Touhou Blogging Thread

[CyberAngel]

Alas, I have to say "no" to another Touhou game. As fun as some points of UFO are, it gives me more frustration than fun now. All bosses have an attack I don't enjoy facing at all (special mention to Nazrin's pendulums and Shou's vajra for being an ass to capture), but that's not the only reason.

I don't like UFO system at all. I guess I don't have to mention how easy it is to screw up a chain, and as a result your whole UFO plan. Or how frustrating it is when you fail to fill up a UFO or let it escape. And you can't really ignore this system 'cause it's the main source of lives and bombs in this game. Overall, it's an additional layer of complexity that only interferes with joy of just plain dodging stuff. Like the racing aspect of Shippu Mahou Daisakusen. Of course, I won't deny some people may like such systems, but I prefer it when nothing distracts me from actually dodging stuff.

Another thing is the difficulty. Not that I'm against hard stuff, but it's the way UFO makes things harder. I've looked at Extra stage and later stages on Lunatic (big thanks to all who donated fully-unlocked savefiles in the appropriate topic), and was horrified to see that everything is faster than usual. I can take it when there's an attack with fast stuff once in a while, but not when whole stages are like that. It's a different kind of difficulty, one I can't and don't want to deal with.

It sure seems like I'm too happy to drop Touhou games lately, but that's more of a sign my danmaku tastes form better. I mean, I enjoyed every minute of playing PCB not too long ago, so it certainly isn't me trying to find stuff to dismiss games for. Best of all, my interest in newer characters, story and fandom stuff is unaffected. I'm just concentrating more on stuff I actually enjoy. And that's for the best.

[Szayelaporro Granz]

I almost captured all spellcards of ISC, only one more remaining and I need help with this one :3

[chirpy13]

Eirin things.
Marisa things.

[cactu]

Retarded normal mode deaths everywhere. Streaming is too hard.

[Szayelaporro Granz]

Found a trick for 10-3. If done correctly it will only spawn a few fireballs.

[Mew seeker]

I am learning the hard way the merit of slow an steady in Labyrinth of Touhou. @-@
I made it to the boss of floor 18, having explored the part of the floor before the boss.
Next step is the boss battle but I have more important things to do today.
I'll see if it's as bad as I have heard. : )

[chirpy13]

Seija a big bully



EDIT: *giggle*

[cactu]

After not playing Lunatic for a month, I cannot dodge or read patterns for shit. Makes me wonder whether I even want to re-learn all of this.

[KingofBaka]

An update on SA 1cc progress.
I guess I am doing all right, but it feels like I am making no progress.
I either get a very good run that gets destroyed by stage 5, get a derp death in stage 1 or 2, or I start dying 3 times on stages 3 and 4. :V
It is mostly Boss Orin that makes me lose most/all of my lives.
I have made it to stage 6 three times and every time, I have died to the Orin Midboss card even though it is easy. I just keep messing up when I have like 2 seconds to go before I beat it.
I guess I just need to practice more.
Also, I have a video up of my run that got me to Stage 6.
Watch it here
 

[Oh]

I am conflicted. One part of me want to continue playing MoF Lunatic, since I did my first perfect (all possible items collected at max value) stage 4 today with the WR route. I would be able to go for 2.18 with some speed kill practices with this route.
Another part of me want to quit completely. Who knows how long it will take me to get consistent with this (it is VERY rng based) and actually completing a credit is a whole different story. I probably have to sell my soul to this game.

Hopefully I can come up with a decision soon.
On another note Syaro is fucking cute.

[Mino ☆]

Just watch cute anime.

[Oh]

On another note Syaro is fucking cute.

[Mesarthim]

So I finally play Impossible Spell Card.

I beat it in 2:57:42

Well, back to a somewhat touhou retirement.

[Szayelaporro Granz]

I beat it in 2:57:42

Damn!

