Why do you like the Touhou series?

[Arcengal]

Music, pretty patterns, fun variety of characters and those indescribable moments where it all goes right after so much frustrating practice.

[Azure Lazuline]

It's not so much that I outwardly dislike loli, I'm just particularly neutral to that aspect of Touhou. Love the characters and their personalities, don't care either way that they are loli.

I think the same way. I do think they're cute, though, which is always a plus, but I think that's more because of the art style than anything else. Plus they always have interesting and unique character designs, even after this many of them. That's quite an achievement.

(Side note: I said cute, not attractive. I think people who find them attractive are weird, but it's understandable why. Besides, I know people who find much weirder things attractive...)

[lumber_of_the_beast]

Because they are fun to play in a genre that never grew past the arcades, still dominated by coin-stealing "you must have memorized this much of the game to pass" bullshit.

[Bananamatic]

"you must have memorized this much of the game to pass" bullshit.

:getdown:

[lumber_of_the_beast]

Bah, ignore me, I'm permagrumpy over consistent failure.

Spoiler:

Is this a good time to note that, since he failed at not trolling, I re-added Bananamatic to my ignore list and thus have no idea what he said?

[Bananamatic]

Admit it, you just suck at shmups :getdown:

EDIT: no donut

[Sapz]

Gameplay, pure and simple; before Touhou I'd never heard of a bullet hell shmup, and they got me into the genre. Though I've developed a preference for more arcade-style shmups after finishing off the Lunatics, I still have a lot of fun with a run through PCB or EoSD every so often~

Of course, the kickass community surrounding it doesn't hurt, either. :V I'd probably have dropped the games (and the genre, maybe) a long time ago if not for the people here.

Spoiler:

I'd reply to lumber/Banana, but I think we've had quite enough of those inane memorization/skill shitfests.

:derp:

[shadowbringer]

Because they are fun to play in a genre that never grew past the arcades, still dominated by coin-stealing "you must have memorized this much of the game to pass" bullshit.

I think that stage/boss memorization is more used in Touhou than in arcade games (not named Ikaruga or.. Dimahoo :V ), also, "coin-stealing" gives people the false impression that they're badly designed, and/or meant to just take your money. With this impression, people could find playing such arcade games an unintelligent exercise of their abilities, an impression which is really, really inaccurate.

(I'm only posting here, because I wondered why bananamatic would've been probated, and got to see what caused it. There's few games in this series that entertain me, playing for survival only feels like an empty victory, I'm too greedy to play for survival only, and scoring through grazing involves doing certain.. memorization for opportunities to do point-blanking/boss hugging. Also, too much memorization needed to score well, you basically need to learn, practice and repeat strict routes, and restart if something goes wrong in the process)

[dustyjo]

Because it's fun and the characters and etc

I said cute, not attractive.

To me, these are both pretty much the same thing.  :ohdear:

[Ghaleon]

Because it's fun and the characters and etc

To me, these are both pretty much the same thing.  :ohdear:

they are not. Flan is cute, yuyuko is attractive =p. Kisume is cute, etc.

Personally I find most of the characters cute and not attractive too. But anime style art isn't my thing so much, and zun art... Lol.

[Ubiquitial]

I think that stage/boss memorization is more used in Touhou than in arcade games (not named Ikaruga or.. Dimahoo :V ), also, "coin-stealing" gives people the false impression that they're badly designed, and/or meant to just take your money. With this impression, people could find playing such arcade games an unintelligent exercise of their abilities, an impression which is really, really inaccurate.

(I'm only posting here, because I wondered why bananamatic would've been probated, and got to see what caused it. There's few games in this series that entertain me, playing for survival only feels like an empty victory, I'm too greedy to play for survival only, and scoring through grazing involves doing certain.. memorization for opportunities to do point-blanking/boss hugging. Also, too much memorization needed to score well, you basically need to learn, practice and repeat strict routes, and restart if something goes wrong in the process)

I'd say that a goood deal of the fun in such a game lies in acutally figuring out the patterns, instead of just going online and reading a guide. This puzzle element, I think, gives another dimension to the gameplay.

[Formless God]

Gameplay, pure and simple; before Touhou I'd never heard of a bullet hell shmup, and they got me into the genre. Though I've developed a preference for more arcade-style shmups after finishing off the Lunatics, I still have a lot of fun with a run through PCB or EoSD every so often~

This for me, except that ...

PCB or EoSD SA or UFO

:3

I generally don't play for score. And I will never play for score if 1) it's Touhou BV 2) I can't even survive properly. This tends to fall toward the latter.

[Bias Bus]

I'd say that a goood deal of the fun in such a game lies in acutally figuring out the patterns, instead of just going online and reading a guide. This puzzle element, I think, gives another dimension to the gameplay.

That and OH GOD LOOK OUT!

