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First of all: (http://i.somethingawful.com/forumsystem/emoticons/emot-firstpost.gif)
Well yes, that's the question. Rather simple to be honest and there probably were many other threads such as this, but nevertheless I thought it might be nice to make another one, also I'd like to share with everyone why I personally like the series. This of course will be my personal opinion, so please no polemics, okay? =) Also, (http://i.somethingawful.com/forumsystem/emoticons/emot-words.gif)
It's actually quite curious that I like the Touhou series - I've never been a fan of shoot'em ups, even now. I usually prefer action/adventures with RPG-elements (DMC, Legend of Zelda, GoW, Metroid Prime series, you name it). 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 don't mind games being challenging, but at least for me IN/PCB are more than just challenging.
It's honestly rather nerve wrecking to play when you're not concentrated on the game, that is if you're actively flying into your own demise in form of coloratura little projectiles/lasers/knives/amulets and whatnot. And as I said before, usually I don't really want to concentrate to hard while playing, I'd rather just have fun with the game instead of focusing absolutely on it and paying dearly should my attention waver for just an instant.
Another reason is, that I'm probably just bad at shoot'em ups (hence I never really got into them). When I was young I sometimes played arcade games when I had holidays and therefore wasn't home (Where I live, arcade halls are exclusively for people aged 18+ or so) and I never was good at it - of course, as a child certain requirements just aren't that developed yet (hand-eye coordination, quick reflexes etc.), but still, I frankly just sucked. Years later, I'm still no good. I somehow manage to get through IN easy mode without continuing, can't do it in PCB easy or IN normal mode (damn you stage four). That might be because I just recently started playing these games (about.. 2 months ago or so) and I don't have all that much time for it, but I'm very sure that there are many people out there who could do a lot better.
In a nutshell, I suck at shoot'em ups, I don't really like them and I don't like hard games. So why the hell do I keep playing Touhou?
Frankly, I have no idea. Despite all of the above being true for me, I do like the games. Most probably it's because you can literally watch yourself progressing over time. A miserable example would be (but an example nonetheless) Kaguya's first impossible request, Dragon's necklace: When I first played IN, I couldn't not die to this spellcard even if my dear life depended on it. I just wasn't able to properly predict what exactly the lasers (or whatever those things are) were going to do. Today I'm somewhat confident at it (doesn't mean I don't die to it because of my lack of attention). Of course,it's easy and so on and so forth, but still, for me it was a small step which showed my improvement and the game.
There'd be other examples of which I could tell, but I'm quite sure everyone has their own personal 'milestones' (if you may call them like that)
where suddenly things which didn't work before then went pretty smoothly.
Reducing the series to gameplay mechanics (which is unfair, but still), that's more or less the only reason I can think of why I play them. But nevertheless, for exactly this reason I keep playing them. They're hard games and I keep getting frustrated at them, but then again when something suddenly works which didn't before, and be it just that I managed to capture a spellcard in practice mode after my 300th try (which happened..), it still shows me that I can indeed do it and it gives me the confidence, that I can do it again. So I keep on playing, no matter how frustrated I might get. I stop when I see there's just no point in it, that is when I clearly see that my concentration is just not there (that is if it's late), but otherwise - just keep going
The reasons above are now just focused on the gameplay aspects (which in my opinion is what I game should put its focus on), but of course there are other reasons why I like the series - Mostly the music. I daresay there's no need to elaborate on this point any further, the music is just great. Furthermore the series has a flair which makes it really charming. Ignoring the fact that there's only girls (and even that's not so bad), the settings are funny, giving a lot of room for inspiration (look at all this fanwork), the artwork is unique in its own way and generally, it's just very likable. It's hard to put it into words, so I'd better not try at all and leave it to you to try and understand what I mean.
So, this is why I like the Touhou series and play the games. Now I'm curious about you guys: Why do you like Touhou? (no need for such a wall of text, that's just a quirk of mine)
-Chronometer
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Now I'm curious about you guys: Why do you like Touhou? (no need for such a wall of text, that's just a quirk of mine)
Music and the girls. Anybody ignoring any of these two is a liar.
