cards? Her boss fight is hella enjoyable though. I like the evolution of her non-cards and her spellcards have some nice gimmicks, although the difficulty between them is uneven. Her first card's trick is easy to figure out and capture, her second card isn't much harder, but it's tricky at times to deal damage, and her third is just right.
Stage 3: Oh baby, the best theme yet. This is what a Stage 3 should be, a good level of challenge and holy beep moments but nothing too overboard. There's a decent variety in the enemy types in this stage and a lot of risk vs reward opportunities. Definitely the best stage of the three. The music timings are spot on too, when Kagerou makes her appearance as a midboss and the chorus hits and just...damn. Speaking of the wolfgirl, she's hard. Like, she reminds me of Keine and the buttkicking I usually get from her. She doesn't have an easy spellcard in her deck and while everything of hers is pretty straight forward, non-cards included, she's just tough (ok, non-cards 2 and 3 are very learnable). Maybe I'm out of position on her spellcards but damn, she owns me.
Finally, the plot. I'm not talking about the plot at this time, I'll just join whatever conversation is happening (although it *is* quite interesting to see the differences in each character's behavior with and without their weapon...).