Well...it's really only me anyway, I can be an active gamer when I play ANY game.

[Jaimers]

Yeah, the gameplay pretty much.
Everything around it as well as in the games as in the community make the deal a whole lot better though.

I mean, I haven't even looked up the DS or UNL translations yet, that's gotta mean something.

[Infy♫]

I'd say... The weird people playing it. (besides the basics)

[dustyjo]

Oh, and the lolis.

also ran oh god how could I forget her <3

they are not. Flan is cute, yuyuko is attractive =p. Kisume is cute, etc.

Lemme put it this way: I find cute things attractive.

[Erppo]

I really hate the old "coin stealer"-argument about arcade games, because it tells only half of the truth. Sure, the games are meant to be difficult to eat more coins, but they are also meant to be difficult in a way that feels fun and fair so that people would actually want to feed in those coins. I'm continuing on this only because I find Touhou players whining about arcade shmups and "serious" arcade people hating Touhou equally annoying.

[shadowbringer]

I'd say that a goood deal of the fun in such a game lies in acutally figuring out the patterns, instead of just going online and reading a guide. This puzzle element, I think, gives another dimension to the gameplay.

except you try it, and then someone else does an easier path through the game and is rewarded more (read: trial and error gameplay). Also, I value more how someone uses a certain technique, than who invented it. It's very possible that the inventor gets defeated by those who copy his "invention".

I'm continuing on this only because I find Touhou players whining about arcade shmups and "serious" arcade people hating Touhou equally annoying.

the latter wouldn't be happening if it wasn't for lumber_of_the_beast's post which got Bananamatic probated, mind you :V ( and at least I did provide arguments for why I don't enjoy most of the Touhou shmups, didn't I? )

[mew77]

I really hate the old "coin stealer"-argument about arcade games, because it tells only half of the truth. Sure, the games are meant to be difficult to eat more coins, but they are also meant to be difficult in a way that feels fun and fair so that people would actually want to feed in those coins. I'm continuing on this only because I find Touhou players whining about arcade shmups and "serious" arcade people hating Touhou equally annoying.

I don't know about you guys, but i really didn't care much about shmups until I discovered touhou. I now enjoy both but still play touhou more.

[Vanishing Sock Puppet]

I...like the whole package really. There's just so much stuff to play around with and to experience that I always find my self coming back to Touhou.

1. Atmosphere. There are quite a few games that won me over by atmosphere alone; like Killer7, Baroque, Within a Deep Forest, and R-type. Touhou falls in this category as well. Every things feel mystical and laid back, and I've generally always been a sucker for fairy tail settings, and what's Touhou if it's not one big fairy tail about lazy people?

2. Gameplay. I've liked almost all shmups I've played so far (Even Milstone and Psikyo AW SNAP!), so this is kind of a given. It may not be the cream of the shmup crop for whatever reason people will often bring up, but I'm beyond caring. The fact that I suck at all shooters (Not named Karous) equally probably helps.  :V

3. Cast. They're cute, and I like cute things. Instant thumbs up.

4. It gives me something to draw. This one is a pretty big reason I stuck with Touhou so long as well. I really like to draw, I'm hoping to get a job drawing one day, but for a while I couldn't really think of anything I wanted to draw. My roommates would suggest that I draw superheroes with hyper idealized athletic forms, but I really didn't want to. This is mainly due to the fact that many of my male peers draw characters that are A) Superheroes or B) Satan if he pumped a large swimming pool filled with steroids into his body. I was never really into that stuff to begin with, so I wasn't to keen on drawing it. When I found Touhou, which was filled to the brim with cute, simple characters and a fan base that seemed to welcome almost all fanart, I jumped on it in an instant. I still often study to draw more realistic human figures and object (reality is the foundation of a lot of art after all), but when I draw for fun, I always end up drawing a Touhou character or a character inspired by Touhou (Or a robot, because robots are awesome).

[GMOFucker: Makin' GMOs To Fuck 'Em]

Because I've been addicted to swr and later Hisoutensoku for the past year and a half or so, regardless of their low quality as an actual game.

Also, the music, ofc.

[ふねん1]

Oh, so many things I like about Touhou.

I think the most prominent aspect that keeps me hooked is the difficulty. I know I complain about certain types of attacks a lot, but the fair stuff vastly outnumbers the rest. Touhou's gameplay is incredibly addicting, and it has become one of my favorite game series of all time.

Of course, there's also the awesome music, the intriguing characters, the engaging atmosphere, the sheer size of the fanon, and the fact that ZUN made this massive series pretty much by himself (seriously, how many people can claim something like that?).