ISC no-item progress: 49/75

[Mew seeker]

I have cleared floor 18 in Labyrinth of Touhou.
The mobs in the floor are getting nastier and nastier.
The Guardians don't have special attacks but have a iron wall defense,
those light elemental things have powerful spells and can easily mean a total party kill if you let more then one attack
and Shub-Niggorath (spelling?) deserves a mention for being the biggest jerk of all time (so far) for his habit of emptying your team SP.
That it resisted both magic and Spirit... um, whatever the purple and light blue element are called in the translation patch, anyway, that it resisted those didn't helped.
The floor itself wasn't so bad. Picked the wrong way? Just try another until you find the proper one. Leave the floor if it save you time.

And the boss. I have heard that this boss was hard and it was true.
I had to level up for a while to make up for flaw my team had for you see,
this boss test your abilities by using against you about any type of attacks in the games.
All elements, about every ailments but instant death (I think?) and magic, physical and mixed attacks.
The battle last for a while so you need a good defensive game too.
And on top of that, the boss seems immune to ailments and debuff, making characters like Cirno and Reisen less useful.
The boss wasn't above one shotting a character you just switched in either. It's one thing when Marisa or Patchouly gets KO without getting to attack once.
It's another thing when it's Ran. X D

That being said, after grinding a little, I would often try a rematch against the boss and it was encouraging to see I was lasting longer each time.
Eventually, I managed to defeat it. I didn't expect to last so long after having Reimu being KO but apparently Mei Ling and a barrier was able to buy me just enough time.

I don't know if I am overleveled so for reference, I recruited

Spoiler:

Rinnosuke and he was

at level 87.
Now, let's tackle floor 19 and 20 and finish the main game. Then it'll be the bonus disk floors. ^^

[I have no name]

I don't know if I am overleveled so for reference, I recruited

Spoiler:

Rinnosuke and he was

at level 87.
Now, let's tackle floor 19 and 20 and finish the main game. Then it'll be the bonus disk floors. ^^

I don't know what level he was for me when I recruited him, but I know I beat him when my Reimu was level 100.

[cactu]

Changed some routes to increase consistency in stage 5 and 6. Oh yeah, and apparently meek safespot gives around 100 more graze if you do it on the left side on normal mode. Don't ask me why. Maybe this will be enough for that last 300k.

[Mew seeker]

I don't know what level he was for me when I recruited him, but I know I beat him when my Reimu was level 100.

I don't know what level was Reimu when I beat him but some of my character like Cirno was over 100.
In any case, I made it the the 20th floor. Random battle are like boss battles there. X D
I eventually decide to just skip them until I explored the rest of the floor. X D
I tried the boss there and at first things went well. Then

Spoiler:

something appeared. And another one. And another one. X D

Oh well, it shouldn't take too long until I win. ^^

****************update****************

There, it's done, after many, many attempts and a decent amount of grinding.
I finally did it by poisonning everything, using barriers and desesperatly trying to keep Reimu and Mei Ling alive and withouth any ailments. X D
Just for the record, here are the levels I had when I beat the game :

Spoiler:

Reimu 143, Patchouly 127, Mei Ling 142, Marisa 134, Cirno 146, Aya 134, Yuugi 137, Ran, 131, Nitori 138, Reisen 134, Yukari 123 and Rinosuke 121.

Perharps I could have made it with lower levels if I geared myself with more ailments resisting gear but oh well, it's done.
I don't know if I'll do the Plus disk content right away or take a break and try something else instead.

[Zil]

Well, I think I've finally reached the clearing at the end of the path. I've had a lot of fun playing 2hu/shmups, and I've met some really cool folks over the years, but sadly my passion for these games has slipped away from me, and the time has come for me to call it quits. (But maybe I still have the fire in my heart to play PoDD every once in a while~)

Not that I'm planning to disappear or anything, and I certainly hope to keep in touch with my fellow pedophiles and kusoplayers, but as far this forum goes I think it's best if I depart now. It's hard to believe I've been hanging around here for almost 3 years, and it's definitely been an interesting time, but a guy has to move on at some point.