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For me it's;
Girls Shinki, Japanese mythology and the setting of Gensokyo as a whole. I play the games, but only as time wasters, I never really play any of them seriously (save for my last run on UFO where I aimed to 1cc for once). Even though I'm not into Touhou as much as I am, say Digaea, Bomberman or Kunio-kun/River City Ransom, but I will admit that it's given me a large well of inspiration to work with when it comes to drawing and writing.
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The games, is music, the music, Yuyuko, everyone in gensokyo, VoWG, the music and rage.
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the porn
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the porn
Straight forward I see, Drake. :3
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lolis.
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lolis.
the porn
Yep, at least I'm getting honest respones :D
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Mokou. And the music.
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Well, I have plenty of reasons, and I'm pressed for time so I won't get into details. While I do enjoy the original music, the loli-factor (I'm not a big fan of girl-exploiting games, I didn't even know w hat loli really meant before Touhou, but now I'm a loli-fan >=P) , the gameplay, the challenge, the pretty patterns, etc.
By far what makes Touhou super amazing for me is the super amazing Fan-made work. The music, and the games mostly, maybe I'll develop an appreciation for more as well later on, but music and games are my passions to begin with prior to Touhou soo..
Anyway, I really really like how pretty much everything truly *IS* better when you take/steal it, put in the Touhou cast and music, and re-release it. Gensokyo tower defense is an excellent example of a tower defense game done best IMO, Labyrinth of Touhou is the best dungeon crawl RPG I've seen IMO, Myon Myon's suwa foughten field makes Luca Turilli look like a bedtime lullaby composer (ok maybe not but it's amazing lol), etc.
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The quirky characters, Nue, the music, Nue, the challenging dodging, Nue, the unique art style, Nue, the pretty danmaku patterns, Nue, Mokou, Nue, the interesting fanart, Nue, Shikieiki, Nue, Littleshrimp, Nue, Ao Usagi, and Nue.
Did I mention Nue?
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lolis.
And the games. They're fun. But mostly the lolis.
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The main reason I wanted the find out more about Touhou in the first place was because of the music. But I also like the lolis and doujins.
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I just think shoot-'em-ups are really damn fun. The music and lovable characters are just a bonus, the gameplay is the main reason I play Touhou.
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I just like how everything comes together. The danmaku, the graphics, the story, the characters, and the music are all synced up and form a greater whole. You can really tell that it's made by one person, which makes the entire thing fit together more, since he has a single vision and everything in the game serves to help achieve it. I like all the elements individually of course, but none of them would be outstanding on their own (except perhaps the music), yet they all come together and create one of the most fun and pretty games I've ever played.
I know it's not the best danmaku shooter out there from a pure gameplay standpoint, but it just has its own unique style that nothing else seems to replicate.
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This is a good question. I'd say originally its because of the characters. I played IaMP as my first ever touhou game and even though i found it pretty hard. I thought the characters were at least cute....
then I played EoSD....and saw what the games were REALLY about. side-scrolling shooters...I wasn't a fan of the genre, but only because i never actually exposed myself to such games. I knew about them for sure. but i was never interested in such games. I played it/them anyway for fun and i think after learning about the wikia and reading all the characters' data...I think that's what hooked me. The idea that this is a side-scrolling shooter but instead of a typical spaceship against aliens or helicopter over warzones etc etc. typical side scrollers. It was based on a magical/illusory world where people are the "ships" and you fire off magic, knives, etc etc.
Of course i had no idea then that there are other games like touhou in which you play as a person doing these things but I think I like touhou mostly because of the characters for sure, and it opened me up to this type of gaming genre when i didn't really particuarly care to play it.
I ESPECIALLY love how everything is made up by one guy. ZUN. he does EVERYTHING all by himself (save for the fighting games with Tasafro) and has managed to create this huge ass fanbase following. Other than Shigeru Miyamoto, ZUN is now my greatest idol and inspiration.
