Official Rate the Game Difficulties Thread! [Done for now.]

[iVAwalys]

obviously inspired by this thread  :V

It has probably been done already, but here it is...
In this thread, we're going to decide which games in the series are the hardest, and which are the easiest. I'm only ranking the official bullet hell shooters, so no fighters like SWR and Hisou.

Rules:
1. Place your personal hardest game at first place, second hardest at second, and so on...
2. Every week, we're rating higher difficulties.
3, No fighters, spin-offs, fan-made games, photography games, Impossible Spell Card, Great Fairy Wars and PC-98 games.
4. Try to respect other peoples' opinions.
5. You don't HAVE to comment on every single entry. Feel free to do so if you want though.
6. Do not leave out on any game.
7. Troll ratings will NOT be counted.
8. Images are allowed.
9. You can be a little salty in your posts, just don't overdose!
10. Number your list from 1st place-10th place.

Alright, that's enough formality, time to rank!

Easy:

1. LoLK - 1.77
2. UFO - 2.33
3. PCB - 3.78
3. SA - 3.78
4. DDC - 5.56
5. PoFV - 6.89
6. EoSD - 7.00
7. MoF - 7.22
8. TD - 7.44
9. IN - 9.22

Normal:

1. SA - 2.88
1. UFO - 2.88
1. LoLK - 2.88
2. PoFV - 5.19
3. EoSD - 5.69
4. PCB - 5.88
5. DDC - 6.38
6. TD - 7.19
7. MoF - 7.56
8. IN - 8.47

Hard:

1. UFO - 1.50
2. LoLK - 2.50
3. DDC - 4.75
4. SA - 4.88
4. PoFV - 4.88
5. TD - 5.63
6. EoSD - 6.38
7. PCB - 7.38
8. IN - 8.13
8. MoF - 8.13

Lunatic:

1. UFO - 1.80
2. LoLK - 2.87
3. EoSD - 4.47
4. SA - 4.53
5. PoFV - 5.27
6. DDC - 5.53
7. PCB - 7.27
8. TD - 7.53
9. IN - 7.60
10. MoF - 8.13

Extra:

1. LoLK - 2.82
2. SA - 3.91
3. EoSD - 4.00
4. UFO - 4.45
5. TD - 4.73
6. PCB - 5.73
7. DDC - 5.90
8. MoF - 7.00
9. IN - 7.09

Overall:

1. UFO - 2.13
2. LoLK - 2.51
3. SA - 4.02
4. DDC - 5.56
5. PoFV - 5.57
6. EoSD - 5.89
7. PCB - 6.08
8. TD - 6.95
9. MoF - 7.76
10. IN - 8.36

[iVAwalys]

first  :V

1. LoLK - Easy in this game is pretty much the same as Normal, only some spell cards and bullet densities are different.
2. UFO - Resource management.
3. DDC - RESOURCE MANAGEMENT.
4. SA - It's one of the denser Easy Modes in the series.
5. PCB - Again, pretty dense bullet patterns.
6. EoSD - I have no idea why so many people recommend to start with this game. It's choppy and full of bad RNG.
7. PoFV
8. MoF - THIS is the game I recommend for newcomers. Imperishable Night is easier in terms of pure difficulty, but this one is the most straight-forward, with no strange mechanics.
9. IN
10. TD - There are no bullets in TD Easy Mode. None. I literally passed 3 stages of it without having to dodge a single bullet. The mechanics are not very noob-friendly though.

[Marbychu]

Alright, I'll rank these as that one guy who only plays Easy Modo because I suck at Touhou. That is me.

1. UFO - I never made it past Stage 2 until recently. Then I only made it to Stage 3.
2. SA - Never beaten it, but I did get to Utsuho's very last spell.
3. PCB - I've seen people say this is one of the easier Touhou games. They must be talking about other difficulties compared to other games, because Easy is... not fun. Stage 4 in particular is a nightmare (though I think it is no matter what). PRISMRIVERS...
4. LoLK - I thought this was actually pretty hard, but part of that is because I was playing on Pointdevice so I only had one life. Clownpiece and Junko were frustrating beyond belief. My second run was easier because I managed my bombs better.
5. DDC - I agree, resource management.
6. TD - I might have to try your suggestion of not trying to dodge, because I had some trouble with TD. Stages 3 and 4 in particular were nightmarish to me.
7. EoSD - It's not all that bad honestly, the hard part is not being able to see your hitbox, but you can fix that with a patch if you don't mind not being able to upload your score. And really, if you're playing on Easy, why would you care about score?
8. MoF - Not too bad, made it through this game with not many problems.
9. PoFV - The only bad part about this is Eiki. I have never beaten her without a continue on Easy, but everything else? Pretty smooth sailing.
10. IN - My favorite game is also the easiest IMO. This is the game I play again and again because I know I can do it with relative ease.