[AJS]

It's actually quite curious that I like the Touhou series - I've never been a fan of shoot'em ups..........................Yet, in a very twisted way I highly enjoy playing Touhou games (in my case, reduce that to IN/PCB). Why is that? Or rather, why shouldn't I like these games,  which is much easier to answer: I generally don't like hard games - call me a wimp, but when I play a game, I usually want to relax. ....................I do like the games. Most probably it's because you can literally watch yourself progressing over time.

I definitely have to agree with those points.

Frankly, before Touhou, I don't think I've ever been into shoot-em-ups at ALL.  When I first got into Touhou, watching gameplay videos on Youtube made me uneasy.  "There's no WAY I could ever do this" I would think to myself.  But boy was I wrong.

My progress through Touhou is incredibly palpable and easily visible through the replays I have saved.  Just five months ago from this coming Tuesday, I played Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil for the first time on Normal Mode and used all three continues before completing Stage 3.  Now, just a week ago, I managed to accomplish one of my first Touhou goals by defeating Flandre.  It's so incredibly satisfying to have come this far, and this is one of the many qualities that make Touhou a great game series for me.

Another staggering aspect of Touhou is the INCREDIBLY MASSIVE fanbase!  I've never seen anything like it!  The byproducts of this massive fanbase will keep me entertained for a long time, from fan-made videos to comics. 

And of course, the music.  The wonderful, wonderful music.  It was what first drew me into Touhou.  I don't think anything else needs to be said.

And obviously, the extremely large and diverse cast of almost all girls. 

[Drake]

"There's no WAY I could ever do this" I would think to myself.  But boy was I wrong [etc]
Now, just a week ago, I managed to accomplish one of my first Touhou goals by defeating Flandre.  It's so incredibly satisfying to have come this far [etc]

Just imagine the glory felt after a few years when you've 1cced every game on Lunatic.

[Ghaleon]

Just imagine the glory felt after a few years when you've 1cced every game on Lunatic.

my first normal 1cc felt like the biggest accomplishment to me than any lunatic 1cc... Even though it only took a day or 2 =p.
Am I the only one who felt that way?

[orinrin]

my first normal 1cc felt like the biggest accomplishment to me than any lunatic 1cc... Even though it only took a day or 2 =p.
Am I the only one who felt that way?

I sure as hell know that feeling.  The satisfaction of knowing that you don't completely suck.

[Elric of Grans]

I would have to say the fanbase comes #1 for me.  I love Touhou fan art and doujinshi.  For the latter, it is mostly how they develop the characters.  ZUN has left things awfully open here, so the fans are very much responsible for how good/bad a character is.  I find I tend to like the older characters more than the newer ones, and this is probably largely because there has been more time for fan-development of them.  I definitely cite the characters as my favourite aspect, but this would largely be because of the fanbase.  Cirno in-game, meh.  Advent Cirno, or Dioxin's works: priceless!  The music is the second aspect I would cite, again largely because of the fanbase.  I spend more time listening to the likes of Alstromeria Records or Golden City Factory than any other artists.  More often than not, ZUN's originals are just nice, but often tunes that I barely noticed in game become favourties of mine from the doujin music.

The games do come a distant second for me.  I was never a fan of shooters, preferring slower-paced games (Adventure or RPG, mostly), but something keeps bringing me back to these games.  I think the beauty of the spellcards has a lot to do with it.  The gameplay is definitely an aspect too, especially in Shoot the Bullet (one of my favourites in the series).

[Blitzer]

Characters, music, and If I could get my hands on the games, the gameplay.

[Sedrife]

If I could sum it up with one word, Eccentricity.

What makes sense here don't make sense there, and what make sense there doesn't make sense here.
I play Touhou to see the story and the endings, good and bad ones and for all character options.
I enjoy something that made my heart beat with excitement over no life and no bomb and to clear the last boss, in the end was all due to some trivial or nonsensical matter that cannot be understood anywhere but Gensokyo.
But if I play the game long enough, I understand and feel myself closer to Gensokyo, a weird form of escapism, I suppose.

I agree that the game is made up of lolis are a big thing.  IMO,  the characters cannot be the way they are if the characters wasn't lolis.  But the doujins and fanons are always there to break that logic and introduce new level of phantasm. 

Touhou is a doujin game.  The doujin of the doujin is also a doujin.

[RegalStar]

Three things.

1) The game itself is a good balance between challenge and fun for me. The games are very hard for sure, but they're not really unfairly so (well, for the most part anyways). Most of the time when I encounter something that trips me up, I know that it is within my power to improve myself (even if it takes hundreds of practices), and the feeling of actually accomplishing something is really incredible.

2) The music. I don't think I need much explanation on this one.

3) The atmosphere of Gensokyo in general. There is little to no drama in the games (although they seem to be picking up slightly...), and the characters interact with each other in a very quirky and playful way. The entire universe gives off a very relaxed feeling, and it almost feels like a paradise for me. It's very unique and I dbout I can find this kind of atmosphere easily elsewhere.