[VLP] We're going to win a Pulitzer with this scoop! - Let's Play Double Focus

[Gesh86]

Hi there! It hasn't been that long since I finished with Ghost Hunter Reimu, but here's already something new. The recent Touhou console revolution called out to me, it would be a shame if I didn't pick at least one of them. My choice fell on...

Touhou Double Focus (PS4)



   

It is a platformer developed by AquaStyle and its Playstation 4 version got published in western regions by Nippon Ichi Software America. My first experience with this game was a little bumpy and it's definitely not without problems. But I'm not tackling this without a plan! There are some things that really saved it for me, so you won't have to worry about me becoming a wannabe AVGN mid-LP.

- It is a story mode playthrough on normal difficulty. Normal is not to be underestimated.
- 100% map and items are what we're aiming for, but I can't guarantee a full Snap Archive. There are entries that I currently don't know how to get.
- I'm recording with the built-in Playstation 4 share function. The quality seems solid to me, but due to the different procedures, I won't be able to edit video footage as freely as I could normally. I'll try to have that affect your viewing pleasure as little as possible  :].

Opening post comes with 2 videos!  Not because I forgot to post, nope, but to make the first impression of the game a bit more wholesome

Video list:

Playlist (For possible binge-watching purposes)

Part 01 - Pure and honest tabloid journalism
Part 02 - Dullahan weeping like a willow
Part 03 - Emotional Scrappaper
Part 04 - It came from the desert...
Part 05 - You still don't have a Seiga CD!?
Part 06 - Tell them the fairy tale gone bad
Part 07 - Do want a short girl
Part 08 - Hello Aya. What's your favourite scary movie?
Part 09 - This mask expresses a buttkicking
Part 10 - Don't go chasing anti-gravity waterfalls
Part 11 (FINAL) - ...and the world shall fall into Eternal Darkness

Bonus - A slideshow of the completed Snap Archive

[Lt Colonel Summers]

Double Focus is possibly the only Touhou fangame to feature Kosuzu as a major character (she appeared in Touhou Ninyougeki too, but as just another puppet to be captured).

Looking forward to seeing more episodes of your playthrough! I'm here just for Kosuzu

[Gesh86]

I've got part 3 ready for you all, but also have to excuse myself for a short while: I won't find time to work on the LP for the next 1.5 weeks. I will have a houseguest from abroad over, a friend who combines his vacation in Germany with a visit to me. Due to how extraordinary the whole thing is, I want to focus on being a good host during that time.



Sorry about that! Once my typical days return, Double Focus will as well.

[Gesh86]

As promised, I'm back with part 4! More desert that doesn't really know which deserty part of the world it wants to portrait so it just does all of them! Are those Aztec stone heads in the background of the tomb-parts? They didn't have any desert I think...



Going to make this thread look a little nicer with a screenshots per episode from now on. That should also make new ones easier to identify.

[Gesh86]

Just like two Sundays ago, we have another episode! Part 5 is here and it's got a title I knew I would give it before the LP started and have been giggling over ever since. Please don't judge me for this...

[Lt Colonel Summers]

Ha ha, Alice's kimono. Nice call back to Ghost Hunter Reimu.  :]

[Gesh86]

Last episode was mostly about Seiga, today we're diving into the third zone for real. I know we have not few enthusiasts for a certain rascally rabbit Touhou, those should brace themselves before watching part 6...

[Gesh86]

Been working like an Oni to bring you part 7 today, it's the one featuring Inch High Private Eye's favourite character:

[Gesh86]

If Night Trap and Mortal Kombat hadn't already given video games a rating system, today's part 8 would have. 18+ I tell you, you'll have to ask the clerk to fetch it from under the counter if you want to watch it  :derp:.

[Gesh86]

The plot is finally thickening in part 9!



I found out something noteworthy what I likely won't find the time to put into the running commentary: Double Focus is the direct sequel to Genso Wanderer's The Bullet Reporter DLC. I've played that one in the meantime, it answers what the explosion at Youkai Mountain in the intro was, and why Momiji brings Kisume as a supposed witness to an incident.
The Bullet Reporter also shamelessly advertizes Double Focus, not once, but  twice in a cutscene. It's either a severe break of the fourth wall, or it could be understood that Double Focus exists as a video game in the Genso Wanderer universe. If so, we're playing a video game inside a video game...or something.

[Lt Colonel Summers]

Turns out

Spoiler:

Aya's bulletpad is a Chekhov's Gun

after all.
Didn't see THAT coming. 

[Gesh86]

With the new part 10, we have the shortest episode of the LP so far. It was better to have it this way, as I want the final zone to be its own uninterrupted block. No need to have it ripped apart by inappropriate cliffhangers.

Turns out

Spoiler:

Aya's bulletpad is a Chekhov's Gun

after all.
Didn't see THAT coming. 

Spoiler:

You know, I've heard the term "Chekov's Gun" dropped, but was never curious enough to look it up before until now. Know what I assumed it had to do with?
Pavel Chekov from Star Trek, who probably held a gun at some point 

[Lt Colonel Summers]

Spoiler:

You know, I've heard the term "Chekov's Gun" dropped, but was never curious enough to look it up before until now. Know what I assumed it had to do with?
Pavel Chekov from Star Trek, who probably held a gun at some point 

Spoiler:

That was a different trope altogether. I'm talking about this one (only one letter away from being identical, so don't get mixed up).

[Gesh86]

Today's the day. The Book King has a grand entrance in part 11. Can we give him a swift exit?

Spoiler:

I'd like to thank everyone for watching at this point. I have 2 half-baked ideas for bonus videos. One of them is fairly likely to happen, the other one not so much (apart from pulling off what I want to show, I also need to ask myself if it's even remotely interesting  :derp:)
Also, the Let's Play did end up being a 100% run. No skimming was done when it came to uncovering the full map, grabbing all items and getting a full snap archive. If you have any trouble achieving the good ending yourself, you could mimic what happened in the videos and that should help you find what you're missing.

[Gesh86]

During the playthrough, we didn't look at any Snap Archive entries except our very first photo of Patchouli and the two secret ones, Nue and Parsee. I did this so that the flow of the action wouldn't be disrupted. The entries are quite entertaining though, they come with humorous little commentaries, each voiced by Aya's and Momiji's Seiyus.
So I present to you: Our bonus episode! It's...40 minutes of Snap Archive entries, pretty much. Dry content, possibly? Maybe. If anything, it is for the sake of completion. I did not speak over the footage here, as I think I've said all I wanted to say. I also didn't want to drown out the voiceacting. So...uhm...enjoy looking at the pictures!