Yes I know I suck at these games.

6. EoSD - I have no idea why so many people recommend to start with this game. It's choppy and full of bad RNG.

I personally do this because it's the first in the series not counting PC-98. My recommendation has nothing to do with mechanics, but I always tell people if they want to start off easy to start with IN.

[Uruwi]

LoLK (Clownpiece) > UFO (just general difficulty) > SA (hardly played Easy at all but Normal was hard so I'd infer Easy is too) > PCB > DDC > TD > PoFV > MoF > EoSD (only 5 stages) > IN (a joke.)

[Jimmy]

I think this kinda Touhou rating thing has recently become quite entertaining, so I'm gonna hop in as well.

1. PCB: To be honest, I had the most trouble getting through this game on easy than in any other installment. Stage 4 onwards rather feels like normal, and Youmu's dense patterns combined with the sword slash mechanics finished me off a good lot of times.
2. UFO: The UFO mechanics make it pretty tricky to gather resources in this game, and the patterns are quite fast-paced from stage 3 onwards. Took me the second longest for a 1cc, main obstacles were Murasa and Shou.
3. SA: Stage 5 and Orin were, and still are, a nightmare to get through. Spent most of my attempts on her to 1cc easy mode.
4. EoSD: Wonky hitboxes made my life quite an odyssey. Pattern-wise it's actually fairly doable on the first attempts.
5. LoLK: Not actually really hard, I manage to 1cc this quite consistently after breaking the barriers that were Clownpiece's nonspells and first spell.
6. PoFV: Darn it, Eiki-sama!
7. DDC: All hail the POC bonuses! They make this game a lot easier than it seems.
8. MoF: Smooth sailing until Kanako's last two spells. Virtue of a Wind God
9. TD: Somewhat hard to gather resources, otherwise nice and easy except the stage portion of stage 5.
10. IN: Pretty much the easiest game for me out of all. Even though Reisen was a pain, I needed the least attempts here to do a 1cc.

[Monarda]

As a EoSD/PCB player, i can also say that IMO PCB Easy is harder than EoSD Easy (Just 5 stages is the game's way of telling you "You gotta do better than that if you wanna progress storywise."

[yomichiyu]

Haven't played in a long time so let's see what I remembered.

1.LoLK - Once stage 3 came into play, it just got serious. And of course, Clownpiece. You're cute and likable and all, but just.....no.
2. UFO - Those damn lasers. Overall difficulty was bit easier but still pretty tough, especially once Byakuren came in.
3. PCB - Really hard to choose between this and SA. But this wins due to stage 4 being more difficult. And bit harder for me to adapt to the gameplay since I played 10 and above much more than the others.
4. SA - Challenging but I always found Satori's stage to be quite easy. Orin and Okuu makes up for it though.
5. DDC - In the middle difficulty, not too hard, not too easy. Although Seija's reverse controls mechanic does make it bit more challenging.
6. IN - It was quite easy, except for the troll that is Reimu and Marisa, but I found the below games even easier.
7. MoF - Best game for a Touhou newcomer. Until they get to Kanako's last spellcard  :3
8. TD - Pretty easy to play, even without the spirits mechanic. Of course, stage 5 and 6 (and their respective bosses) does get bit tricky, but easier than the above.
9. PoFV - Except for Eiki and maybe Komachi (can't remember if she was hard or easy), it's a breeze for me. Just gotta keep dodging and use the charges wisely.
10. EoSD - I barely play this at all, as I find the game to be way overrated. Only thing I remembered was that I almost fell asleep while playing it.

[Drake]

You should probably change the title to "Official Rate the Game Difficulties Thread", as the current title implies its goal is some sort of forum-declared official ranking, unlike the previous thread just suggesting it was a thread where people rate things. The former is much more troublesome and reflects badly.

