Things you Hate/Like about Touhou

[Tengukami]

Huh. I think on the whole I find a lot of bullets are indeed flying right at me most of the time. Not that bullets aimed at you necessarily means harder, as you say - ZUN tosses in aesthetic effects that I like looking at more than a spray of bullets in multiple beam formation, and that make me change up how I'm playing.

It certainly does effect how you play other shmups, too. I really like the eXceed series, for example, and I'm basically streaming left and right, stage after stage. Play that for a while and then open up one from the Touhou series, and you really feel a difference.

[WanderingKnight]

Just about every stage 1 of every Windows Touhou game is nothing but aimed patterns.  In fact, the vast majority of Touhou stages are nothing but aimed patterns, usually in the form of a stream aimed at your hitbox that can be simply tap-dodged.  What are you talking about?

Huh? I'm seriously trying to think here but I don't think aimed patterns are common. Or at least as commonplace as in most other shmups out there. There are several sections which rely heavily on it (for example, a lot of PCB stage 4), but most of times it's static or randomized patterns in the form of walls (PCB stage 5, most of IN stage 4, IN stage 5), etc. Or at least that's the impression I get.

I might be wrong. I'm not a shmup expert by any means, it's just a random observation I think has a lot to do with the differences between Touhou and the rest of the danmaku shooters, Cave in particular, but it just might be a wrong impression. I'd have to sit down and analyze it in more detail. Of course there are a couple of other factors (bullet speed in particular) which are also part of the differences. Also, I really don't pay too much attention to bullets in stages 1 in Touhou because they're all so damn boring.

It feels... kinda the opposite to me, actually. From what I've played of Cave STGs, most of the challenge comes from bullets going in every direction, making you maneuver through a "field" of danmaku.

I think that impression has more to do with the fact that, most of the time, you're confronted with bullets aimed at you but slightly randomized so it's not just a matter of tapping to the sides.

[Aisha]

I don't think that the difference between Touhou and Cave (and most other arcade shooters, really) can really be described in terms of bullet patterns because there is going to be a lot of ambiguous overlap. Both are going to have aimed bullets and static spreads; both are going to have slow bullets and fast bullets; and both are going to have geometric bullet patterns and random sprays. It's what the games do with these elements that makes the difference, which I think can be summarized with the word "relentlessness". I'm not sure if it's something that can be truly realized without actually playing both and comparing. Arcade shooters in general have a more aggressive pacing that will overwhelm the player if the player does not respond with a higher level of intensity in his play. I know that when I play an arcade shooter, I'm much more tense and unable to relax until the game is tallying my score at the end of each stage. When I play a Touhou game or clone, I'm at ease more often and find myself catching my breath at many points throughout each stage.

[Marly]

Like: The music, the gameplay, and general character designs.

Dislike: Plot.

[Kayin]

Like

-The gameplay. Shmups are a dying genre and I openly welcome any shmup into my collection of games.
-The music. I fucking swear it's been covered/arranged as damn near everything. It's very easy for me to find covers/arranges I like.
-IaMP. I love fighting games and IaMP is easily the most unique doujin fighter I've ever played.
-The characters. ZUN's art kind of sucks, but the fanart makes up for it.

Dislike

-Secondary fandom. I thought no genre could be worse than fighting games in regards to having fans that don't actually play, but Touhou seems to take the cake.
-SWR/UNL. Took everything that made IaMP good and got rid of it. (I'm gonna get so much hate for this. :/)
-ZUN's art.

[Esoterica]

-SWR/UNL. Took everything that made IaMP good and got rid of it. (I'm gonna get so much hate for this. :/)

More like support; IaMP is by far the best of the fighters.

I find Soku tolerable though, given that it took out some of the stupid crap that annoyed me in SWR (i.e. wrongblocking being advantageous) and added more layers of depth to the card system.  Plus, more fun characters.

[ふねん1]

I find Soku tolerable though, given that it took out some of the stupid crap that annoyed me in SWR (i.e. wrongblocking being advantageous) and added more layers of depth to the card system.  Plus, more fun characters.