Music is great, characters are beautiful and well thought out, (regardless of very vague powers at times like yuugi's or remilia's or nazrin/shou or kaguya or*lists goes on a bit*) the games are great and the fanbase is huge. albeit stupid at times.
The only thing I hate about touhou is some of the memes that come out...sure they are silly internet jokes but some make me facepalm...
All in all i love touhou and I'm a happy addict to the series.Remilia is still my fave for some bloody reason and even though I'm not sure why exactly i love her so dam much. i definitely don't regret it nor care to question it in the end. I just do i guess haha. fate i guess haha. even the ones i don't like that much i appreciate (...kinda sorta :/ )
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I like the Touhou series because the games are good. 'nuff said
The awesome music is a nice afterthought.
Im repeating myself though. Im sure i've seen many threads like this come and go.
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One of the reasons I like the Touhou series is because of the whole freedom of the matter. Since there isn't too much directly canon, a lot of it can be put up to interpretation, thus allowing it to be... more free in that sense.
So, I like it for all the stories, doujins, comics, and everything that people make. I also like it for the characters. And of course, the music itself is some of the best video game songs I've heard.
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Well, first of all, I like the games.
Because I love mostly older games, especially from the 16-bit era, Touhou is perfect because i's like an old 90's computer game. Also, the music is very nice, and the whole fanon part is just amazing.
So, I guess I like it because it's a fun computer game, but also because of the difficulty level. I like dodging danmaku, and the spell card system is really cool. I look forward to seeing my favorite characters use thier spellcards, and the characters all appear in a unique manner that gives you the impression that they are something more than just "First level boss" or "Second-to-last Boss". Like the Prismriver sisters are interacting, have a score set to them that reflects them perfectly, and Patchouli in her library with her attacks and music really give you the impression that you are fighting a very powerfull magician in a magical library.
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Above all else, I like it for the characters and the fanart.
Then I like the games which I didn't expect to. I'm not good at video games, but I'm glad I'm not totally hopeless at Touhou.
I find the gameplay fun, challenging or relaxing (depending on what difficulty is set :p ) As a shooter, there aren't many keys I need to worry about, it's easy to start up and thankfully they're short with high replay value.
Third the music along with its doujin arrangements.
Lastly the doujinshi comics if I'm bored.
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The Touhou games are entertaining, but that's not why I got so obsessed with Touhou to begin with. It was a number of other things.
1: The music. The only game series I can think of that has music as consistently good as Touhou's is the Final Fantasy series. ZUN's compositions are both awesome and beautiful, and the remixes only add to the experience.
2: The setting. I love the setting of Gensokyo. It's so fresh and original compared to most other games. I can lose myself in a world like Gensokyo.
3: The series lends itself beautifully to fanon. From remixes to fanfics and fanarts and fangames, Touhou is an experience by the fans and for the fans. Sure, not all of the fanon is amazing, but it's another part of why I love it so much. (Also, Touhou inspired me to write epic-length fanfics again.)
4: The characters. "Oh, all girl characters; yeah, sucker in all the fanboys!" Normally, I don't fall for the marketing ploy of games filled with cute girls, but somehow, ZUN got to me; the girls of Touhou are just . . . adorable! And not only that, but many of them are really interesting too! Another part of the fun is seeing the many different interpretations of the characters.
In short, I like Touhou because the music makes me feel good, a lot of the fanon is awesome, the setting is fantastic, and one reason the setting is so fantastic is because it's full of cute girls as far as the eye can see! Oh, also, I don't normally sound this fanboy-ish, but Touhou can make me gush like a fanboy. Yeah.
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Touhou games have the best art I've ever seen in a video game.
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It's limitless. There will always be something new everyday. More so than other fandoms.