[ZM]

Judging this completely by observation, I suppose. From scoring comments here and there.

1. LoLK - Stage 5 is went shit goes down. Some of Clownpiece's and Junko's spells might be a bit intense for Easy mode. Kisara does some really interesting tricks in his Easy score runs, so those are kinda neat to watch.
2. PCB - At some points there's little difference between Easy and Normal. Patterns from Youmu and Yuyuko seem quite dense for Easy mode. This game has amazing scoring on this mode, too. It's really interesting to watch, I recommend downloading a few replays here.
3. MoF - Kanako's final two spells alone put this above the others.
4. UFO - Mechanic can be tough to get into for newbies. As for this game's scoring, it's fun to watch someone like KG take this category far.
5. SA - Watching Morth score this is fun.
6. DDC
7. PoFV - haven't played this game ever but this is a good estimate
8. TD
9. EoSD
10. IN - lmao

[iVAwalys]

You should probably change the title to "Official Rate the Game Difficulties Thread", as the current title implies its goal is some sort of forum-declared official ranking, unlike the previous thread just suggesting it was a thread where people rate things. The former is much more troublesome and reflects badly.

Done.
Honestly, I'm waiting for the Hard Mode week. This is the difficulty I could rant about forever, since I play it the most. Had to start with Easy though.

[Monarda]

Just a suggestion, but maybe we should also rate the Extra stages too later ?

[Failure McFailFace]

1. LoLK
2. UFO
3. TD
4. SA
5. PoFV
6. MoF
7. PCB
8. IN
9. EoSD
10. DDC

[iVAwalys]

Just a suggestion, but maybe we should also rate the Extra stages too later ?

Actually, that's a great idea!
I'm adding it to the main post. Extra will not be counted to "Overall" though.

EDIT:

LoLK -> UFO -> SA -> TD -> PoFV -> PCB -> IN -> EoSD -> DDC

EDIT: Wait, this is Easy Mode? Well, my game difficulties will be the same for all modes, barring Extra if we ever do that.

You kind of forgot to place MoF on the list. :V
Yes, this is Easy Mode. The difficulty spikes between difficulty levels are different in every installment of the series, so it's worth to separate the ranks into Easy, Normal, Hard and Lunatic.

EDIT 2:
I kinda forgot to add a rule. Please number all your lists from now on. It will be easier to calculate.

[Mikuru]

So, does one need to have played all the games to contribute to this? I've.... only played two. But I have watched all the others on Youtube.

[Monarda]

So, does one need to have played all the games to contribute to this? I've.... only played two. But I have watched all the others on Youtube.

As long as you have valid reasons, i'd say it's alright, but playing it yourself is the best way to form an opinion, i can't say much about stuff other than EoSD or PCB because it would take another miracle to get another game of the series, since i don't want to do "that".

[TableCloth]

1. LoLK - one word: Clownpiece.
2. DDC - as someone said before, resource management. Oh, and Sukuna.
3. PCB - not much of difference between easy modo and normal modo. Like, wut the fak
4. UFO - at least we have more resource here than DDC. Byakuren is also an easier boss than Sukuna.
5. EoSD - no hitbox sprite, difficult resource management, Patchouli and Sakuya. This one is rather low simply because easy modo only have 5 stages.
6. SA - I have easier time 1cc'ing this than EoSD somewhat.
7. PoFV - Randomness.
8. TD - Overly difficult resource management, but otherwise easy patterns.
9. MoF - Everything was so easy, and then come Kanako.
10. IN - lol.

[Lollipop]

1. LoLK - Lots of things that are hard about this game, but specifically Clownpiece and Junko.
2. UFO - Those dumb UFOs make me angry. Also Shou's lasers are the stuff of legend.
3. SA - Lots of bullets.
4. EoSD - The only hard thing is that there's no hitbox. They also give you less lives.
5. PoFV - Not difficult per se but random.
6. PCB - Meh.
7. DDC - While the danmaku might be more than the other games, DDC hands out lives and bombs like candy.
8. MoF - You get an ungodly amount of bombs in this game. Kanako is actually quite hard, especially the final 3 spells.
9. TD - I almost switched MoF & TD, but then again, if you don't have good bomb reflexes, then those bombs are kinda useless.
10. IN - No comment needed.

