~Hakurei Shrine~ > Touhou Addict Recovery Center

In your opinion, what is the worst Touhou game to you?

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SeroVich:
I'll start: For me, it is the picture taking danmaku spin-offs of Touhou (like Touhou 9.5, 12.5, and 16.5). They are just downright cruel and unfair, giving you no chance to have a breathing space. And if you like those games, then congrats! You have a better mindset and more mentally stronger than me.  :meiling:

Suspicious person:
Honestly it's gotta be the PC 98 games for me : they generally don't boast of the visual flair and balancing the newer entries (including classical era games) do, have visibility issues plus nasty flashes, take a lot of effort to get and set up (I haven't ever touched those things) for what they are, and have somewhat esoteric gameplay systems that you wouldn't know if you didn't study them beforehand. Lack of canon relevance plus extra goofy dialogue could probably also count.

I think as a piece of media they deserve respect for setting touhou in it's very early days, but I've never understood why some of this series's most extreme detractors put them above newer entries in term of quality.

CyberAngel:
18 killed my hopes of the series ever getting good again. ZUN threw all his ideas that could've been used for later games into the card system and didn't even bother to balance them. And it's pretty much a gacha, killing all interest in full runs due to RNG. Story and aesthetics-wise it didn't catch my eye at all, not even negatively like 17's. As for music, I want to apologize for bashing 17, since that one at least still HAD a style, whereas 18's is about as generic as it gets.

While there are quite a few older games I don't like playing, I can acknowledge they can be fun with certain mindsets. After 18, all I can do is wonder why anyone even bothers with what's going on with the series anymore.

williewillus:
Probably HRTP, though I've never played it. It just doesn't seem like that good of a time.
VD is really jank, and HBM is close behind it. Though I find HBM's jank slightly charming in its own way.
SoEW is also extremely jank and the worst of the 4 PC98 shmups.
So those four games probably.

I don't really agree that the other scene danmaku games were that bad, stb and DS are both pretty nice.


--- Quote from: CyberAngel on April 14, 2024, 10:53:05 PM ---As for music, I want to apologize for bashing 17, since that one at least still HAD a style, whereas 18's is about as generic as it gets.

--- End quote ---

18's music definitely does have a very distinctive style. I would describe it as very "fresh" sounding, he's switched to tighter drums, and really dialed up use of more unusual instruments like guitar, flute, erhu, and voice. People call it more repetitive, but I just think modern tracks tend to do more buildup, and thus fit better when listened to in the context of their game (which is all ZUN cares about, and the reason why he never actually releases plain OST CD's for the games: the game is the OST)
In general, 18, 18.5, 19, and oneoffs like Every Day a Red Day and Independent Simulacrum all define ZUN's modern style pretty well, though it's still evolving continuously.

18's OST has a couple duds (namely the two Stage 2 themes), but many other themes left a pretty strong impression on me -- Stage 1 is another short and sweet banger with an earwormy melody, Stage 3 is one of ZUN's only major key compositions, Stage 4 has the Hifuu-like flamenco guitar, Stage 5 meshes with the stage background and presentation to really sell the sunset setting, and Extra is probably in my top 3 extra stage themes due to how hard it goes.


--- Quote from: CyberAngel on April 14, 2024, 10:53:05 PM ---After 18, all I can do is wonder why anyone even bothers with what's going on with the series anymore.

--- End quote ---

Ouch. Good thing we can bother, and you don't have to :P

SeroVich:

--- Quote from: CyberAngel on April 14, 2024, 10:53:05 PM ---18 killed my hopes of the series ever getting good again. ZUN threw all his ideas that could've been used for later games into the card system and didn't even bother to balance them. And it's pretty much a gacha, killing all interest in full runs due to RNG. Story and aesthetics-wise it didn't catch my eye at all, not even negatively like 17's. As for music, I want to apologize for bashing 17, since that one at least still HAD a style, whereas 18's is about as generic as it gets.

While there are quite a few older games I don't like playing, I can acknowledge they can be fun with certain mindsets. After 18, all I can do is wonder why anyone even bothers with what's going on with the series anymore.

--- End quote ---

Oof, that's tragic... So, does it mean you're not going to play any Touhou games after 18, even if you're curious??  :meiling:

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