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It's a bullet hell, and the music kicks ass.
oh and lolis :PPP
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4: The characters. "Oh, all girl characters; yeah, sucker in all the fanboys!" Normally, I don't fall for the marketing ploy of games filled with cute girls, but somehow, ZUN got to me; the girls of Touhou are just . . . adorable! And not only that, but many of them are really interesting too! Another part of the fun is seeing the many different interpretations of the characters.
This does a better job describing how I like the characters than I did myself. Really I wasn't sure how I could mention it seriously with so many less than serious answers with nothing but "lolis" or whatever, but I tried anyway. It's not the most important reason why I love touhou (that as I mentioned would be the amazing amount and quality of fan-made stuff), but it's still very significant. I've always thought of myself as an admirer of feminine things, and Touhou is one of very few games that has alot of feminine without really TARGETTING males directly with it. For example Tomb raider or Dead or alive blatently target men in its own way, Touhou just isn't that way at all.
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The characters, the world/setting, the music, the game.
It's all pretty amazing when you think about it.
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The games.
The music.
The characters.
The porn.
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Touhou is awesome cause it sucks. The mundane stories, the awful ZUNart, the beautiful melodies ruined by ZUN's obsessive use of chirpy MIDI trumpets, etc.
The defining characteristic of Touhou is not the games, but the fanbase making stuff far superior to the games.
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Touhou is awesome cause it sucks. The mundane stories, the awful ZUNart, the beautiful melodies ruined by ZUN's obsessive use of chirpy MIDI trumpets, etc.
The defining characteristic of Touhou is not the games, but the fanbase making stuff far superior to the games.
Yeah but what about the official Anime?
*ducks*
Seriously, while I respect your opinion , and can even agree to it to a certain extent...Do you not think there's more to it than that? What makes the fanbase so loyal to begin with? There's a secret ingredient somewhere in there.
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There's a secret ingredient somewhere in there.
Lolis.
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Touhou is awesome cause it sucks. The mundane stories, the awful ZUNart, the beautiful melodies ruined by ZUN's obsessive use of chirpy MIDI trumpets, etc.
The defining characteristic of Touhou is not the games, but the fanbase making stuff far superior to the games.
You forgot the retarded fanbase and awful shmup gameplay
It's all about the lolis man
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You forgot the retarded fanbase and awful shmup gameplay
It's all about the lolis man
I wouldn't say that the entire fanbase is retarded just because some of us act more pathetic than even narutards and sonic fans.
And I actually quite like the gameplay. Many of the spell cards, especially in later games, are really creative. When compared to other shmups I've played, that is.
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Let's see. First of all, I'd like to start with my memories including shmups. I always liked them, but my childhood was mainly about one game: Tyrian. I just loved its music, its gameplay, and most importantly, the fact that it's a very long story with a detailed world. After this game, I never ever found a shmup similar to that, they were all short with no story at all. Until I found Touhou. So why I like Touhou?
1. The setting.
I just love the whole setting of the game. I was always fascinated by Japanese myths, but this is the best interpretation I have ever seen. Also, I like how everything fits together into one, slow, idillic place. Some people usually hear me saying that today's world is wrong, because I feel it is wrong, and I feel Gensokyo to be completely right. I just love how everything sounds childish and not at the same time. I love the ideals of this world setting, and the ideas about maintaining the utopian setting. I also like that things, what aren't normal, or go against Common Sense are totally normal in this world. Also flying. Damn, I'd like to do that, ever since I was able to fly naturally in my dreams. Who knows, maybe my dreams take place in a Gensokyo-like place without me realizing it? It is truly a wonderland.
2. The stories
Yeah, I like the laid back stories. I like that they are not really that serious. I like that they could be even stories for little kids. I just love them, and I love the canonical stories too, especially the ones about the Three Fairies.
My only problem is that they are too short. This is the only thing I don't like in Touhou games, that there are only 6-7 stages.
3. The characters
They are all a lovable bunch, and I like them despite them being cute and such. It's not a lustful thing to me, they are just plain awesome and real personalities. I also like how their personalities aren't said aloud in dialogues, but shown in the form of their danmaku and theme music.