[iVAwalys]

Alright, Easy Modo week ended, and we've got the results:

1. LoLK - 1.7777777777778
2. UFO - 2.3333333333333
3. PCB - 3.7777777777778
3. SA - 3.7777777777778
4. DDC - 5.5555555555556
5. PoFV - 6.8888888888889
6. EoSD - 7
7. MoF - 7.2222222222222
8. TD - 7.4444444444444
9. IN - 9.2222222222222

We actually got a tie between PCB and SA! Also, I know that these decimal numbers look pretty messy, but they're really important at ranking the games, so they're staying.

It's time for Normal Mode!

1. LoLK - It dethroned SA by A LONG SHOT. Some say Normal in this game is harder than Lunatic, and it really seems to be the case for me. ZUN didn't really do a good job at difficulty balancing while he was making this game...
2. SA - It's infamous for it's insane Normal Mode difficulty.
3. UFO - This is the game I beat the last on Normal, until LoLK came out. I didn't even beat LoLK on Normal yet :V
4. DDC - Resources are easy to get, albeit the mechanics make you bump into everything on-screen you would normally just dodge.
5. PoFV - Eiki is pretty goddamn difficulty on Normal. If you don't have at least 3 lives when you face her, you might as well just restart, because her AI becomes beatable after she had seen you suffer enough.
6. EoSD - It's much more bearable without input lag, so go strap on that VSync, unless you want to get clipped by clunky hitboxes.
7. PCB - The patterns are pretty dense, but it's still pretty bearable and often even static.
8. MoF - It's standard, straightforward and easy.
9. TD - It's one of the first Touhou games I beat on Normal.
10. IN - A joke on Normal Mode. Stage 4 might be a pain if you're not prepared enough.

[Mikuru]

Also, I know that these decimal numbers look pretty messy, but they're really important at ranking the games, so they're staying.

But why not round to two decimal places? We would need to have over 100 voters before that fails to disambiguate, which is in the realm of "not happening".

[TresserT]

1) LoLK- Normal isn't really harder than Lunatic, though I can see why people would say that. Clownpiece really does have a few patterns that are harder, and less bullets means less grazing, so less lives. This game becomes ridiculously harder if you don't like to bomb.

2) SA- the patterns are difficult for normal mode. The resource system means you actually have to be decent at dodging to get lives- you can't cheese the game by riding your stocked up lives the way you can in UFO or DDC.

3) PoFV- I really don't play this game enough to give it an accurate rating. But I know Eiki is insane on every difficulty, so I'll put it here.

4) DDC- The super random patterns are stupid in concept, but the low density makes them doable. The resource system requires risky gameplay, but you can get a ton of resources and cheese through the harder bosses. No bombing isn't too hard here as a result.

5) PCB- As far as patterns go, this one is just slightly easier than SA. But you get flooded with so many lives and supernatural borders that you can 1cc without a problem. You don't even have to work for your resources- they just come to you. Becomes significantly harder if you don't like bombing.

6) UFO- the resource system is ridiculous. Like DDC, you can hypothetically get a ton of resources, but you have to do a lot of risky gameplay. However, unlike DDC, nothing is challenging until the 5th boss. So just build up your resources early, then ride them through those two bosses.

7) EoSD- nothing too challenging. A few tricky patterns involving fireballs and knives with weird hitboxes, but still. It's an easy 1cc if you like bombing, and not that hard even if you don't.

8 ) TD- Resources are limited, but the patterns are stupidly easy. Memorize the best places to trance and you're golden. Even if you don't memorize everything, you can still do this easily.

9) IN- Take PCB's extend spam. Give every player 3 bombs per life (or a few extra, if you play as Scarlets or Netherworld). Give a minute long deathbomb timer. The patterns are mildly harder than MoF, but they aren't that bad and you get so many lives it doesn't matter.

10) MoF- The patterns are dense but not difficult at all. This game is easy to no bomb- Kanako has maybe 2 patterns that are difficult. So one might think "this game has easy patterns, but limits your resources to make it moee challenging"? Nope. You have limited lives like in EoSD, but you get so much power that you can bomb every pattern and still 1cc with lives to spare.

