So like... I hope this isn't like too much of an ask but...
Could you "explain touhou" to me, and then give me some recommendations for some games to play? I kinda wanna check it out, but I wouldn't know where to start, and you seem really passionate about it!
(Feel free to make this response as long as you want, I love a good passion fueled ramble)
oh no, please, it would be my pleasure!
cracks knuckles
Touhou Project is a long-running video game series made primarily by one creator, Jun'ya Ōta (usually known under the name ZUN). The main series of games are primarily bullet curtain ("danmaku") shmups with a focus on boss fights and aesthetically gorgeous bullet patterns - though there have been official fighting game spinoffs as well. The games started in the mid-90s with the release of Highly Responsive to Prayers and, especially since the reboot in 2002, a new Touhou game has been released nearly every year since, with the 19th main entry, Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost, coming out last month.
The games are highly polished and are widely loved for their gameplay, music, and memorable characters. The series stars Reimu Hakurei, a shrine maiden living in the time-lost land of Gensokyo, as she maintains the barrier that separates Gensokyo from the modern world. Alongside reckless witch Marisa Kirisame, her best friend / rival / lover?, Reimu is tasked with solving "incidents". Most of the stories follow a pattern:
- Reimu & Marisa hear a concerning rumor or see a strange natural phenomenon ("winter is lasting too long" or "a red mist is covering the sky")
- They fly off to investigate, Reimu usually after some cajoling, and Marisa sometimes with ulterior intentions, or because she's bored.
- They travel through Gensokyo, beating up the various troublesome fairies and yōkai that get in their way.
- They defeat several guardians before reaching an incredibly powerful enemy, who is usually causing the incident for some petty, selfish reason.
- After their battle, the enemy usually stops by Reimu's shrine to hang out or annoy her in a casual way, and goes from antagonist to a rival or loose ally.
The games all consist of 5-6 stages, each with a section of "travel" where the player fights waves of fairies, argues with a boss character, then fights that boss's unique bullet patterns ("spell cards"). With each section of travel and boss fight having a unique song, each Touhou game comes with at least a dozen new incredible tracks, alongside personal commentary by ZUN about the composition of each song and the associated characters. The dialogue in the games is generally light-hearted and silly, with lots of offbeat jokes and puns. The named roster of characters is massive, with some returning across games, and some bosses becoming future playable characters. Notably, nearly every character in the series is a woman. This is never addressed.
A unique thing about Touhou is sheer magnitude of the fanbase. Because of the long-running consistency of the series and ZUN's generally "hands-off" approach to the Touhou intellectual property, there has been a staggering amount of fan works, from hundreds upon hundreds of Touhou cover albums, to fanart and manga and full anime series, to games that span nearly every genre you can think of (off the top - metriodvania, cooking sim, deckbuilder, visual novel, drpg, pokemon-like, racing, puzzle, tower defense, rhythm). Reitaisai is a Touhou-specific convention that has taken place in Tokyo nearly every year since 2008, featuring the work of thousands of doujin circles. It's safe to say that Touhou has extremely strong doujin roots and ZUN has tried to keep this connection, even as the series became a global phenomenon. And because of the multimedia nature of Touhou, it's found plenty of fans among people who have no interest in shmups, but instead fall in love with the manga, music, or spinoff games - if high-intensity bullet dodging isn't your thing, there's still endless ways to enjoy the series!
And so with that, we've covered the essence of Touhou ~
As far as getting started with the mainline games, I'd suggest picking up either Touhou 6: Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (EoSD) or Touhou 7: Perfect Cherry Blossom (PCB).
Embodiment of Scarlet Devil is the first game of the rebooted series and where the story, characters, and gameplay really get started. That said, I think Perfect Cherry Blossom is a touch easier and has some forgiving gameplay changes, so it might be a better place to start for someone new to shmups. Both of these games feature some of the most recognizable & popular Touhou characters, as well as fun stories and great gameplay.
Make sure to check the options, where you can give yourself extra bombs & lives!
While I'm here, let me suggest some extra Touhou media I really like:
Art & Animation
- Silent Sinner in Blue: An official manga series that follows several silly plots about traveling to the moon for fun & profit, involving the characters from Touhou 6, 7, and 8
- Fantasy Kaleidoscope: A high-quality fanmade anime that recaps the plots of several of the games, showing off the characters and boss fights.
- Mirae Somang: Creator of a series of silly Touhou animations, very cute & funny.
Music
- Active NEETS: Doujin circle that does orchestral and jazz arrangements of Touhou music. (a fave song)
- Bit2: Soft, calming arrangements of Touhou music, primarily acoustic guitar and flute.
- Cafe de Touhou: "Cafe" style albums of several Touhou games, relaxing and good to work to.
- SWING HOLIC: Jazz / swing band with several full albums of vocal Touhou arrangements. (a fave)
Games
- Touhou Luna Nights: A fanmade metroidvania starring Sakuya Izayoi (a time-stopping maid) and several other characters from Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. Extremely fun with a really cool core mechanic.
- Touhou Library Survivors: A "survivors"-style fangame starring Patchouli Knowledge as she defends her library from obnoxious invaders... I wrote more about it here (created by @tayl1r!!)
- Touhou Lost Branch of Legend: A deckbuilder heavily inspired by Slay the Spire, with several playable characters and unique playstyles, complex strategy, and a lot of fun cameos.
If you're curious, I wrote about one of my favorite design choices from Touhou ~
Okay, that's really, really it. I hope you have fun exploring the series!!... By the by, my favorite characters are Fujiwara no Mokou and Marisa Kirisame.
if you're a touhou fan and you still read this whole thing you should post your favorite character or theme below
i will also recommend this super duper long interview with zun and his creative process:
i am slowly and surely translating this… i hope to be done by the end of this year lol.