It's technically not a part of the original game, but I've also seen a "no weather" patch for Hisoutensoku if you hate the weather aspect (though I'm not familiar with the general community's stance on this). Don't know if SWR ever got an equivalent patch though.

Yeah, Hisoutensoku's card system is quite fun IMO. Plus there's Utsuho. :V

[Esoterica]

It's technically not a part of the original game, but I've also seen a "no weather" patch for Hisoutensoku if you hate the weather aspect (though I'm not familiar with the general community's stance on this). Don't know if SWR ever got an equivalent patch though.

Yeah, Hisoutensoku's card system is quite fun IMO. Plus there's Utsuho. :V

Weather I don't mind, since it's completely controllable.  But yes, there was a no-weather patch for SWR long before Soku. :V

[Kayin]

The fact that you'd even have to use a patch that removes a major element of the game to make it bearable = bad game.

And even with the patch, it still feels really dumbed down.

That = really bad game.

[Ghaleon]

I don't like fighting games. I mean I sorta occasionally wouldn't mind playing Guilty gear at a friend's house when he was anyway kinda. But I'd never actually buy it for myself.

Is there a point to trying the Touhou fighting games knowing that I've never really enjoyed a fighting game? It's not like I've only tried 2 or 3. probably more like 10 (I know most fighting game fans have probably tried way more and scoff at 10, but I think 10 is a fairly open minded amount for someone who hasn't really enjoyed anyway)

Fighting games I have tried (in case it matters which) are:
Street fighter 2, Street fighter alpha 2, Mortal combat 1 and 2, Guilty gear X, and XX (my 2nd fave), Soul blade X (my fave), Soul calibur 1,2,3 (soul blade x was better, these are merely meh), Toshinden battle arena, uhh...maybe a couple more. Don't remember.

I mean I hear that the touhou fighting games are "danmaku fighting games", does that make it different enough so that I have a decent chance of really enjoying it?

Sorry if that seems somewhat off topic, it's KINDA on topic, but..well I also feel bad making a new topic asking such a question solely for myself when I already did so earlier today >=P.

[Formless God]

No. I disgusted the three fightans (especially IaMP). You are probably not going to enjoy them either.

[Barrakketh]

I don't like fighting games. I mean I sorta occasionally wouldn't mind playing Guilty gear at a friend's house when he was anyway kinda. But I'd never actually buy it for myself.

Is there a point to trying the Touhou fighting games knowing that I've never really enjoyed a fighting game? It's not like I've only tried 2 or 3. probably more like 10 (I know most fighting game fans have probably tried way more and scoff at 10, but I think 10 is a fairly open minded amount for someone who hasn't really enjoyed anyway)

Fighting games I have tried (in case it matters which) are:
Street fighter 2, Street fighter alpha 2, Mortal combat 1 and 2, Guilty gear X, and XX (my 2nd fave), Soul blade X (my fave), Soul calibur 1,2,3 (soul blade x was better, these are merely meh), Toshinden battle arena, uhh...maybe a couple more. Don't remember.

I mean I hear that the touhou fighting games are "danmaku fighting games", does that make it different enough so that I have a decent chance of really enjoying it?

Sorry if that seems somewhat off topic, it's KINDA on topic, but..well I also feel bad making a new topic asking such a question solely for myself when I already did so earlier today >=P.

Well, the story mode fights play out quite differently than they do in a versus match.  The enemy spell cards are more like they are in the SHMUPs, where the attacks are a specific pattern and you have to work out a strategy to beat them.  In a versus match they're basically like supers/ultras.  Watch a lunatic 1cc if that still isn't clear.

Also, it's entirely possible to spam the fuck out of your projectiles and win fights like that, even on lunatic.  This guy has videos of him doing exactly that with practically every character.

Danmaku is a form of pressure, and you can graze projectiles.  In the end, I don't think it'll be that much different for you if go the versus route.  You might enjoy the story mode, though.