[ZM]

waiting for Hards and Lunatics patiently
haven't even touched Normal Modo outside of some scoring stuff in a long while, but:

1. LoLK - Clownpiece's first two spells, wow. XD Junko's not really a slouch, either, by Normal mode standards. The scoring here is probably the most appealing in the game, for some reason, due to quite a few interesting tricks that can be pulled off.
2. SA - For newcomers, just substantial jump from Easy to Normal is the most significant of the Easy -> Normal jumps.
3. UFO
4. PoFV - (good estimation, I think)
5. MoF
6. EoSD
7. DDC
8. TD
9. PCB
10. IN - lmao

[Monarda]

Edit: This one won't be counted towards the rating results as it only regards the games i have access to without "that", however be free to say if it makes sense or not !

Well, this is where i have the bigger knowledge.

This time, EoSD is harder than PCB IMO, the lack of a character hitbox marker when focusing coupled up with frustrating danmaku hitboxes (i'm permanently fearful of knifes and bubble danmaku because of it.) and default 5x5 pixels hitbox for Reimu made it rather tough for me to get started, patterns were a problem in Patchouli too, cause Reimu B, and the game isn't as generous with it's resources as PCB.

I know it likely is because i started in EoSD and only went to PCB after 1cc normal and Extras on that were done, but the PCB 1cc normsl took just 2 days of practice.

I'm still nowhere close to the skill and knowledge of you guys, this is just what went on with me and my arguments about why that happened, i'm sure there are flaws here.

Wow, i went a bit overboard, sorry guys. :ohdear:

[iVAwalys]

But why not round to two decimal places? We would need to have over 100 voters before that fails to disambiguate, which is in the realm of "not happening".

I was going to do just that at first, but then I saw the SA-PCB tie and thought that rounding it up would make people think I missed a decimal of something. I might want to change that now.

EDIT: Got it. (gosh i'm unprofessional :V)

Well, this is where i have the bigger knowledge.

This time, EoSD is harder than PCB IMO, the lack of a character hitbox marker when focusing coupled up with frustrating danmaku hitboxes (i'm permanently fearful of knifes and bubble danmaku because of it.) and default 5x5 pixels hitbox for Reimu made it rather tough for me to get started, patterns were a problem in Patchouli too, cause Reimu B, and the game isn't as generous with it's resources as PCB.

I know it likely is because i started in EoSD and only went to PCB after 1cc normal and Extras on that were done, but the PCB 1cc normsl took just 2 days of practice.

I'm still nowhere close to the skill and knowledge of you guys, this is just what went on with me and my arguments about why that happened, i'm sure there are flaws here.

Wow, i went a bit overboard, sorry guys. :ohdear:

Sorry, but I'm afraid I can't count you in. You have to rank all 10 games. Only ranking two gives them an unfair advantage.

[Monarda]

EDIT: Got it. (gosh i'm unprofessional :V)

Sorry, but I'm afraid I can't count you in. You have to rank all 10 games. Only ranking two gives them an unfair advantage.

I understand, it's the right thing to do, just don't pretend it doesn't exists though !!!

And i don't think you are unprofessional, remember, it's just like Touhou, self-improvement !

But yea, fine with me, but are my arguments at least sound ? Or is it wonky ?

[Failure McFailFace]

1. LoLK
2. UFO
3. TD
4. SA
5. PoFV
6. MoF
7. PCB
8. IN
9. EoSD
10. DDC

it's exactly the same for me

all the time

[LunaWillow]

Oooh nice, I couldn't rate the shottypes in the shottype thread as I usually stick to two chosen ones, but here I can tell some stuff. Even though I am so rusty in Touhou I would probably get destroyed in IN normal I missed easy modo, sad face

1. LoLK - just, no. I still haven't beaten it, this game is a torture and should b legally banned, someone should burn Junko and Clownpiece, because they are the worst. THE. WORST. I STILL haven't 1cc'd it, and it's been almost a year. Jesus.
2. UFO - God, that game was horrible. I had such problems beating it, the bullets are killer here. I mean, who cares you have 9 lives if you loose 12 every stage?
3. TD - if anyone thinks TD is easy, fight me. I just hate this game's mechanics. It is literally the only Touhou game that had me frustrated, and I couldn't get through it for weeks. And I still can't. Avjiovajviaojva;vavfd.
4. DDC - this game is hard.
5. SA - honestly, I never had such problems with SA as I had with UFO or TD. It's still hard, though.
6. PCB - I don't really think this one is that hard, it might be my memory getting jagged. But it's still challenging, and I really dislike Merlin's guts.
7. EoSD - time shenanigans. Eh.
8. MoF - this one took me like two tries to beat? It's so easy.
9. PoFV - okay, after the amounts of times I have beaten this game, I must admit I am very biased. I'm just addicted to it at this point.
10. IN - no suprise there.