4. The Music
When I was little, my mother was very concerned about the fact that I never liked music, only the music of movies and mainly, the music of video games. When I found out about Japanese Music, it fascinated me, and I thought "It's just like video game music, only with lyrics!" And when I found Touhou, I was blown away. It is video game music, and very good video game music, considering how the soundtracks of today's video games are all lacking. And thanks to the fans, it can be really a "video game music with lyrics".
5. The gameplay
I still say this: This is the most fairest game of all time. No fake difficulty, no tricks, no rules to put you into disadvantage, only rules to help you. When you suck at it, it's your fault, not the game who wants to fail you. The best kind of game.
6. The Danmaku
Ho boy. They are beautiful. And the fact that they basically tell us the personality of the characters to fight with, it's awesome. I mean, I can't really like a character in Touhou 'till I fought with them. Why would I like her, if I don't even Know her? It was the case with Koishi: I never liked her, I never knew her, so I couldn't like her, because how much time it took me to even 1cc SA Normal. But when I finally did, and I could fight with her (even though I haven't defeated her yet), now I know her much better, and I started to like her. This is the language of Danmaku, what makes people to know each other.
The only thing I don't like is most of the Fanon material in the story department is usually either silly, stupid, goes against canon or all of them. I am a person who likes the Canon of Touhou, and I don't really like the kind of Fanon that goes against that. But I like those Fanon ideas very much what can go well with the Canon.
Oh yeah, ZUN is an awesome fellow, I think I can understand him very well.
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To take apart the series:
Setting - Japan, man. It's Japan. That means it's good.
Stories - Lolis shoot each other.
Characters - Lolis. Can't go wrong with that one.
Music - It works, nice sync with the stages, some of them are really cool but it's just...not shmup enough for me :V
Gameplay - Doesn't work as a shmup, but...it's playable...somewhat. And you can be the little girl.
Danmaku - Danmaku...or whatever you weeaboos like to call it
Too much shiny, not enough functionality.
All in all:
Lolis.
the soundtracks of today's video games are all lacking
God Hand.
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God Hand.
You're supposed to link this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAga2AjfZlg) when you say that =P
also, what's up with them lolis? I guess I still have much to learn ~~
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considering how the soundtracks of today's video games are all lacking. And thanks to the fans, it can be really a "video game music with lyrics".
Shoji Meguro.
I'm sorry but, Divine Identity (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTblt_HGzTA&feature=related)...damn.
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random analysis
You forgot the porn.
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You forgot the porn.
Nah, I think he deliberately left it out. Why analyze something that's pretty much focusing on the same thing anyway :V
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I like Touhou because it brings us together. You know, all these wonderful and funny people at CPMC and irc, and our artists and writers. All here thanks to toohoo, don't need to go further than shrinemaiden.org to cheer up when you're on internet.
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Just a reminder that this thread's for discussing what you like about Touhou; it is not your personal sandbox to pee in. Those who insist on shitting in this thread will be dealt with. It's not funny, it's tiresome, and my patience is worn thin. Consider this your only warning.
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The lolis kick ass, the music kicks ass, the games are fun, the fanworks... and some of the darker side :V
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Mostly the music, the addictive quality, and the ridiculous character base.
the soundtracks of today's video games are all lacking.
Go listen to something by Sakuraba (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rc1_OhoCiE) or Meguro (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGUGAHTPcak) or Shimomura (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oePKvP7qvmI), unenlightened one.
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all that music form console games
Yeeeeah, I think I was a PC gamer for too long. Hmm God Hand, I have that, but haven't tried it yet.
Carry on the ontopicness.
