~Beyond the Border~ > Akyu's Arcade
[VLP] The Disappearing of Gensokyo - For Touhou, fandom is canon?
Gesh86:
New phantoms are rapidly introduced today. Among the newcomers of Episode 9 is a fuzzy, unshaven lady who works as a stunt-double for Cousin It and became the inventor of Hair Metal in her free time:
I'm thankful for Kagerou getting some more screentime. There was an appearance of her in Double Focus, but it was rather brief. I consider her a fresh, non-overused Touhou, compared to many from the older games.
What kind of loadout are we packing against such a savage beast?
Dowsing Rod 1, Quick Recharge Alpha and...
"Quick as Panther - Dash energy regenerates 25% faster" - The other dash enhancemener (Fast as Rabbit) enables you to dash more in quick succession. This one is very different in that it's more helpful in the long term, when you're only occasionally evading. It's hard to say which is definitively better.
Near each magic piece will be another lorebook, ignored in the video but given extra attention right here:
By coincidence, this textlog can be seen in the first screenshot of this forum post. It's located at Super Kagerou's niche and is about our respected wolfgirl. The way I understand it, a Loup-Garou like Kagerou is actually a wolf-like-youkai and not a human that turns into a werebeast. The full moon doesn't fundamentally transform her, it only makes her hairier than usual. Her vain demeanor is made even funnier to me because of this.
I also agree that Kagerou has a great dresscode. It's so mean how Touhou 14's heroines make fun of it only due to the low combat practicality.
Found on the swamp peninsula where the second magic piece is and it's about the mutant, edgelordly black fairies. From the mentioning of Patchouli and "the mistress", this must have been left by either Meiling or Sakuya. The "otherworldly guest" is definitely one of the phantoms and my guess is that it's who we meet at the 10-minute-mark.
This can be found right next to the stage's final Sinsack, the one that must have been placed more as a joke. Are the residents of the Scarlet Devil Mansion really that isolationist and hostile? I would have expected them to only be so during the Scarlet Mist Incident when they had dirt to hide. I'm having the suspicion that whoever left this one grossly exaggerates and dramatizes, like they want the place to fit into a campfire horror-story.
Gesh86:
Welcome to Neet's most despised level (the other Let's Play I mentioned near the end is indeed his). If I was ever afraid there were too many similarities between our two series, Episode 10 of mine could not be more of a deviation:
In the early times of this playthrough, we've had so few components to our configuration, it sometimes barely felt worth posting it. With four rows now, it's finally starting to become sensible:
Dowsing Rod 1, Quick Charge Beta, Fast as Rabbit and...
"Amplify Damage - Damage increased by 10%" - A great tool for when you want to defeat enemies just a little quicker and save time on getting through those levels. There are no other perks that so directly increase your dealt damage and it's therefore much appreciated. Nonetheless, it may not always be the best choice for slot nr. 4.
On to text-reading: There are four logbooks scattered on and around Misty Lake, and not a single one of them is specifically about Wakasagihime. Shall we still take a look at them? Alright, let's do it:
The very first is on its very own island that you get to by picking the northern/eastern frog instead of the southern/western one when given the choice. It presents us some general information on Misty Lake. It's indeed true that it's not a very big lake, smaller than the Gensokyans are led to believe. Is perhaps some of the Scarlet Devil Mansion's space distorting magic affecting it as well?
This piece of trivia is found on the island you need the tentacle's whipping to reach. Sakuya is a blessing for the Scarlet Devil household, as she is tolerated around human communities. No remark on her newly discovered impostor, though.
Right next to the second magic piece will you find this diary snippet. I do like the idea that the SDM's personell is lazy and inefficient and that Remilia only keeps them so that she can feel like a noble with a court of servants and underlings.
This text is but a few steps away from the three black fairies' guardpost. Unless you've taken them out, any attempt to read this will end in your dismembering. If it wasn't obvious enough, stage 10's gimmick is spelled out to you here: These enemies are meant to be too much to handle (for the average player). This "Creator" is of course the head programer of MyACG Studio. How meta! Man, what a loser this dude must be, having nothing better to do than making a digital entertainment product that is worth our time and money...
I've got one more addendum to make: In another run through this level born out of curiosity, I've found out that the three black fairies do not spawn if you're coming from the level's checkpoint after dying once. I was very surprised and I'm pretty sure this wasn't the case in the early days of the game and instead something that might have been patched in to streamline obtaining the third magic piece. So if you don't have the patience to defeat them directly or you don't want to utilize Koishi, there may be another way for you. The video was almost finished when I learned of this, so that's why there's no other mention of it.
One last thing I have to add: The next episode will come out in January. There's an idea for a one-video side project that came to me and I'm really eager to squeeze it in between.