So see y'all around I guess. Or maybe not. However it works out.

[Erppo]

I know Gemini Wing is an awful game but this is a sadder outcome than I ever expected.

[redlakitu]

Very bad news. Your mastery of the Phantasmagorias will be sorely missed. Well, I hope you'll at least keep doing your non-shmup streams. I really enjoyed those, especially the Heroes ones and that one puzzle platformer involving colours and a mosquito-like protagonist (I don't even know how it was called).

[Reiko]

Oh. 
Farewell Zil ; your videos and walls of text informative posts were very inspiring, so I guess I'll thank you for that, and for being nice and helpful on this forum.
So yeah, see you someday. Or not. Who knows.

[chirpy13]

Well, I think I've finally reached the clearing at the end of the path. I've had a lot of fun playing 2hu/shmups, and I've met some really cool folks over the years, but sadly my passion for these games has slipped away from me, and the time has come for me to call it quits

[cactu]

see ya zil, was fun having you around here~
blogging: more eosd normal, optimizing grazes, failed a 340m run on meek. apparently it gaves 100 more graze on all difficulties on the left side, who knew.

[PurpleTheGuy]

No, another great player, Zil, goes as well. You've even still got that STGT at the shmup forums that you're a part of right now.

I have learned a lot from great players, like Zil, among many others, from back when I was a lurker on both MotK and the shmup forums. I have seen his videos, particularly on some, like his PoFV feats, among other great ones, and I have learned a lot from them, all of which eventually culminated to me eventually getting that 1st ever "Legendary" (Lunatic) mode 1cc in PoFV, which was also my 1st ever Touhou "Legendary" (Lunatic) mode clear ever. That, and I won't forget how Zil helped me adjust a bit to MotK back at the Hi-scores section. I didn't get to know him much, since I don't post very often (I'm usually busy trying to get stronger at the Touhou games and the other shmup games), but he was a very helpful forum member, and a uniquely great shmup player. He was one of many who rgot me into really wanting to get better at Touhou, as well as me moving to play other shmups, and start to get stronger at the STG genre, resulting in me seeing just how much fun and rewarding the shmup genre really is.

Zil, I want to thank you for what you've done for me, whether you know it or not, as with many other great players out there (I even managed to get to where I have 1cc'd Great Fairy Wars on normal mode not long ago, thanks to you and chum!). I'll be coming back to PoFV sometime soon, and I'll get even better than before, too, hopefully! I hope that, one day, when we meet again, I will have become a little stronger, and that I could go more alongside you and the other great players here and elsewhere on a more equal footing. I guess I'll see you around. Man, if only I had more power, and didn't have that almost two-year hiatus.

[Espadas]

Dang.... if i could i would brainwash you Zil, so that you don't leave ?_?
I've got a lot of help from some of your videos.....

Blog: decided to take a weekend break from EoSD Lunatic/Extra and to try my hand at PCB normal for the first time...... after 2 hours i 1cc'd it O_o

Impressions:

1) Holy smokes, the graphic improved dramatically! Really liked some of the backgrounds....

2) I already worshipped Border of Life and enjoyed Phantom Ensemble..... and now i've fallen in love with Youmu's boss theme too

3) Yuyuko.... i admit i absolutely love everything about you and your fight but can you please let me SEE MYSELF on the screen? God, some of her spellcards are a boot camp for micrododging.....

4) Since i unlocked it i tried Extra Stage for the lulz, just hoping to reach Ran. Well, after getting destroyed a few times i actually managed to reach her, and got introduced to her first spellcard....... Sakuya, you are not scary anymore  :V

[Szayelaporro Granz]

Ouch, another great 2hu player quitted. Goodbye, Zil aka the god of Phantasmagoria games. You will be missed by everyone here. Still hoping for you to come back one day...

Anyway, I seem to be stuck at 62 63 spellcards for no item run. Time to get back to normal shmups I guess, apparently the remaining spellcards require the skill of Lunatic player. Hopefully I won't get rusty at them.