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music is pretty cool
the world is vague enough to let everyone play around with it as they please
characters are as fun as hell to draw
the doujin community can produce incredible things
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I've never gotten that much into the whole Touhou fandom thing. I mainly like some fangames and music (I'm even currently listening to this (http://24.186.167.160:9999/playlist.cgi)). I'm more of a general shmup fan. Touhou still has special place in my heart because I usually like games based on their general mood and feel and in this aspect Touhou is pretty unique among shmups. The awesome soundtrack and bullet patterns that put visuals before functionality all work to create something that's pretty much a work of art. Many arcade shmups have stuff that is easily better designed gameplay-wise but won't usually reach Touhou in the general feel of things.
You're supposed to link this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAga2AjfZlg) when you say that =P
Oh god what is this? I want to play it!
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Oh god what is this? I want to play it!
The best game ever
It plays almost like a shmup with fists.
If you can, buy it as soon as you see it :V
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Go listen to something by Sakuraba (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rc1_OhoCiE) or Meguro (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGUGAHTPcak) or Shimomura (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oePKvP7qvmI), unenlightened one.
Yes.
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considering how the soundtracks of today's video games are all lacking.
I guess this means Final Fantasy 10 doesn't cut it as today's video games. What about those Kingdom Hearts games, though? And even TWEWY? And what about Pokemon? They've got good stuff in HG/SS!
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I'm surprised no one mentioned Supreme Commander's (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahY6iSeFuXc) music. I am disappointed
at you console fags.
Not too sure about consoles, but PC games are littered with great music pieces. DoW (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXJQGYxisI&feature=related) and SoaSE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs89QkgzSCY&feature=related) anyone?
While Touhou music is pretty neat and catchy, it is not the greatest music in video game history.
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I'm surprised no one mentioned Supreme Commander's (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahY6iSeFuXc) music. I am disappointed at you console fags.
Not too sure about consoles, but PC games are littered with great music pieces. DoW (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXJQGYxisI&feature=related) and SoaSE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs89QkgzSCY&feature=related) anyone?
While Touhou music is pretty neat and catchy, it is not the greatest music in video game history.
That's where the arranges and remixes come in.
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Yeeeeah, I think I was a PC gamer for too long. Hmm God Hand, I have that, but haven't tried it yet.
Carry on the ontopicness.
Ignorance. Most games you all mention are all console games, or recent games on PC (with the exception of DoW.) >:(
And stay on topic dammit.
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I like Touhou because of the girls. Period.
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I like Touhou because the music is awesome.
The danmaku patterns are fun to dodge...although I always go Pichu~n on Easy Mode.
The lolis.
And as said, because of the girl's period.
...and sometimes, the art.
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The open-ended nature of Gensokyo's world itself is a veritable gold mine for a writer like me.
The musical arrangements by all the fans - and the sheer staggering number of fans, period... not just the music fans, but the Touhou fans altogether. That massive number, and the number of musical remixes... it blows my mind.
And finally, the reaction I get out of my friends when I show them the curtain-fire gameplay (usually by firing up IN or PCB and opening up the preloaded score.dat replays) is always amazing.
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I'd be lying if I didn't admit that it is mostly thanks to the music that I became a fan of the Touhou series. ZUN's musical pieces are the very embodiment of my musical genre of choice to listen to, although I like to play around a little bit with playback speeds, bass boosts and pitches. That pansy "metal" genre of music has got nothing on my enhanced Touhou tunes. :V
And it's not like ZUN's managed to produce only a couple of smashing themes, oh no - to date I have found hidden super-gems within every one of his games, although I do favour the Windows series over the PC-98 when it comes to the music. I'm also rather slow when it comes to making my way through an entire series since I tend to stick with a select game or two for long periods of time. Hence I've only just now - despite having been a fan of Touhou for about a year and a half - discovered the majestic glory of Utsuho's theme, "Nuclear Fusion". And it is good~ :smug:
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I have simple reasons.
1. The Touhou games (including fangames) are really good.
2. I like lolis. Enough said.
3. The Touhou fanbase has reached levels of craziness that makes any other fanbase look downright lazy.
4. ZUN ART IS BEST ART
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Characters, music, fan work, and all that jazz. Also cause flying through bullets is fun. And I find it funny when you win by not shooting at them once and letting the time run out.