Gesh86:
Told you I'll be back, and so is this series. Episode 11 covers a very tough stage, the bane of me, if you want. At least it gives us a blonde Tsundere in return:
Today calls for a somewhat more defensive configuration:
Dowsing Rod 1, Quick Recharge Beta, Fast as Rabbit and...
"Unbreakable - Increases maximum shield to 100" - Bruce Willis finds a way into this Let's Play yet again. I think the base value of your shield is 75, so the increase to 100 makes a substantial difference in your durability. The shield bar fills up by a margin as soon as you switch it from off to on at Byakuren. This perk is particularly valuable against sudden damage spikes, which are by no means a rarity.
Four logbooks can be found in the Scarlet Devil Mansion and Black Sakuya is the author of the first three. Here we go:
Found in the room of the first magic piece. Against all what you would expect, the phony maid is welcome at Remilia's court and has had contact with the real Sakuya and Meiling. Speaking of Meiling, this is the confirmation that we will not find a Black/White/Grey Meiling anytime soon, as Black Sakuya does not recognize the Chinese gatekeeper.
Next to the second magic piece in the southeastern corridor, we get more thoughts and impressions of the phantoms. In a sane state, White Tenshi seems to have quite a difficult, temperamental personality. Right now, she is but lost and affectionate. We can only imagine.
Everything up until now sounded so nice and pleasant, but in the room of the third magic piece (the incredibly tiny Vo?le Library) is where things turn sour for Black Sakuya. She apparently went berserk and had to be put down by Remilia. It was a heartbreaking act to commit to for the young mistress. The Remilia that Black Sakuya knows seems to be emotionally tougher than that.
Only a few steps away from the level's exit is a piece written by Aya, most likely. Remilia's duality of vampire and demon is often expressed by her supposedly being a subspecies of Oni. The power to control fate is often joked to be a "pseudo-power", as its intricacies are so difficult to understand that you wonder whether it's a hoax. Making up such lies would fit the spoiled brat that is Remilia.
Gesh86:
I've been playing Symphony of the Night and Rondo of Blood on my own time these last few days. In Episode 12, we have our own, arguably more lovable bloodsucker to deal with:
She can show us the reason why you shouldn't be listening to the developer's recommendation of playing the game on hard for your first time. This title is bearing its (vampire) fangs! What perk configuration are we using to keep them away from our veins?
Ranged Defense, Quick Charge Beta, Fast as Rabbit and Unbreakable. Remilia may have razor-sharp nails, but I've always felt it was her ranged attacks that I couldn't dodge consistently. If you continuously get caught in melee, it's your fundamental approach that must be somewhat off. Ranged Defense is therefore better than Melee Defense here in my opinion.
Surprise, surprise, no lorebooks today. Apart from the one about Black Sakuya's demise, another fitting entry to the situation would be "Interview with Reimu Hakurei" from last episode. That one was placed at the exit of the previous level instead of directly into the boss chamber today.
Gesh86:
I don't give you weak Shinto puns here, only terrible Buddhist puns. So in today's Episode 13, you find out what the inNUEmerable complications were:
While not a particularly hard stage, a smart setup can still make a difference:
Dowsing Rod 1, Quick Recharge Beta, Quick as Panther and Amplify Damage. Dashing is important for quick traversal rather than as a dodge this time, making Quick as Panther pretty ideal. Offense also overrules defense, dying yourself is pretty unlikely during a defense mission. That's why Amplify Damage is the obvious choice.
Three logbooks can be found in the Scarlet Devil Mansion's back yard, one in each "arm". We start with the northern opening:
As the midboss of Mamizou's Extra Stage, it is no surprise that she and Nue have a good connection. This was affirmed in Forbidden Scrollery. If you're wondering how anyone could stand the dastardly chimera, well...Mamizou isn't exactly a saint either. Don't be fooled by big, fluffy tails of tricksy Tanuki!
The southwestern passage has Sanae as a talking head for some of the more distasteful Touhou jokes and memes. I generally have a high tolerance for these, I hope you do as well. Reading the examples, I'm surprised the green shrine maiden only went halfway. What about stinky, unpleasant Wriggle? The heavily-breathing Alice peeking through Marisa's window? I can understand that she wouldn't mention the methods that she, as such a "good girl", uses for "convincing" patrons to donate to the Moriya Shrine...
Mamizou and Sanae by the way appear at no point in this game. The recent two logbooks are their only mention in DoG to my knowledge.
At this point, only the southeastern passage is left. The mentioned first rocket refers to Silent Sinner in Blue. In fact, the whole procedure of us going to the moon in a crappy-looking makeshift rocket with the help of the Scarlet Devil Mansion crew is an obvious nod to this quite beloved Touhou manga.
Production of the next episode will delay a litte more than usual. With a little, I really just mean a few days, an additional weekend perhaps. There is a small project I need to push in between, as it needs to be done before a certain time of the year if it is to be done at all. See you then!