[chum]

I hope you'll still be up for a game of PoFV every now and then, Zil.

[Lepetit89]

Well, I think I've finally reached the clearing at the end of the path. I've had a lot of fun playing 2hu/shmups, and I've met some really cool folks over the years, but sadly my passion for these games has slipped away from me, and the time has come for me to call it quits. (But maybe I still have the fire in my heart to play PoDD every once in a while~)

Not that I'm planning to disappear or anything, and I certainly hope to keep in touch with my fellow pedophiles and kusoplayers, but as far this forum goes I think it's best if I depart now. It's hard to believe I've been hanging around here for almost 3 years, and it's definitely been an interesting time, but a guy has to move on at some point.

So see y'all around I guess. Or maybe not. However it works out.

Yikes, bad news, but some time off can't hurt. Don't feel like you can't return, though; just drop by whenever you feel like it, leaving permanently is so inconveniently permanent, especially since it's always good to have you around.

Truth be told, I didn't even like you at first because you just cleared everything left and right, which wound up being one of the factors that made me feel extremely serious about getting the UFO 1CC - I just couldn't let you get that one first. Then again, I started being on good terms with you before I got my clear, so it wasn't overly bad.

Anyway, thank you for all your support and brainstorming in the past few years, it's been a lot of fun. Take care!

[CyberAngel]

Man, so many good players dropping out lately. As a sign of mourning, I'm swearing off MoF and SA.

Okay, okay, I'm actually dropping them because the retardedness of their power/bomb system finally got to me. I mean, seriously, bombs are supposed to make games easier, but here using too many bombs makes it more challenging to survive. Having to bomb for survival a few times too many if you screwed up means that you lose shot strength/spread/whatever and your planned route goes to hell until you die and get enough power back. Not bombing at all or bombing only a few times looks like it solves the problem... Except my shmupping instincts tell me that if you have bombs, it's better to bomb than die, and all other Touhou games, as well as many other STGs, agree with me. I'm tired of dealing with frustration from these two games disagreeing with that.

With this, it looks like the set of Touhou games I play has thinned out considerably, after all. Oh well, I don't mind since with that only games I fully enjoy playing remain. This also means more time to play them, more time to play other shmups, and more time to possibly play something else. But really, even from the start I felt there was something... off... about second/third Windows generation games. Maybe it's because of something about their bullet pattern style, maybe it's because of relying on not-well-thought-through gimmicks, maybe it's because of some other gameplay nuance (like that continue system, which didn't make those games easy to learn at all, even arcade games can be credit fed through). I guess now I understand and agree with those people who were saying Touhou was getting worse ever since MoF. About the only good thing that came out since then was GFW.

Another thing, looks like it's time for me to drop Easy mode altogether. I've noticed that playing it actually drags my skills down. It's usually so simplified in everything that playing Normal and higher feels like a different game altogether, the jump between Easy and Normal feels much bigger than between any other difficulties. I know I was talking about doing pacifist and remaining PCB NB runs, but they feel pointless at this point. I played around and had fun with the former in stage practice, while the latter is a matter of luck, as I said before. My time is better used on going forward, I think. The only exceptions for now are IN Easy scoring and possibly GFW (I still need to play through it again).

EDIT: Let's add some sentimentality to my Big Decisions. I came to Touhou because of games, but now that I've dropped some, I don't regret having played them. I'm happy to find that I still like Touhou's world and characters, even newer ones. Okuu is still a cutie, Sanae is still a good girl, and I still look forward to what other games ZUN will create. Same about Easy mode. I can picture myself still fooling around with Normal when I'll be working on Lunatic, but not Easy. And yet I can't say my time playing it was a waste. I was taking my time to better understand each stage of my advancement, so I will still understand those who take these games less seriously even when I advance much further. So I still think it's okay for someone to play Easy mode if that's as far as they can reach.