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I must be in the minority of Touhou fans that never were/aren't fans of loli girls. Yeah, weird.
Anyways, I love Touhou for the fun (and rage-tastic) gameplay, the amazing music, and the unique atmosphere of Gensokyo. I also really love to see how ZUN continues to create unique girls with their own personality quirks. The sheer number of characters in the series is ridiculous, but it is even more ridiculous that they are all unique.
The fanbase continuously blows my mind as well. I have never seen such a committed fanbase. No other series has groups dedicated to just remixing and rearranging songs from the games. No other series as this vast of an amount of fangames, fanart, and everything else under the sun. The dedication of the Touhou fanbase just blows my mind.
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I must be in the minority of Touhou fans that never were/aren't fans of loli girls. Yeah, weird.
You don't like lolis still? you heartless ^$##^.
As I said, I didn't even know what a loli was before Touhou, and I've always particularly disliked especially young characters in most videogames (Momo in Xenosaga was the ONLY example where I liked the young character, Jr became pretty decent too after 1). But after Touhou, I've come to accept and even look forward to a some loli in my games.
But to clarify, you do NOT like the loli-touch in Touhou? I mean it doesn't have to be something that decides whether you like the series as a whole or not, I know it's not for me, but it's still something I enjoy. If that's the case, I really suggest we burn you to a stake or something >=P
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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.
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Music, pretty patterns, fun variety of characters and those indescribable moments where it all goes right after so much frustrating practice.
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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...)
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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.
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"you must have memorized this much of the game to pass" bullshit.
:getdown:
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Bah, ignore me, I'm permagrumpy over consistent failure.
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?
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Admit it, you just suck at shmups :getdown:
EDIT: no donut
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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.
I'd reply to lumber/Banana, but I think we've had quite enough of those inane memorization/skill shitfests.
:derp:
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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)
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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:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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I'd say... The weird people playing it. (besides the basics)
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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.
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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.
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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? )
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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?).
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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.
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"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.
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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?
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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.
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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).
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Characters, music, and If I could get my hands on the games, the gameplay.
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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.
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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.
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THE MUSIC THE MUSIC THE MUSIC THE MUSIC. My life revolves around music. I study musical theory, and hope to go into music major when I get older. When I found out about how awesome touhou music is, I immediately downloaded all the games and soundtracks. Honestly, it's some of the best music I've ever heard. Still, a lot of the doujin music circles take the amazing songs and make them amazing-er.. I LOVE YOU, ZUN.
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Please read the stickies, thanks ...
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PORN AND MUSIC
Seriously, I think I posted in a similar thread with a more serious answer. Hmm... Should I dig it up?
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The Touhou never get boring, besides, always has something fun to show us, and the MUSIC IS SO AWESOME!!!!!!!!!
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New guy here. Hoping I can still post in this topic.
For me, there are a few reasons why I've become obsessed with Touhou:
1. The characters.
No form of media has provided characters I'm so interested in. The characters are surprisingly open to interpretation, which has its good and bad points. Such are the reasons why I've become so entranced with Flandre, Alice, and Koishi, for instance.
2. The music.
I got into Touhou by listening to arranges from Crow's Claw. After a while, I decided to try out EoSD, and...yeah. I've never seen a series of games with such glorious music.
3. The fanbase.
All the different fangames, stories, and music offer so much that the games leave open. Excluding certain character interpretations that I could easily do without (Psychotic serial killer RANDOM Flandre, for instance), the fans have provided a veritable goldmine of opportunity.
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I love Touhou because of this: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/7954270
What other fanbase is this dedicated? Zun's talent, and the fan's passion...
Work so harmoniously together.
*sigh* Just get married, the two of you. You two make such a cute couple.
Of course, there are many more reasons, especially with art, but I want to give a shout out to all talented Touhou fans out there:
I LOVE YOU!!!
Continue what you're doing! It's great!