[Nameschonvergeben]

9) IN- Take PCB's extend spam. Give every player 3 bombs per life (or a few extra, if you play as Scarlets or Netherworld). Give a minute long deathbomb timer. The patterns are mildly harder than MoF, but they aren't that bad and you get so many lives it doesn't matter.

Actually you get 10 lifes in IN, which is exactly one more than EoSD and much fewer than PCB, the ressource that you do get a lot compared to other games is bombs. Of course there are also the deathbombs on top of that and just IN being IN, so it's still easy

[Raikaria]

1: LoLK - The game is based around the effectively infinite lives and checkpoint mechanic of it's alternate game mode. As a standard 1CC it's insane and I can't even clear Stage 3.
2: SA - Very close between this and UFO for me, as both have the same stopping point [Stage 4 boss]. But I get to Murasa and sometimes past her more often than I get to Satori and past her.
3: UFO - See Above
4: PoFV - The rubber band difficulty that really kicks in on the Medi/Aya/Yuuka fights onwards really hurts. Especially against Eiki if you made it that far 1CC.
5: PCB - I'm about 50/50 at getting to Stage 5 here. Never got past Youmu.
6: EoSD - I can usually get to Sakuya. Getting past her is about 40/60. When I make it to Remi I can get a couple of spellcards in.
7: DDC - I almost always get to Sukana who is a big difficulty spike and kicks my butt. On my first attempt I made it to Seija. Strangely enough the Stage 4 which is usually the hardest normal stage was a cakewalk for me here.
8: IN - 1CC'ed. Havily depends on the team you choose however for me since I struggle like mad v Marisa but Reimu is cake for me. Took a lot more attempts for me to 1CC this than MoF.
9: MoF - 1CC'ed; was my first 1CC but it took me more tries than #10 to do. The only real holdups were Aya and Kanako.
10: TD: I 1 CC'ed this in only a few tries and got to Miko on my first run. I might have 1CC'ed first time if I didn't derpily waste lives with bombs still around picking up spirits.

I love the fact that everyone seems to have similar opinions... except on TD.

[Sakurei]

1. PoFV: Impossible game. I couldn't get a decent clear for the life of mine. It also never ends. You will be stuck in eternal limbo with Eiki until the day you die and she judges your sins. Probably the hardest shmup of all time, tbh.
2. PCB: Almost impossible game. It doesn't go on for forever but I'll be damned if the patterns don't make me weep uncontrollably when I play.
3. EoSD: You only get like no lives and the ones you do get are forfeited from the beginning. EoSD doesn't let you win. Cruel game.
4. UFO: Ichirin is impossible. Not allowed to make (m)any mistakes to boot. A truly horrifying thought.
5. TD: XXC but getting to the C part is sometimes really hard. Would probably game over 8 out of 10 times.
6. SA: Dying means reset. But at least you get a lot of bombs to press X.
7. MoF: Same as SA except with even more x pressing.
8. IN: All static until Kags and until then you have enough lives saved up.
9. DDC: You get like 20 lives, what could possibly go wrong?
10. LoLK: You get like 30 lives unless you avoid graze on purpose. I haven't seen something this free since that one time the pizza delivery guy gave me my pizza and left without taking my money first.

[iVAwalys]

1. PoFV: Impossible game. I couldn't get a decent clear for the life of mine. It also never ends. You will be stuck in eternal limbo with Eiki until the day you die and she judges your sins. Probably the hardest shmup of all time, tbh.

PoFV isn't even close to being the hardest shmup of all time. Even if it did, there's still Phantamsagoria of Dim. Dream, which is much, MUCH harder. Eiki is only hard because the rubber band difficulty is at near-maximum in the last stage. My strategy is to get as many lives as you can get, and then face Eiki. It's nigh impossible to beat her with a single life, but after you lose at least two, she starts to weaken a bit. It's like tiring her out.